If you’re a blogger, then you need to be able to create new content on a daily basis. When you are at home, it isn’t a big deal to run over to the computer every time inspiration strikes you. But what about when you are on the go? Here are a few essential mobile devices to help you become a better blogger.

1. Apple iPhone – The iPhone has many tools that can help you as a blogger. Probably the iPhone’s biggest strength is the vast size of the App Store. Whether you use WordPress or Blogger, you can manage your account right from your phone and quickly jot down important ideas.

2. Apple iPad – The iPad has all the benefits of an iPhone, but it is much easier to type on. You probably wouldn’t want to type more than a few sentences on your iPhone, but you can type out a full blog post on the iPad if you wish.

3. Netbook – A netbook can bring you all the benefits of a full computer in a smaller – and cheaper – package. The downside is that netbooks usually aren’t too capable of running graphic-intensive programs like games, but they are absolutely perfect for blogging. Netbooks are lightweight, so you can carry them everywhere and crack them open when you feel like writing.

4. Google Nexus One – If you aren’t a big fan of Apple products, the Nexus One is a great smart phone from Google that offers a lot of the same functionality. One of the best things about the Google phone is that you can use it on practically any phone carrier – unlike the iPhone, which requires you to use AT&T.

5. LG Android Phones – The Korean manufacturer has been coming out with some really nice Android-based phones recently. One of the best aspects about LG Android phones is that they normally include a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for text input. This can make typing quite a bit easier if you don’t like the new touchscreen devices.

6. Livescribe Pulse Pen – If you have a quick idea you want to remember, but don’t want to go through all the trouble of launching an application on your phone or netbook, the Pulse Pen can be a great solution. This device looks just like a regular pen, but it remembers everything you write with it. If an idea strikes you, just pull out the pen and scribble some invisible notes onto a table or a wall. When you plug the pen into your computer, you’ll be able to see everything you’ve written.

7. Kindle – As a blogger, you’ve got to read a lot, and that is what the Kindle was designed for. It may not have all the bells and whistles of the newer devices, but there are still a couple strong points in its favor. The battery life is superb, and it has an anywhere 3G connection to the Internet via Sprint’s cellular network – with zero monthly charge.

8. Noise Cancellation Microphone – You may be able to quickly record yourself or conduct interviews with the built-in microphone on your phone or netbook, but there is a good chance that the sound quality won’t be that great. For less than $20, you can usually find a good noise-cancelling microphone to hook up to your device. This will allow you to get crystal clear sound bites even in noisy places like coffee shops.

9. WiFi Keychain – The iPhone and Android devices have free apps checking for WiFi hot spots, but they require you to take out your phone, fire up the app, and continuously check for connectivity. Every blogger should have a keychain that will light up when you are in a free WiFi zone. You’ll always know if you’re in a place where you can blog. You can find these for less than $10.

Mobile blogging can be a great way to get more blogging done in less time. If you use some of these tools, you’ll be able to make your job much easier.

James Adams is a blogger who works for a UK based supplier of HP 351 ink and toner. He helps to run their design blog where he posts about gadgets and design.

©2010 SheepTech

9 Mobile Devices That Are Great for Bloggers

I finally got enough of it and decided to get a new lightweight laptop with long battery life and reasonable performance. It makes sense now that I’m subscribed to a wireless broadband, I can basically carry it anywhere I want and get online at any location.

The Asus UL30VT fits perfectly in this category, something I would describe as “a device in between netbook and full fledged laptop“.

Here’s the specs:

• 1.3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU U7300
• 2GB DDR3 RAM (upgraded to 4GB)
• 500GB Hard drive
• NVidia G210M Graphics with 512MB DDR3 + Intel GMA 4500MHD (Switchable VGA)
• 13.3-Inch Widescreen HD LED LCD Display
• Wi-Fi 802.11 bgn; Bluetooth; 0.3M Webcam
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
• Advertised 12 hours battery life with 5600mah battery

I would write a full review a month later, but as an overview, these are my thoughts after several days of usage:

Pros:

• Thin and lightweight
• Aluminum lid
• Long battery life, around 7 to 8 hours at low settings with wireless broadband plugged and quite a number of tabs on Firefox
• Chicklet keyboard
• Able to overclock via the Turbo33 by ASUS when more processing power is required.
• Switchable video card
• Able to play 1080p HD videos on YouTube without a glitch when on high performance settings
• Doesn’t generate much heat
• It’s pretty snappy despite having a low processing power
• Plug and play wireless broadband. You are connected once the laptop is started, no need of using your ISP’s dashboard or any other software of that sort.

Cons:

• Lid and chassis are fingerprint and smudge magnet. Looks pretty clumsy
• Small viewing angle, colors look washed out when view at a an angle

I strongly recommend that you take a closer look at this if you are considering to get a netbook. The UL30VT is just as portable in my opinion, but is definitely way more powerful than a netbook.

©2010 SheepTech

Bought an Asus UL30VT Lightweight Laptop

Online Unlock Key Generator

On this site, getting your modem’s unlock code is as simple as entering your modem’s IMEI, enter the CAPTCHA code and click on the “Calculator” button.

Within seconds, it will return you with your modem’s unlock code and flash code.

Supported Huawei modem models:

E1550, E155, E156, E156G, E160, E160G, E161, E166, E169, E169G, E170, E172, E176, E180, E182E, E196, E226, E270, E271, E272, E510, E612, E618, E620, E630, E630+, E660, E660A, E800, E870, E880, EG162, EG162G, EG602, EG602G

Universal MasterCode

As its name suggest, Universal MasterCode is capable of generating unlock codes for a wide range of device, which of course includes most of Huawei’s modem.

E156 E155, E1550 E1552, E156G E160, E160G E161 E166, E169 E169G, E170, E172, E176 E1762 E180 E182E E196 E226 E270, E800,E870 E880 EG162 E880 EG162 EG162G EG602 EG602G, E271, E272, E510 E612 E618 E630 ,E620 E630+ E660 E660a

As you can see, the unlock code generated is the same as the one generated by the online unlock key generator above. There is no limit how many unlock codes you can generate, meaning as long as you have this generator on your computer, you can unlock as many modems as you wish.

No installation is required. Just download and start the application.

Download Universal MasterCode: MediaFire | RapidShare (243 KB)

Huawei Unlocker

Huawei Unlocker is another simple and straight forward free unlock code generator. Enter your modem’s IMEI, hit the “Unlock” button and consider yourself done. Again, no installation required.

Download Huawei Unlocker: MediaFire | RapidShare (196 KB)

Unlocking The Modem with The Unlock Code

To make use of the unlock code, insert an unauthorized sim card to your Huawei modem. Unauthorized sim card meaning sim card from any operators other than the one the modem is currently locked to.

When you do so, you would be prompt for the modem’s unlock code. Just enter the unlock code you have received earlier and voila, you can now use your Huawei USB modem with sim cards from any other operator.

I have tested it on my E1762 and it worked perfectly.

P.s: I have scanned both the application using McAfee without any virus discovery.

P.p.s: SheepTech shall not be liable for any loss or damage caused by the following the guide above. Unlock at your own risk.

©2010 SheepTech

How to Unlock Huawei USB Modem For Free

I have been a Nokia N82 user for the pass 9 months, and there is this thing that annoys the hell out of me. The S60 3rd Music Player could not differentiate ringtones and sms tones from full songs, thus indexing every single audio files and mixing them all together.

What does that means? Random ringtones will be played from time to time while you’re listening to your mp3s on the Music Player. The playlist can go like this:

1. P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face~ (full song)
2. Message.. message!.. message!!!, MESSAGE!, MESSAGE!!!!! (message tone)
3. I believe I can fly~ (full song)

If that is not annoying enough, try selecting a ringtone or sms tone. Again, all the audio files will be listed, and you have to browse (listen, no searching or filtering while selecting ringtones!) and look for the ringtone or sms tone you want manually, among the entire playlist plus all your other audio files.

This might not be a problem if you do not store songs in your phone, but to those who own a 16GB microSD and have half the card storage occupied by songs, you will know how painful it is, scrolling the monster list, just to look for a freaking 30-seconds sound clip.

Solution

Fortunately, there is a way to rectify this huge mistake by the S60 3rd developer.

Things you will need:

• A hacked S60 3rd phone. If your phone is not hacked, do so (at your own risk) by installing HelloOX (Google it). You will need to have the HelloOX signed before you can install it. If you do not have a certificate and key to sign it, request it here. After you have received your certificate and key, learn how to sign here.
• Y-Browser – to copy files and set file attributes

Procedures:

**make sure all your full songs are located in the Digital folder, and ringtones & sms tones in the Simple folder**

1. Download speedup_gallery_and_music_player.zip (mirror) (mirror2)

2. There are two files in it, MGXDatabasePlugin.rsc and 101ffcd2.txt. Using Y-Browser (or Modo):

• Copy MGXDatabasePlugin.rsc to C:\Resource\
• Copy 101ffcd2.txt to C:\private\10202be9\

After doing so, only audio files from E:\Sounds\Simple\ will be listed when you are selecting ringtones or sms tones. Besides, the Music Player will only index files from E:\Sounds\, while the Gallery will only index files from E:\Images\ and E:\Videos\ only.

3. Open Y-Browser, navigate to E:\Sounds\, then set the Simple folder’s attribute to hidden (File > Attributes > Hidden – Yes)

4. Go to the Music Player and refresh it.

Voilà! If you are doing it right, you will no longer see ringtones and sms tones appearing in your Music Player playlist, and full songs will no longer appear in the ringtone and sms tone selection list. The Gallery and Music Player will also load slightly faster than before.

It is definitely worth the hassle doing all these, your phone now make more sense!

©2010 SheepTech

S60 3rd: Remove Ringtones from Music Player, Remove Full Songs from Ringtone List

I was pointed to a tutorial on lifehacker, which was a very practical way to keep earphones, and more importantly making sure they will not be tangled when I wanted to use them later.

Since lifehacker is just providing the tutorial in words, I filmed a video tutorial to better demonstrate the steps, and to proof that the cables will really not be tangled when you unwrap them later.

1. On your right hand, tuck your 3rd and 4th finger and extend your 2nd and 5th finger
2. Hold the earbuds with your 3rd and 4th finger against your palm
3. Wrap the cable around your 2nd and 5th finger in the shape of “8″
4. When you have 6 to 8 inches of cable left, wrap the remaining cable around the center of the “8″ shape
5. Tuck the earphone jack through one of the two loops in the “8″ shape, or through the center wrapping.

The video was captured using only a Nokia N82 under low light condition, so bear with the poor video quality.

©2010 SheepTech

Video: How to prevent earphone wires from getting tangled

The Kogan Agora comes in two versions—pro and non-pro. The Pro version is priced at AUD $399 (around USD $260) while the non-pro at AUD $299 (around USD195).

The non-pro version is not worth mentioning as it does not come with a camera, a GPS receiver and does not support Wi-Fi. It is pointless to have a QWERTY keyboard nicely fitted and have loads of internet activities support like emailing with attachment supported and access to Google services and products—but, no Wi-Fi!

The Kogan Agora Pro definitely make more sense, with the following specifications:

• 2.5-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen.
• Integrated QWERTY keyboard.
• High-speed 3G network connection.
• One-Touch Google Search ™.
• Easy Web Browsing.
• Easy-to-use email with attachment support for images, videos, music and documents.
• Customisable Home Screen with instant Email, text message and IM notifications.
• Instant access to mobile Internet services (Gmail ™, YouTube ™, Google Talk ™, Google Calendar ™, Google Maps ™).
• Music Player.
• Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
• microSD™ expansion slot for all your storage needs.
• Wi-Fi network access.*
• GPS navigation capability.*
• 2.0 megapixel camera.*

* indicates the feature that is missing in the non-pro version.

Kogan Agora hands-on:

Unlike the iPhone and T-Mobile G1, the Kogan Agora is not tied to a particular carrier, meaning it can be used with any carrier without the need of unlocking or jailbreaking.

International buyers can pre-order the Kogan Agora on this page.

©2010 SheepTech

Second Android Phone – Kogan Agora

3.5″ touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, 32GB internal memory which can go up to 48GB with a 16GB microSD, 5 megapixels camera with Carl Zeiss lens, Wi-Fi, built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support, Symbian OS v9.4 — all powered by a Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery that will last up to 430 hours of standby, or 6 hours 40 minutes of talk time, or 1.5 days of audio playback.

Basically everything that a smart phone should have is included in the N97. Except for the design, which is not too bad in fact, the N97 seems to be winning in almost every aspect comparing to the iPhone, therefore being dubbed as the iPhone killer.

A review comparing the Nokia N97 and Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X1 would be interesting, as both are very appealing (I personally like the N97, monster specs!) and appears to be in the same category. The N97 would be retailing at €550—not cheap, but definitely worth it.

Gizmodo has a set of hands-on photos that you might be interested. GSMArena had put on the specs for N97 too.

©2010 SheepTech

Nokia N97 – High End Touchscreen Smart Phone

The iPhone is now available at 16GB and iPod Touch at 32GB, both of them selling at $499. Too bad, it is just the capacity that have been doubled, but no new features has been added to the iPhone. No 3G, no whatever.. the same old thing as before. The new pricing structure would be as follow:

iPhone
8GB – $399
16GB – $499

iPod Touch
8GB – $299
16GB – $399
32GB – $499

It is good to make late purchase on gadgets sometimes. They are always better as time goes, and the price will be lower. For just an additional $100, you can have double the capacity. Read the full press release on Apple Press Info.

©2010 SheepTech

iPhone & iPod Touch Comes With 16GB & 32GB Respectively

Brief Tech Spec

• 0.16-0.76 inch thick, 12.8 inches wide and weights at only 3 pounds (1.36 kg)
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 1.6 Ghz (optional 1.8 Ghz)
• 80GB hard disk drive
• 13.3 inches display
• 5 hours battery life

The $1799 MacBook Air will be available in two weeks time. Watch the MacBook Air Ad and the guided tour after the jump.

MacBook Air Ad

MacBook Air Guided Tour

©2010 SheepTech

The World’s Thinnest Notebook