Cheap Nokia 770

From a tip at SPUG forums, Expansys is selling the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet at an attractive price of S$199.22 (~US$130). I reckon Nokia is clearing our their inventory of this product hence the low price. Also Nokia has apparently dropped support for this product since the introduction of the much improved Nokia 800 that supersedes the 770.

The Nokia 770 is a decent Linux based device for mobile internet surfing especially if you are in a Wifi hotspot. This device has been on the market for quite awhile so there's already quite a substantial user base for support and hacks on the internet to enhance its capabilities. The main issue I find is that 770 only accepts the less ubiquitous RS-MMS card which might be a bit harder to find and cost more than the usual SD cards.

Nonetheless it is still a good deal at S$200 if you like something affordable with a good looking screen to surf the Net when on the move.

Maths on your phone

Math4mobile has some interesting maths midlets for use on your Java-based phone. Currently they offer five different midlets for various graphing and learning purposes.

Graph2Go is a special-purpose graphing calculator that operates for given sets of function expressions. Solve2Go supports solving equations and inequalities conjectures based on visual thinking. Conjectures can be refuted or supported by examples provided by the tool, and should be proved using symbolic manipulations on paper. Sketch2Go is a qualitative graphing tool. Graphs are sketched using seven icons representing constant, increasing, and decreasing functions that change at constant, increasing, or decreasing rates. Fit2Go is a linear and quadratic function graphing tool and curve fitter. Students can view a phenomenon, identify variables, conduct experiments and take measurements in order to construct models of the phenomena. Quad2Go is a handy tool for learning about quadrilaterals by generating examples, observing, and experimenting with examples with a view toward forming generalized conjectures.

They include Java emulators so you can test them out in your browser before you decide to download to use on your phone. http://www.math4mobile.com/

Save your ears

During my recent trip to Japan, I bought myself a pair of Sony MCR-NC22 Noise Cancellation earphones to improve my in-flight entertainment experience. The low drones of the plane engines were really getting on my nerves on the flight over especially when I was unable to listen to the conversations in the movies clearly. So I thought these earphones would help, and they did amazingly well.

Now that I am back home, I realise that I can still use these noise cancellation earphones during the commute on public transport such as bus and trains. No doubt the noise is not as substantial as on the plane, it helped by making listening to music on the commute more enjoyable and comfortable.

I usually use a Creative Muvo MP3 with a pair of Sony in-ear earphones and the volume turned to level 10 which tends to sound quite soft on the MRT and bus. I was always tempted to up it a few notches to drown out the background noise but I know it would cause irrepairable damage to my ears in the long run.

Now with the noise cancellation earphones, I find that I can turn it all the way down to level one without any loss in clarity. In fact the sound is even louder and clearer than I had originally experienced with my old earphones. Now not only am I enjoying my music better, I am saving my hearing by not blasting the volume to drown the background noise.