Dubai's Diary

There are a lot of magazines and radio programs giving you a roundup of stuff going on in the city.

But no other program is quiet like this!

Mita and I had a great laugh this week.

Dubai Reviews on Tap

Farah joins me every other week to talk about stuff in Dubai with real reviews by people like you.

www.voiladubai.ae

This was a show that had a few surprises!

NCTL The Galaxy Note

NCTL

Norton Anti Virus Jan 10/and more...

Just one item!

Samsung Galaxy Note

Phone Manufacturer	Samsung
Name	Samsung Galaxy Note
2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
Dimensions	146.9 x 83 x 9.7 mm
Display Type	Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors Super AMOLED is a version of AMOLED display technology that integrates a capacitive touchscreen layer directly into the display instead of overlaying it on top of the display, as has traditionally been done. This results in a thinner design that uses less power and reflects less light, and as a result works better outdoors.
Display Size	800 x 1280 pixels, 5.3 inches (~285 ppi pixel density)
Display	- Gorilla Glass display - TouchWiz UI v4.0 - Multi-touch input method - Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate - Touch-sensitive controls - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - Gyroscope senso
Audio Alert Types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Speakerphone	yes
Memory	16GB storage, 1 GB RAM
Card Slot	microSD, up to 32GB, 2 GB included
Data	3G
Camera	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash Secondary Yes, 2 MP
OS	Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread)
CPU	Dual-core 1.4GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset
Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
Wi-Fi enabled	Yes
Bluetooth Enabled	Yes
Infrared Port	No
Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
Battery	Standard battery, Li-Ion 2500 mAh
Special Features	- S Pen stylus - NFC connectivity (optional) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - NFC support (optional) - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - SNS integration - Digital compass - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Adobe Flash 10.1 support - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype) - Samsung ChatON - Barometer sensor

The 1st HD Super AMOLED display

The world’s first 5.3” HD Super AMOLED display, provides you with an expansive high-resolution screen for an immersive viewing experience.

The best multi-input experience on the go

The GALAXY Note provides you with the ability to freely capture and create ideas anywhere and everywhere. The S Pen is combined with the full touch screen to create a best-in-class mobile input experience.

The S Memo lets you record all forms of ideas instantly and freely. A quick memo can be taken from any screen to capture your ideas before they float away. Those ideas along with pictures, voice recordings, typed text, handwritten notes or drawings can be captured into S Memo, to be edited, annotated and shared as desired

Instantly Capture and Annotate Any Screen

Any screen can be instantly captured and annotated in detail. In addition, captured screens can be freely cropped in any shape or form using the precision S pen.

Advanced 8MP camera

With the powerful camera feature, you capture the world’s every moment in deep detail. Also, using the vivid and large display, you can easily review photos and show them to your friends.

HSPA+ 21Mbps or 4G LTE

1.4GHz dual core processor.

This is the bag to charge your devices with

DURABILITY	3.5 This is a nice phone.  The back, where you have to add the SIM card is just a thin plastic piece that offers little back protection and if you are removing it there is a real fear of breakage
PORTABILITY	4 We were divided here. 2 of the reviewers felt this was like having a desktop in your pocket, not good, one loved the size.
EASE OF USE	4 Very easy to use and get active with. Possibly, due to the actual software, Gingerbread 2.3 there were times it was a bit clunky compared to an iPhone
DESIGN AND FORM FACTOR	3 If you like an iPhone 3G you will love this. The manual controls on the side were poorly placed and if the handset was used in landscape mode they were activated!

total 3.62

This will be compared to an iPhone always!

We were divided on the size! 2 of  the team members hated the size, and pretty much everyone who looked at it felt it was too large.  James on the other hand loved the size!
FINALLY a phone and tablet in one!

The screen is nice but there were complaints that it was too sensitive!

The buttons on the side were a pain in the neck when the phone was used in landscape.

What is nice about this product is the note feature with the pen and the fact that so many of the tools, such as the camera integrate many of the additional features an iPhone makes you search out an app for.

Nice keyboard!

Great sound and great audio and video.

Apps are an issue.

I think this guy has some good points about ICS interface
http://marketingland.com/review-galaxy-nexus-android-4-phone-1409

TechTalk on Nightline

Magnus Nystedt joins me each week from Pingdom to talk technology.

This week we pick up on some of the technews this week.

We also talk briefly about what we loved this year in terms of sites, apps and more.

We then finished the show looking at the Samsung Galaxy Note!

Love Cars!

Ian and Bill from AutoData join me each week to talk cars and the industry as it is manifest right here in the UAE.

These guys are really good at what they do and honest!

Must listen to radio!

Meet Mr. Chocodate

Do you love chocolate? Dates? Almonds?

Well then you will want to listen to this conversation with Mr. Chocodate!


What idea have you sat on that could have been a game changer like this one?

Mumsinheels.com

Claire from Mums in heels joined me in the Nightline studio to talk fashion!

And again my awesome shirt fashion has become a bone of contention!

I know women and fashion bloggers in particular are simply unable to cope with my fashion visionary status.

My shirts aside Claire has created a great fashion website and more that you will want to look at!

Ranson.co on Branding

Helen and Mathew join me in studio to talk about the need for research as you venture into the world of branding. Obvious as it might sound a lot of big organizations are a bit light on the research! This is a great conversation asking why!

Off the Rack, Off the Radar

Narain Jashanmal and I had a wonderful conversation about magazines that are just a little different.

We looked at Brown Book from here in the UAE, Dumbo Feather from Australia and Print fromt he USA.

All three of these publications are just amazing in their own way and really harken back to that time no so long ago when reading, in hard copy, was an experience.

Give the podcast a listen.

NCTL DEC 13, 2011

NCTL

Here is the test lab for the 13th of December.

Robert Nash of Solar Solutions, with outlets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi submitted 2 bags to the Nightline Consumer Test Lab.

http://www.energy-sunbags.de/

Email Brian@copyright.ae

0097150 220-7096

Solar Bag SUN-Bag  DHS 699

This is the bag to charge your devices with

DURABILITY	5 This is a great bag. Well done heavy duty seems that look as if they would be able to hold up against the average reckless student. Our bag was a white and black finish the white cover looked as if it would be easy to clean.
PORTABILITY	5 Put the bag on your shoulder and away you go.
EASE OF USE	4 The solar panel is on the front of the product and easy to hook into.  BUT of course you need to be sure you have the right connectors and while the bag comes with an assortment you need to carry them around. It would be nice to have a more built in system.
DESIGN AND FORM FACTOR	3 This is a great looking bag that is sure to turn heads! We would have liked to see more padding on the bottom and possibly a waterproof cover on the bottom of the bag for those wet surfaces you may put a bag down on. A handle as well as shoulder strap would be nice. The velcro did let go several times under a heavy load

TOTAL 4.25

Finally a bag that is great for charging a camera, mp3 player and those things you are always carrying!

No more charger worry!

This bag worked like a charm.

My 1Phone 4 was a little finicky it did and did not charge! But everything else was great!

AND this bag comes with the POWERCHIMP!

POWERCHIMP 27Pounds to buy roughtly

and it is a flashlight!

DURABILITY	5
PORTABILITY	5
EASE OF USE	3 easy to plug in but it doesn’t work well for heavy power useers like an iPhone
DESIGN AND FORM FACTOR	4

TOTAL 4.25

This is a great little device to get you out of a pinch! Well almost!

The powerchimp works by using the two included rechargeable AA batteries to power your devices and will recharge most standard mobile phones once fully before the batteries in the chimp will need recharging (not suitable for power-hungry smartphones such as iPhone 4/3GS or  touchscreen MP3 players such as iPod Touch).  Although it did give some charge in the model we tested.

Super easy to use and ultra portable.

Come with a bag of connectors and the rechargable batteries are included!

Kit includes:

* 1 x Powerchimp in one of four colours

* 2 x AA Ni-MH 1800 mAh rechargeable batteries

* 1 x Black carry pouch

* connectors for Nokia & Mini-Nokia, Samsung, Siemens, Sony Ericcson, Motorola, and Mini USB for Motorola Razor V series, Blackberry and Bluetooth headsets

* 1 x retractable USB recharging cable

SOLAR X Bag  1199 Dirhams

DURABILITY	4.5 This is a fantastic bag that is very well constructed with extra work on the seams.  We would have liked to see extra padding on the bottom given it can carry a laptop.
PORTABILITY	5 Easy! Again what about a handle
EASE OF USE	4 This is a simple bag to work with there are a number of connectors all you do is pick the one that works. There was none for my MacBook Pro
DESIGN AND FORM FACTOR	4 The velcro clips do let go if overloaded but the general look and feel is fantastic.

TOTAL 4.37

This is nothing short of a great product!

We liked the weight of the bag although as we said it could use some more padding.

Easy to use connector and a huge solar panel.

Form and function unite here!

WordPress 3.3 is available for download

http://wordpress.org/news/2011/12/sonny/

-great question is why we need an upgrade, my account does it automatically.