You're watching a world cup match at the comfort of your own living room with a bunch of family members or friends. All is well and Germany is steadily advancing into Argentina's field. Out of nowhere, loud roaring came from your neighbours' houses, from the Macdonalds outlet nearby and all around you. Your heart sank. It means that Germany is going to score in another 5 seconds on your Mio TV. Instant spoilers are being presented to you real time when you subscribe to Mio TV and Singtel aren't doing anything about it except blaming the football fans for their stupidity and loyalty.
The 5 seconds delay on present Mio TV setups are tremendously reducing Mio TV football fans' excitement when the rest of the world are receiving their transmission in real time. Singtel, however, is turning a blind eye to this problem and offering no form of compensation to the fans. Now that the world cup is already approaching the finale, the only relation Singtel has made to this problem was an irresponsible two liners amidst an article detailing its many Mio TV faults.
The quote is as follow:
Source: CNA
That was a sarcastic remark by CNA right? The advanced technology Singtel is using slows down the transmission when other technologies are gearing towards reducing lag time. This is not the point, however, as the spokesperson's comment is the dubious part.
A quick survey of a few households who signed up for MioTV just before the world cup reveals that they did not know of this delay neither "at the point of sale" nor during "sign up". Perhaps they are just addressing the media for the sake of saving their own face, just like how Odex chairman claims to be an avid anime lover forced by circumstances. If one looks at the comment from another perspective, the spokesperson is simply implying that these recently-converted Mio TV users are just being stupid for signing up for the slower service when Starhub is offering theirs without this delay.
Obviously something is wrong here, since nobody in their right mind will sign up for the slower service of the two if they are making informed choices. So, are the masses lying or is Singtel lying? I shall leave it to the reader's perception.
Singtel's late entry into this market segment has been fraught with many difficulties. Their challenge on breaking their perceived starhub monopoly has led to Singtel winning exclusive rights to broadcast the popular Barclay league on their fault-laden (refer to earlier post) advanced technology and at the same time, increased the cost to consumer by a whooping 400%. It does make one wonder whether monopoly is truly the lesser of the two evils here.
This post may be late, but I am sure Singtel had more than enough time to address this properly. To any readers, please make informed and wise choice next time.
The 5 seconds delay on present Mio TV setups are tremendously reducing Mio TV football fans' excitement when the rest of the world are receiving their transmission in real time. Singtel, however, is turning a blind eye to this problem and offering no form of compensation to the fans. Now that the world cup is already approaching the finale, the only relation Singtel has made to this problem was an irresponsible two liners amidst an article detailing its many Mio TV faults.
The quote is as follow:
| For SingTel's mio TV, the enhanced features and advanced technology of the Internet Protocol or IPTV platform require conversion of the original TV footage from video signals to IP packets, resulting in this delay. The spokesperson added that SingTel's customers are informed of this at the point of sale and sign up. |
Source: CNA
That was a sarcastic remark by CNA right? The advanced technology Singtel is using slows down the transmission when other technologies are gearing towards reducing lag time. This is not the point, however, as the spokesperson's comment is the dubious part.
A quick survey of a few households who signed up for MioTV just before the world cup reveals that they did not know of this delay neither "at the point of sale" nor during "sign up". Perhaps they are just addressing the media for the sake of saving their own face, just like how Odex chairman claims to be an avid anime lover forced by circumstances. If one looks at the comment from another perspective, the spokesperson is simply implying that these recently-converted Mio TV users are just being stupid for signing up for the slower service when Starhub is offering theirs without this delay.
Obviously something is wrong here, since nobody in their right mind will sign up for the slower service of the two if they are making informed choices. So, are the masses lying or is Singtel lying? I shall leave it to the reader's perception.
Singtel's late entry into this market segment has been fraught with many difficulties. Their challenge on breaking their perceived starhub monopoly has led to Singtel winning exclusive rights to broadcast the popular Barclay league on their fault-laden (refer to earlier post) advanced technology and at the same time, increased the cost to consumer by a whooping 400%. It does make one wonder whether monopoly is truly the lesser of the two evils here.
This post may be late, but I am sure Singtel had more than enough time to address this properly. To any readers, please make informed and wise choice next time.
Labels: Singapore, Singtel, World Cup 2010
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My take on MioTV for the world cup.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
| The air horns in the background are really irritating. Plus, on friday, the jitters were really bad. I heard people exclaiming but hey, my screen FROZED. After HALF AN HOUR of automated calls and call transfer and waiting, the singtel guy on the phone told me that everybody without HD TV are experiencing that problem and that they will fix it by the next match. I didn't check because I wasn't interested in the next match. Then come Saturday. Voila, I couldn't get any image for the first half of the S.Korea match. I thought it was the modem warming up so I waited. After 10 minutes, I figured something was wrong. First thing I did was to call the technical helpline again. This time, in addition to the automated calls and waiting, the lady over the phone REFUSED to transfer the call for me. I kept going "Could you transfer the call for me?" and she kept going "Please call 16881(blahblahblah)" which is precisely what I did to get to her. Okay, I admit, I may have pressed a wrong number somewhere because I couldn't wait for the automated voice to finish announcing all the choices. Seeing how useless this is going, I called again, while fiddling with the set up box. I got to the correct guy after another 5 minutes but he was more concerned with getting my particulars right than helping me solve my problem. Frustrated, I pulled out the power cord and plugged it back, essentially doing a hard reset. Next comes the infamous 3 minutes to switch on, 2 minutes to warm up waiting time and in the meantime, I was filling that guy in as requested with my name, the number I was calling from, whether I was calling from the number mioTV is connected to, whether I am using Singtel internet services (which I am not), etc etc, and finally the state of the box (i.e. colours of the light). Finally the screen came on and I told that guy I fixed the problem on my own already. Damn, I should have done that in the first place. The saleslady confirmed with me that their "new enhanced MioTV layout" won't have such problems too. I only asked this after it is set up though, since I was kept in the dark by my parents until to my horror, a dubious white box appeared near the computer and an evil twin appeared beside the Starhub box and I see a hot pink screen (it still looks hot pink no matter how the technical guy insists its magenta). Thankfully the internet light on the white box wasn't blinking as well. I regretted telling my parents to fully utilise the new box and buy World Cup package from MioTV though. I wonder if it's better if I stuck with the green camp. Good job Singtel. Excellent CRM. :thumb2: EDIT: BTW, I did not know that we were informed that there is delay in footage receiving "at the point of sale and sign up", contrary to what Singtel spokesperson claimed. |
Labels: Singapore, Singtel, World Cup 2010
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thumbs down to linksys.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Recently bought Linksys router WRT610N together with 2 USB adapters WUSB600N at Sitex. I would say it's a huge disappointment and totally not worth the cash invested in it.
I'll start with the Linksys router. The 5.0 Ghz connection, which is supposed to provide faster connection in a less congested network, has a pathetic range for decent home usage. The signal degradation is so strong that after 5 meters and a wall, my connection to the network becomes intermittent. Sometimes it would connect, sometimes it drops the connection. The transfer speed to the router in that wireless range itself is pathetic too. After tweaking the settings, my files transfer speed to the router still hovers at around 1 MBps, even though the theoretical maximum is much higher. The 2.4 Ghz (the one most people are still using) works even better than my old one in terms of speed and range but that wasn't what I paid the money for.
I would've thought the USB adapters will be easier to configure than a new router but man, I was totally wrong. Since I recently installed a Windows 7, I decided to use one of these sticks for that computer. I spent about an hour troubleshooting the whole thing because it wouldn't connect to the internet and because I couldn't find an official update to the drivers. I thought there's a problem with my settings but it turned out linksys is the one that screwed up. After visiting its community forum, I found a lot of users with the same problems and a few workarounds. I tried one of them, which is using the vista updates for another adapter version and somehow it worked. Pretty much wasted a lot of my time there with the inefficiencies.
And while searching for driver update for that stick, I stumbled upon an official update to the XP driver. So I went ahead and updated the drivers for my XP computer's USB stick. Guess what? This time the stick couldn't talk properly to the router and the router refuses to issue the machine an IP address. In the end, I reinstalled the old driver in order to use the internet. Good job on an official driver that creates more problems, linksys.
With that being said, I'll end this 15 minutes entry. I'll probably jump over to D-link the next time I do an upgrade and I advise anyone reading not to buy either of those products I've mentioned.
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Current/future technologies to look out for
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
I feel like doing up a post about upcoming relevant technology advances for 2009 and 2010 in layman terms. It might be because I am acutely aware that I have a desire to revamp my computer when I ORD next year that these changes become apparent but nonetheless, they are still pretty big changes that imo, are worth noticing.
Here are some of the things you should look out for if you are looking to buy a new computer or upgrade your computer, be it now or in the near future.
Here are some of the things you should look out for if you are looking to buy a new computer or upgrade your computer, be it now or in the near future.
1) Windows 7 Operating System
It's coming out around the end of this month. If you are using Vista, it's going to be a must to upgrade it. If you meet the conditions,Microsoft can send it to your house at a low cost instead of having you buy the OS (which will cost over a hundred). If you are using XP, it might be time to consider upgrading it (perhaps giving it a few months to iron out any remaining problems).
There was a pretty huge beta testing for Windows 7 and most of the reviews came out positive, claiming Windows 7 to be the smoother and friendlier version of Vista, with a lot of clutters taken away to be replaced by a non-demanding sleek system. Looks like the time for XP to retire is coming close.
2) IEEE 802.11n (A.K.A. Wireless draft-n)
Are you still using the ugly Linksys blue and black router that looks like some out-of-place plastic casing among all your sleek black equipments? (The D-Link one looks better but I am assuming most people uses Linksys router here anyway) The new wireless-n router has not only a much nicer design but also 2x the range and up to 7x the speed. It's the new standard, superseding the 6 years old G protocol, which is what most of us are using now. And yea, this is only an upgrade if your internet surfing is powered wirelessly. If you're using LAN cables, they are still faster than wireless setups.
Wireless draft-n has been out in the market for a short while and many places now sell wireless-n routers. It's definitely worth the upgrade if you have several PCs connecting to the router wirelessly. If you are going to opt into the broadband upgrade (elaborated below), this should be a worthy investment.
3) USB 3.0 source: USB.org
Yeps, your ever convenient USB hub is going to get an upgrade in speed too. Currently every system around is installed with USB 2.0, which is already in use for 9 years. The USB 3.0 is going to be 10x the speed, transforming from "Hi-speed" to "SuperSpeed". The time taken to transfer your files from your camera to computer is potentially 10x faster if USB SuperSpeed is adopted globally. It's backward compatible too, so fret not, all your old devices are still able to connect to USB SuperSpeed.
USB 3.0 is slated to be available in early 2010, but there's really no point waiting for USB 3.0 if you are waiting a new machine because it's estimated to take about 1 or 2 years after release before it will become mainstream and utilized properly. It may be a slow transition but watch out for it!
4) Blu-ray
Heard of this term before? If you haven't, here's what it is. Blu-ray refers to a kind of disc that has an even higher storage space than DVDs. It's relatively new, having just came out early last year, and it's way more powerful than the DVD. Anyone into HD (High Definition) videos or audios would have certainly heard of this term by now. A normal Blu-ray disc can store up to 25GB as opposed to 5GB in a normal DVD disc and it can also be read faster than a DVD. As far as I know, PS3 has games being sold in this medium already.
What's more, machines aimed at multimedia consumers such as the vaio I was drooling over before are increasingly being fitted with a Blu-ray player with DVD/CD burning capabilities. With this level of penetration, Blu-ray is only going to get more popular. Just one downside, if you want to fully enjoy the wonders of this technology, your screen needs to have this logo.
5) Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network source: IDA Singapore
Here's some local news.
Even if you haven't heard of that term before, you will have surely read from somewhere in local news that several districts are having their fiber optics upgraded to higher speed. They are the same thing essentially. It's a plan to upgrade Singapore's broadband speed, which is lagging behind many countries. If all goes as planned, our maximum download speed can potentially be increased to 1GBps, 10x the speed now, but taking all the factors into consideration, the value is probably overly exaggerated and we should just deem it as a modest speed upgrade until proven otherwise.
Despite having a broadband penetration rate of near 90%, our speed requirements barely reach current demands, ranked at 28th of 66 analyzed countries in a study conducted by Cisco. It's time that we have a proper hardware upgrade if we were to stay competitive globally.
The upgrade is a opt in thing though, and they have to install a small gadget in your house for you to access the upgraded connection. More can be read here. It says that the services is slated to be provided in 2010 so things still seem pretty vague to me. Do we have to terminate our current subscription and subscribe to their services or are they going to let us upgrade our current internet subscriptions? How much will we have to pay and what kind of jack are they providing for the connection? They either didn't cover these questions or have hid them pretty well because I haven't read any of such things thus far. Well, it's still more or less in its infancy stage so that can wait.
As I have said, I am not satisfied with our local ISPs and still remain skeptical about their provision of services. We badly need the upgrade but if our service providers aren't going to maintain the quality of the link, the investment is as good as a lost cause. I am gonna wait and see.
That's about all the main stuffs I wanted to say. I still ended up typing a bit too much when it comes to our local internet but W/E. The list is by no means exhaustive but I believe it covers most of the important upcoming developments we'll see.
It's coming out around the end of this month. If you are using Vista, it's going to be a must to upgrade it. If you meet the conditions,Microsoft can send it to your house at a low cost instead of having you buy the OS (which will cost over a hundred). If you are using XP, it might be time to consider upgrading it (perhaps giving it a few months to iron out any remaining problems).
There was a pretty huge beta testing for Windows 7 and most of the reviews came out positive, claiming Windows 7 to be the smoother and friendlier version of Vista, with a lot of clutters taken away to be replaced by a non-demanding sleek system. Looks like the time for XP to retire is coming close.
2) IEEE 802.11n (A.K.A. Wireless draft-n)
Are you still using the ugly Linksys blue and black router that looks like some out-of-place plastic casing among all your sleek black equipments? (The D-Link one looks better but I am assuming most people uses Linksys router here anyway) The new wireless-n router has not only a much nicer design but also 2x the range and up to 7x the speed. It's the new standard, superseding the 6 years old G protocol, which is what most of us are using now. And yea, this is only an upgrade if your internet surfing is powered wirelessly. If you're using LAN cables, they are still faster than wireless setups.
Wireless draft-n has been out in the market for a short while and many places now sell wireless-n routers. It's definitely worth the upgrade if you have several PCs connecting to the router wirelessly. If you are going to opt into the broadband upgrade (elaborated below), this should be a worthy investment.
3) USB 3.0 source: USB.org
Yeps, your ever convenient USB hub is going to get an upgrade in speed too. Currently every system around is installed with USB 2.0, which is already in use for 9 years. The USB 3.0 is going to be 10x the speed, transforming from "Hi-speed" to "SuperSpeed". The time taken to transfer your files from your camera to computer is potentially 10x faster if USB SuperSpeed is adopted globally. It's backward compatible too, so fret not, all your old devices are still able to connect to USB SuperSpeed.
USB 3.0 is slated to be available in early 2010, but there's really no point waiting for USB 3.0 if you are waiting a new machine because it's estimated to take about 1 or 2 years after release before it will become mainstream and utilized properly. It may be a slow transition but watch out for it!
4) Blu-ray
Heard of this term before? If you haven't, here's what it is. Blu-ray refers to a kind of disc that has an even higher storage space than DVDs. It's relatively new, having just came out early last year, and it's way more powerful than the DVD. Anyone into HD (High Definition) videos or audios would have certainly heard of this term by now. A normal Blu-ray disc can store up to 25GB as opposed to 5GB in a normal DVD disc and it can also be read faster than a DVD. As far as I know, PS3 has games being sold in this medium already.
What's more, machines aimed at multimedia consumers such as the vaio I was drooling over before are increasingly being fitted with a Blu-ray player with DVD/CD burning capabilities. With this level of penetration, Blu-ray is only going to get more popular. Just one downside, if you want to fully enjoy the wonders of this technology, your screen needs to have this logo.
5) Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network source: IDA Singapore
Here's some local news.
Even if you haven't heard of that term before, you will have surely read from somewhere in local news that several districts are having their fiber optics upgraded to higher speed. They are the same thing essentially. It's a plan to upgrade Singapore's broadband speed, which is lagging behind many countries. If all goes as planned, our maximum download speed can potentially be increased to 1GBps, 10x the speed now, but taking all the factors into consideration, the value is probably overly exaggerated and we should just deem it as a modest speed upgrade until proven otherwise.
Despite having a broadband penetration rate of near 90%, our speed requirements barely reach current demands, ranked at 28th of 66 analyzed countries in a study conducted by Cisco. It's time that we have a proper hardware upgrade if we were to stay competitive globally.
The upgrade is a opt in thing though, and they have to install a small gadget in your house for you to access the upgraded connection. More can be read here. It says that the services is slated to be provided in 2010 so things still seem pretty vague to me. Do we have to terminate our current subscription and subscribe to their services or are they going to let us upgrade our current internet subscriptions? How much will we have to pay and what kind of jack are they providing for the connection? They either didn't cover these questions or have hid them pretty well because I haven't read any of such things thus far. Well, it's still more or less in its infancy stage so that can wait.
As I have said, I am not satisfied with our local ISPs and still remain skeptical about their provision of services. We badly need the upgrade but if our service providers aren't going to maintain the quality of the link, the investment is as good as a lost cause. I am gonna wait and see.
That's about all the main stuffs I wanted to say. I still ended up typing a bit too much when it comes to our local internet but W/E. The list is by no means exhaustive but I believe it covers most of the important upcoming developments we'll see.
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PSP-Go
Sunday, October 4, 2009
source
The PSP-Go is available in Singapore as of a few days ago at a price of S$412. It's feature? It's also going to be smaller and lighter than the standard PSP we are used to, which IMO, doesn't really matters as long as the PSP can fit into my bag without weighing too much. It has bluetooth capabilities too, so the transfer speed between the consoles or computer should be decent.
The other very important feature is the removal of UMD (the small disc thingy at the back of your PSP) driver entirely. Yeps, you need to download all the games online via the Sony Playstation Store. It's going to be purely digital with the exception of a Memory stick. And by the way, the PSP-Go is going to use 802.11b protocol, so I wouldn't bet on downloading games using PSP-Go unless I have that much time to waste. (If you have no idea what's that protocol, you're probably still using the G protocol for your wireless internet connection, which is about 4x to 5x faster than the B one that PSP-Go is using)
I am going to cross my fingers for now because I doubt PSP-Go is going to be a hit in Singapore. Our very slow broadband speed isn't going to help sales at all. Just in case you didn't know, currently we are behind our developed Asian counterparts and already 3x slower than the internet connection in South Korea. Maybe the going-to-be installed fibre optics cables will help our speed (but then, it may not help because our dear local companies actually limit our internet speed.
Opps, I ended up bashing Singapore's infocomm companies. Coming back to topic, no, don't buy PSP-Go unless it's been proven that the "upgraded internet connection" is really 10x faster than our current speed. I am not even hoping for 40% of the cited "maximum speed of up to 1Gbps!!!!". I am looking at less than 10%. Hopefully we can even reach a 100Mbps. Oh shi-, I'm bashing them again.
Source: PCWorld, VR-Zone
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