New Design for TechnoGuy's Blog

I have completed the installation of a New Design for my blog. It is called "Minyx" and was created by B-THEMES.

The new design uses a large amount of external graphics. This could cause future problems if this blog gets high traffic, as other blogs may be using this design with the same graphics. The graphics are stored on an Image Hosting service.

There are three columns in the design, unlike many other Blogger templates. This design itself is based on a template made for WordPress, but it has been converted to Blogger-compatible format.

Unfortunately, due to my own ignorance, the Poll Information has been lost. If anyone does have a record of the previous Polls, please inform me.

Many thanks go to B-THEMES for creating this wonderful design.

I've also created a Poll for all visitors inform me of their experience with the new design. If you have any ideas for improvement, please post a comment.

Finally, I hope you like the New Design for the Year 2008. Happy New Year!

The New Dialog TV Decoder

Today is Chrsitmas, and I celebrated it with my friends. I also got the opportunity to use the new Decoder built by Technosat (UAE) for Dialog Satellite Television. The New Decoder is a major improvement over the Coship CDVB5110D Decoder originally chosen by CBNsat.

The New Decoder, as I assume, is specifically designed for Dialog TV by the U.A.E.-base company Technosat. I assume so because the Technosat Website does not show or mention the Dialog TV Decoder.

The New Decoder follows in the footsteps of major DTH services such as Sky (UK), Dish TV (India) and DirecTV (USA). The interface is mostly made up of blue colour, and is more simpler than before (debatable).

Physical Aspects
The Decoder is physically shaped like a regular slim DVD player, only less wider. It is silver/gray in colour. It also has the Dialog Satellite TV label pasted on it.

Connections
The connections in the Old Decoder and the New Decoder are the same, except for the Digital Coaxial Output. I've listed out the connections I can remember:

1 x Satellite In
1 x Loop Out
1 x RF In
1 x RF Out

1 x Composite Out
1 x S-Video Out
2 x Audio L+R Out
1 x S/PDIF Optical Out (TOSLINK or Digital Optical Audio Cable)
1 x S/PDIF Coaxial Out (Digital Coaxial Audio Cable)

1 x RS-232 (COM)

The Blue Information Dashboard
The blue dashboard that appears when you change the channel or press the "i" (Info) button displays the usual information. But only the current programme is listed, not the next programme. And also the current time is included in the dashboard, not in a seperate window on top of the screen.

By pressing the "i" button a second time, it is possible to get information on the current Satellite, Signal Quality, etc.

Electronic Programme Guide
The Electronic Programming Guide now has its own full screen window. The current channel is displayed in a small window on the top-left side of the screen. The current time and date are displayed below that. On the right side is the list of channels and the current programme. By selecting a channel with the "OK" button, and then pressing the Red button, it is possible to see its weekly EPG.

By pressing the "OK" button while watching a channel, you can access the usual list of channels. But in the New Decoder this is a full screen window, with the current channel displayed on the top-left side and the list of channels on the right side, similar to the EPG.

Pressing the "i" button when selecting a certain programme on a channel will allow you to view its description. The description can cover many page (the most I saw were 4 pages). This explains why we sometimes see only the last few words of the description on the Old Decoders. When there is no description the Decoder politely displays "No Extended Information", without showing a plain black box.

It is also possible to set a Reminder for a programme on any channel. I could not experiment with this, though.

Snapshots
There is also an attractive feature which allows a user to view snapshots of 9 channels at a time. The name of each channel is displayed on the lower part of each snapshot.

Zoom
The Zoom feature allows you to magnify the current video up to 4x, just as in most of today's DVD players.

Menus
The menu system of the New Decoder consists of colourful graphics to denote each submenu. Unfortunately I did not have time to look around there.

Satellite Chooser
By pressing the "Sat" button you can select the satellite you want to use. Of course, in Dialog TV there is only one satellite: IntelSat 12.

The Logo
And I nearly forgot: almost every full screen page has the Dialog Satellite TV logo on the top together with the Title of the page.

Bugs
The Decoder can sometimes be a bit buggy. I once surfed through the channels and pressed the "Zoom" button, only to get an odd picture on the screen. The pictures was replaced by the normal television video after changing to another channel.

Purchasing the New Decoder
I do not know about any exchange programme for the New Decoders and Old Decoders. If you do want the New Decoder, it may be possible to purchase one for money (although you will still lose the Old Decoder). If you want to keep both the Old and New Decoders then you will have to pay for two connections.

Dialog will probably not open an exchange programme for these this decoder. If you know anything on this subject, please inform me.

Final Thoughts
Overall, I'm impressed with the New Decoder. Dialog designing and manufacturing their own Decoder together with a popular foreign company is a great thing. And the Decoder itself is almost on par with the ordinary Decoders of other DTH services, although not offering DVR capabilities.

But it is not worth exchanging the Decoder unless it is given free-of-charge or for a very low price.

Eventually I believe that Dialog TV will introduce another new Decoder, especially if they upgrade to MPEG-4 compression. And possibly Digital Video Recording capabilities too will be introduced.

As I do not have the New Decoder at home, I may be wrong at some points. Most of this was written by memory. I you do have the New Decoder, please correct me and provide more information.

The End of the Year 2007

It has been a great 2007 after launching this blog in February and actively blogging for 10 months now. Just two months more for the 1st Birthday of TechnoGuy's Blog. Time flies...

This Christmas season I've posted some new information. I've also added new ways to keep up with my blog via RSS/ATOM Feeds, thanks to the popular Feed Burner service. I've only got around 3 subscribers to my feed at the moment, but I hope for some imrpovements in 2008.

So see you next year. For now I wish you a

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2008

Let Them Know Its Christmas Time Again

Christmas is here. It is the season for Joy, Peace and Harmony among all. The Christmas spirit is not limited to the Christians. Have you not felt the happiness within and around you in December, even though you may be a Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim. Whoever we are, whatever religion we belong to, this is a season to show Love and Kindness to our neighbour.

Have you shown your Christmas Spirit this year?


Be Together For All



They protect our motherland and are the reason many of us live to celebrate Christmas this year. Just as we smile, joke and spend our time celebrating with our friends and family, the Guardians of Sri Lanka are watching fearlessly and giving their lives to save ours.

We can never repay to them what they have paid for us, but let us do what we can. Donate today to the "Be Together For All (Api Wenuwen Api Wemu)" Fund and help build a house for a soldier and his/her family.

You can donate to the fund by Cheque or even through your Dialog Mobile Phone.

Click Here for information on how to contribute.


Do They Know Its Christmas?



Do you know that many adults and children are dying of hunger in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa today? Do you want to even look at their wrinkled bodies and sad faces during Christmas? They have no food, no water and no clothes. Do not turn away, do not hide it at the back of your head, when you can do something.

The above song was sung by Band Aid 20. The original Band Aid created and sung the song "Do They Know Its Christmas? (Feed the World)" in 1984. The song became an instant hit in the Christmas of 1984, taking the #1 position in the UK Charts. The latest Band Aid was formed in 2004 under the name "Band Aid 20", including the newer pop stars and adding rap features to the song.

All proceeds from the purchase of the song "Do They Know Its Christmas?" go to Ethiopia to save a life. You needn't be a hero to save someone elses life. just purchase and enjoy the music.

Both the 1984 and 2004 editions of the song are now available for sale in Audio CD format, and well as on many online stores such as the iTunes Store.

Speed Test: Sri Lanka

Many users from Sri Lanka have tested their internet connections with Speedtest.net, a free download/upload speed testing service. The service also lists the Continents, Countries, Cities and Internet Service Providers according to the highest download and upload speeds.

Lets have a look at how Sri Lanka rates.

Internet Service Providers - Download
1. MTT Network (Dialog Broadband) - 994 kb/s
2. Sri Lanka Telecom - 432 kb/s
3. Unknown - 413 kb/s

Internet Service Providers - Upload
1. MTT Network (Dialog Broadband) - 309 kb/s
2. Sri Lanka Telecom - 147 kb/s
3. Unknown - 134 kb/s

Cities - Download
1. Kelaniya - 677 kb/s
2. Kotte - 658 kb/s
3. Colombo - 458 kb/s
4. Battaramulla - 458 kb/s
5. Kandy - 413 kb/s

Cities - Upload
1. Kelaniya - 233 kb/s
2. Kotte - 171 kb/s
3. Kandy - 168 kb/s
4. Colombo - 160 kb/s
5. Battaramulla - 148 kb/s

Interesting. Evidently Dialog Broadband takes the first place because they have only high speed connections. SLT lags behind Dialog, and what is the Unknown ISP in Sri Lanka? It comes very close to SLT. I can guarantee that the City-based lists are not very accurate.

As more and more Sri Lankan surfers test their connection speed, the listings are likely to change greatly. So keep checking Speedtest.net for the latest ratings and see if SLT can improve with their Mobitel Broadband.

Speed Test: SLT

Today I came accross a free online service named Speedtest.net which allows internet users to measure the download and upload speeds from the current location to a selected server. The closest server to Sri Lanka was Male in Maldives. The free service helped prove how awful the SLT ADSL service was becoming.

My home connection is SLT ADSL 512k download and 128k upload.

I tested my home connection in two stages: Daytime and Nighttime. Nighttime results are generally better as there is less internet traffic in Sri Lanka in the night.

Home Test: Daytime (1430h-1530h)





Home Test: Nighttime (2030h-2130h)

Webcam Business

I have three Webcams at home:

1. Logitech Quickcam Chat
2. Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000
3. Kodak ...

The Quickcam Chat is my latest webcam, and is not an improvement over the others. My good old Quickcam Pro 4000 stopped showing video after about a year of use. When in operation it shows a black, sometimes flickering screen. Only the microphone worked properly. After research on the internet, I came to the conclusion that the sensor in the Pro 4000 was dead and gone.

So I bought a Quickcam Chat looking for a cheaper deal. Big mistake. The Quickcam Chat's picture quality was light years behind my Quickcam Pro 4000. The picture was even worse than the front camera of my 3G phones.

My Kodak webcam (1999) never works under Windows XP or Vista, so that too is useless to me.

Can anyone suggest a good webcam to buy, which has less chances of dying within the first few years?

Mobitel 3.5G

Mobitel too introduced their Thrid Generation network last week. They announced an improvement over Dialog 3G's services as Mobitel has 3.5G, a newer version.

Mobitel M3 boasts 7.2 Mbps downlink speed and 1.9 Mbps uplink speed, which is a large improvement over the ordinary 3G. However, only 512 Kbps downlink and 128 Kbps uplink is available for mobile users. The higher speeds are available under monthly subscription for home and office users, not for mobile users. The subscription packages range from LKR 400 (512k) to LK 15000 (7.2M).

Free Data Bundles on 3G Home Usage
But unfortunately all the subscription packages have download limits. SLT once more cheats the customers, by calling these limits "Free Data Bundles". Once you pass the limit, you have to pay LKR 10 for every 10 MB downloaded.

I personally believe it is better to get Dialog WiMAX 4M for LKR 14000 and download without limit, than use Mobitel Broadband for LK 15000 and pay even more for "excess" downloading. Its simply not worth for users like me, who download a lot of data every month. I should get around to measuring my downlink usage.

For Mobile Users
M3 is slightly faster than Dialog 3G, and equal to SLT Home ADSL at 512K. Dialog 3G is at 384K, although it has been faster at times. M3 has a session charge of LKR 2 whilst Dialog had removed it some time ago. The prices are equal between the two at LKR 0.02 per kilobyte.

Oh, I almost forgot! There is a "Free Data Bundle" of 200 MB for mobile users too. Customers say that this provides 200 MB of free downloads to all customers. After passing 200 MB the normal data charge will be applied. That's nice of Mobitel. But then why give the same name "Free Data Bundle" for the "download limit" on 3G home usage?

Video Calling
M3 provides Video Calling T LKR 3 per minute and higher to M3 customers, according to the package. It was also said in the M3 launch speech that "this is probably the lowest price you will ever get". LKR 3 is definitely cheaper than Dialog 3G Video Calls (LKR 5 per minute), but whether it will remain so is yet to be seen.

Mobi TV
Now is the the Mobi TV service available in the Americas or Mobitel's own service under the same name. Most likely it is the latter (copyright issues?). This is the competition to Dialog Mobile TV. The picture quality on M3 could be improved because of the slightly faster downlink speed. Other than that, I do not have any information on the channels available.

We are the First in South Asia (NOT)
Mobitel has been proudly proclaiming that they are the first in Asia to provide 3.5G and HSPA (High Speed Data Access) in South Asia. There is a flaw in this advertising. Mobitel is the first to provide 3.5G, but not HSPA. Dialog was actually the first to provide HSPA in South Asia.

This is only a summary of the information that Mobitel has provided, but as with all advertising there are and will be misleading details. Please tell me about your experience with M3 if you have used the service, and about the Mobi TV service. And also some understanding about the "Free Data Bundle" business will be happily accepted.

For the moment I think I will stick on with Dialog because they have not set download limits, etc. And their service has not created much problems for me so far. I do not always trust SLT and their services, especially with the great fake price reducation they issued on landphones (benefits were only for businesses; we paid the same old amount).

Anyway, we must be happy that Dialog and Mobitel are the first to introduce 3G Networks in South Asia. A great milestone for both companies and for Sri Lanka.

UPDATE: Thanks to K FLYER and Tao 365 for further information.

Hands on with Dialog 3G

Dialog Telekom was the first to introduce the Third Generation mobile systems to Sri Lanka. In mid-November this year, Dialog began providing 3G facilities to all Dialog Mobile customers. All customers can now use 3G facilities if they have a compatible 3G Phone.

Soon I received the 3G service on my Nokia N80, and began to wonder if there was a mistake somewhere. When I checked GPRS, it turned out to be very fast. But Video Calling did not work.A few days later, the Press Release on Dialog 3G was made available on Dialog's Corporate website. It explained that 3G was now available to all Dialog GSM and KIT customers. I enabled Video Calling too under the given instructions.

So how was the Dialog 3G experience? For me, it was mostly trouble-free and interesting. However, some of my friends with 3G did say they have problems. But since I have not seen them first-hand, I cannot comment.

3G Internet
Internet on the Dialog 3G network was like heaven after suffering GPRS for over a year now. According to my research, 3G (not 3.5) could reach up to 1.5 mbps. Even though Dialog stated on 384 kbps as the speed on their website, I believe it surpassed that limit at certain timed. One reason for the high speed would be that few people are using 3G services at the moment, although this will change as 3G phone become cheaper.

An interesting fact is that Dialog 3G Internet surpassed the speed of my home SLT ADSL 512k. When downloading a video of about 5 MB, ADSL crawled at a speed of 5 kbps. But when I connected my computer to the Internet via my phone, it downloaded at around 20 kbps. I'm starting to consider moving to Dialog Broadband too (Dialog 2 Mbps is cheaper than SLT 2 Mbps).

Dialog Mobile TV
Dialog Mobile TV was launched a few years ago and has been one of Dialog's unique features so far. It provide CNN, Cartoon Network, and several local channels over the GPRS and 3G networks. On GPRS it would be a waste of money to watch television, as there was hardly anything to be seen or heard. But on 3G this experience changed for the better. Television on 3G loaded fast and worked smoothly without any bumps, and it was much clearer than I would ever imagine. I could actually read the text on the newsbar of CNN (although I do not encourage you to do so; the text is small and you can damage your eyes trying to read it).

Video Calling
Soon I got hold of my old N70 and enabled Video Calling on that too. I took my first ever Video Call from me to myself (later I tried with a friend). The quality of the video transmitted was good, although not crystal clear as shown in the deceiving advertisements.But it was good enough to recognize the face and even the background. And the video was transmitted within approx. two seconds. Audio did not always synchronize with the video.

So far Dialog 3G is quite satisfactory for me. With the recent reduction of prices, 3G has only become more affordable. But with 3.5G now in the market with higher data rates from Mobitel, and Airtel coming withing the next year, it will be interesting to see what happens. Competition will work to the customers advantage, although I will not be switching to another mobile network anytime soon. I encourage you to try out 3G now if you have a compatible phone.