Netflix online Movie Service

I have been using Netflix for about a year or two already but only today I noticed that they are offering a online service that allows you to watch movies online at no extra charge. This service requires the use of Internet Explorer and the installation of their own movie player. Today I tested it in my Q1 being connected via WiFi to my 1.5 mbps DSL provider. Netflix checked my speed giving it a score of basic. Under these conditions I played a movie and found that while the picture was a little bit pixelated the play back was smooth without any skipped frames. Here is a short movie I recorded of this experience:


Video: Neflix online Movie Service

Dynamism sells the Fujitsu UMPC

The tittle says all. Dynamism has prepared the conditions to sell the Fujitsu UMPC. Prices still to be determined.

Off Topic: Missing English Girl.

A friend recently asked me for help in the case of the English Girl missing in Portugal and I have agreed to write here a note about it. First off all I want to say that I wish the parents of this girl all the luck that they can receive, because they are going to need it. And because I want for this case a happy end.

This said, I want to start by saying that it seems to me by the proportion of this case in the press that Europe have waked up from a nightmare that's part of the daily life of 1000 of 1000s of families of this world the majority of them from underdeveloped countries where governments do not care enough about this problem. Every day 1000 of children are abducted in this country and put for adoption to couples coming from developed countries from Europe and USA. And this is almost never mentioned by the European press or the press of any other country. And the worse part is the almost none existing statistics of this matter in underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. But to give you an idea in USA in a year of study were reported 797,500 children (younger than 18) missing, 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions, 58,200 children were the victims of non-family abductions, 115 children were the victims of “stereotypical” kidnapping (These crimes involve someone the child does not know or someone of slight acquaintance, who holds the child overnight, transports the child 50 miles or more, kills the child, demands ransom, or intends to keep the child permanently.) And these numbers are taking in one year of study in USA where we have a dozen of government and none government organization taking care of these numbers. What are the numbers for all countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America? Nobody knows for sure but I believe that the number would be that huge that our human minds wont believe it.

That's why I said to my friend that I would be glad to write a note but no about the English Girl who has the help of all the European press and the press of the whole world. I'm writing this note to help those who does not have any one to cry for help.

I'm writing this note asking countries of the whole World to stand together and stop the Human and Children Trafficking!

Battery Life still an issue

According to this Q1 Ultra review even with a weaker processor the battery life still an issue.

Alas, the battery-life problems remain. In my tests, where I turn off all power-saving software, use maximum screen brightness, turn on the Wi-Fi and play an endless loop of music, the standard battery lasted just two hours and five minutes, which translates to about three hours in more normal usage.

I'm praying for the 2 Gb of RAM working in my Q1. That will keep me going until 2008 where Intel should release the next generation of processors because this one is just BS: no performance but no battery life either.

Foxmail

Foxmail is a Chinese email client that allows you to handwrite emails. Foxmail imports Outlook Express and Outlook Inboxes. The program is good but unfortunately there are a few thing that have to be done manually to get it working. For example, after the inhalation a file called Chinese.lgb and located in the Foxmail folder needs to be deleted to get the English Interface.

To get Ink support, if it can be called in this way these other files need to be uncompressed in Foxmail folder.

The program could be a very good alternative for those that have not bought Outlook yet.

Anybody speaks Spanish?

You never know, probably I have few readers that understand Spanish and probably they do not know that I have been working as freelancer for the last few months for todoUMPC, the biggest Spanish community and one of the biggest community in the World about UMPC.

As part of this job I have been capturing videos from the screen of my Q1 to show what can be done in these devices and in some cases how can be done. So, if you understand Spanish I invite you to watch the more of 25 short videos that I have capture for todoUMPC.

Edit: I forgot to mention that all those videos were capture and edited in a Samsung Q1 with a Celeron Processor. Ah in case you want to know I used CamStudio (this is a wonderful freeware that worked very well in XP), CapturePad (Vista), Adobe Premier 5 and Windows Movie Maker.

My 2 GB is coming

Bad news, my 2 GB module is coming but no today! I should get it next Monday! arrrrrrr!

Digitizer vs Touch Screen

Every technology has advantages and disadvantages. A digitizer is more precise, you can hover, you can have an eraser included in your digipen... It's the ideal thing to have when you have a 12 inches and up screen. In another hand, we have touch screens where with a little bit of work you can almost do the same thing you do in a digitizer, less precise, no hover, no that comfortable but no needs of any special pen. You can use it with your fingers with a tooth stick, with anything you may thing being sure not to damage the screen. AND IT'S CHEAPER than a digitizer. These advantages is what makes me thing that touch screen is a must have in any UMPC.

The reason why I'm writing these words is because of the latest review written by Dennis Rice about the OQO 02. Let me start by saying that I like the design of the OQO 02. Like Dennis said, this OQO could easily become the iPod of the UMPC. But... it's not cheap, something that Dennis mentioned in his review, and it uses a digitizer which is a more expensive technology that could have been easily replaced by a cheaper and most useful on that size machine touch screen.
I almost pissed my pants when I was reading Dennis' Review, do not get me wrong, it's a well written review, it's a fair review and I like it but... here is what made me laugh. At the beginning of the review Dennis said:

It had an ACTIVE digitizer (yes, yes, yes!!). The inking experience was quite nice, although screen real estate is obviously an issue with a screen this size. No touch? THANK YOU VERY MUCH OQO. I don't want it.

And when he ended with all things that he liked then he added those things that he did not like it, and there was the funny part to me:

No pen included? When I got it, I immediately started looking for the pen garage. Hmmm, where is tha darn thing? It's gotta be here somewhere! Nope -- it's not there. Huh? Whassup with that? Active digitizer means I need a pen. What, not included? Tsk-tsk-tsk. Not good. A pen is included with XP Tablet SKU, but not with Vista? Need to change that one OQO.

Aha! If this unit would had a touch screen Dennis could have used anything to write on it, including his fingers! Did you get my point? Cheaper and easier to use, that's why UMPC use and must have always touch screens.

Vista Drivers officially released for Q1

I just found at Origami Project Forum that Samsung has relased finally officially Vista Drivers for Q1 that can be downloaded here. I have not compared yet the version numbers of these drivers versus those ones that came originally with the first batch of Q1p released to the market, I'll do it later today and I will report back of any difference.

New pictures of the Fujitsu UMPC

JKK has posted at his blog new pictures of the Fujitsu UMPC. I think that with the right price this UMPC could be a hit for many people that depend on how fast they type, like newspaper writers, bloggers, etc. The inclusion of a docking station is another plus. In the negative side this device does not include BT, but thinking about it, this is something that can be easily fixed having a USB port and we know already that a BT chip integrated left on all the time could use up to 10% of your battery life.