Belkin Wifi Skype Phone is here in Singapore!!!

I was walking around Sim Lim Square today looking at IP cameras and routers. I wound up at Media Pro on the 5th Floor. I was negotiating with him on a camera and ASUS router when I asked him about SMC Wifi Skype Phone. The guy says that he has something better... The Belkin Wifi Skype Phone just came to his shop today.
See the official site here.

Anyhow, it is on promotion for SGD 289 and you get a free Belkin Wireless Router. Say no more.. I got one. I had it configured for my office network and my home network today. I had a minor problem and called Belkin Tech Support. The techie was speechless as he barely knew that it was in the market today. But the usual techie solution worked - "turn it off and on again."

The phone is great. Feels good and work and sounds just like Skype on a computer (ringtones, etc.). It really breathes life back into Skype for me. Way cool....

PS one major drawback.... "The Skype WiFi phone does not contain a web browser and therefore cannot access hotspots, which require web-based login or authentication." So Starhub wireless Coffee Bean addicts are 'sh*t out of luck'. Is Singnet Outdoor Wireless the same? Will try and update.

Mac Mini Troubles

It has been a while, and there is much to update.....

My MacMini has been shutting down all by itself. It seems to be because it is getting hot and the thing decides to shut off. This was consistent on both OSX and Windows. It runs for about 15 minutes and then "puff".... it goes out. Rebooting will only go partway before it goes out again. If I wait for 15 minutes and try, it will go on and then shut off again. The underside of the Mac Mini also gets hot....

Anyhow, last time I had trouble with the Mac Mini, the AppleCare guy told me that I am covered for Apple Protection Plan so they will come to my home to fix it. I thought, "that sounds like a good idea".

So this time I called up AppleCare and told them I wanted someone to come fix my Mac Mini. I called from my office because their Call Centre hours were 9am to 6pm, and I did not have my computer with me (duh). Well I was told that before they send someone over, they have to determine that it is a hardware issue and I have to do some tests for them before they will send someone over... so another day without a functioning Mac Mini.....

So I stayed home late the next day to call them. The telephone support (Australian call centre) had me put in the Install Disc and that had the Diagnostics. I had to search for the discs. So I popped the disc 1 in and followed the instructions. The next thing I know I boot up to an nice error page that tells me to reboot. And this page keeps on coming up everytime I reboot. I do the "C" reboot and choose my WinXP. WinXP boots up and then shuts down after 15 minutes still. OSX still boots into error page.

So after over 90 minutes on the phone with Apple Support, they finally agreed to send someone over. I was given the Dispatch number for QCD - who is their contractor. They would call me and arrange for a date to come fix my Mac Mini....

BootCamp Update V1.1 Beta

That's the new news. Not so new any more since it came about on the 15th. Go to Apple's BootCamp Site.

According to TUAW.com, you don not need to reinstall the whole Windows again from scratch.

May be I will do this on the weekend, if I feel adventurous.

MacBook Pro Battery Exchange RECEIVED!

As I blogged earlier, there is a recall on some batteries on MacBook Pros sold earlier this year. Since the exchange is only available from online registration, I immediately registered and got the following confirmation:

=====
From:
Reply-To:
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 09:14:23 +0000 (GMT)
To:
Subject: Battery Confirmation Reference No: ######

Dear Apple Customer,

Thank you for ordering a replacement battery. Your request is currently being processed.

It will take approximately 3 to 5 business days for your replacement battery to arrive. Please note that shipping times may vary due to availability.

We appreciate your cooperation with this exchange program.

Apple
=====

It just arrived this afternoon on 11th August. I am not upset by any means... actually I am quite happy that it had gone smoothly. Just want to point out that 31st July to 11 August is 8 business days - exclusive of the begin and end dates.

It came with the return courier slip and all as they mentioned, but I am still wondering about my standards for a back up battery.....

Tip of the Day for BootCampers

I know.. I know.. How can I call this "Tip of the Day" when it is the only tip I have ever put down. Whatever.

Because of the long bootup problems on the Mac Mini, my wife has given up MacOSX and insists on using BootCamped WinXP. So now she want access to all the pictures and stuff that I had loaded up into the Mac partition. Which is kinda troublesome since I can't see the Mac partition from Windows, but I can see the Windows partition from Mac. So I decided to move the pictures to the Windows partition so that both sides can access. However, after moving 3GB worth of content over to Windows partition, I only had about 500MB of memory left in the Windows side. Naturally I went to try to expand my Windows partition as I still had over 30GB left in the Mac partition. NO CAN DO. There is no way to expand the Windows partition once you have set it up in BootCamp at the beginning. I have searched online and have come back empty handed. The only way is to wipe out the Windows installation^ and do it over again (with a larger allocation). So.....

TIP: When you BootCamp your Mac, do not be stingy and give it ... say ... 10GB. It ain't enough. Give it at least 15GB.

^ I am still debating this as I am concerned whether my Windows license will still be valid after I reinstall the new Windows.