MacBook Air SuperDrive for all

So like me, you have a MacBook Air SuperDrive… It’s affordable, it’s functional, it’s sexy. If only it was usable with other Macs and PCs!

Well rejoice :) I have successfully hacked my MBA SuperDrive to work with other Macs and PCs. All you need is a $9 part (shipping extra) and a bit of soldering and you too can do this mod.

First, take a look at pictures of this mod and a video where I connect my hacked SuperDrive to my Mac mini and my HP Mini-Note running Windows XP.

Now here’s a bit of background. The MBA SuperDrive is designed to work only with the Apple MacBook Air. How is that possible?

Some people have speculated that perhaps the MBA SuperDrive draws more than 500 mA and that the MacBook Air provides more than 500 mA via its USB port. This is not the problem. My attempt at connecting the SuperDrive to several PCs and Macs while injecting additional current using a special cable was unsuccessful…

What about drivers? I (and others) have scoured the MacBook Air system folder for additional and modified .kext files (kernel extensions) by comparing them with the ones available on other Macs - nothing.

Other people have suggested that perhaps the optical drive within the MBA SuperDrive uses special firmware. This is not the problem either. After taking apart the SuperDrive and mounting the optical drive directly into a PCs removable bay, it was recognized just fine.

This leaves the IDE to USB bridge. It’s a small circuit board that allows an IDE device like the optical drive within the MBA SuperDrive to work as a USB device. It uses firmware too - and Apple appears to have designed custom firmware for it!

There appears to be some sort of handshake happening between the MacBook Air and the IDE to USB bridge within the MBA SuperDrive. I looked into re-flashing the controller (which is a standard part) with generic firmware, but after several hours I was getting nowhere.

The alternative was of course to replace the IDE to USB bridge with another one, which is exactly what I ended up doing. The trick was to find a small enough circuit board. I was about to give up on this mod when I stumbled upon the aforementioned $9 part on a series of tubes.

The part is small enough to fit within the MBA SuperDrive, but requires removal of the daughter-board (containing a power connector, a USB connector, and several capacitors), as well as the non-ideal relocation of the 12 MHz crystal.

And the rest is history - you can figure it out from the pictures :)

Why I’m disappointed with the iPhone 3G

A week ago today the iPhone 3G was announced at WWDC and I’ve been following the developments ever since. I was in London for work at the time, so I decided to wait a few days before blogging about it…

Well time’s up and frankly, I’m disappointed with the iPhone 3G :/

Now don’t worry, I’m still going to purchase the iPhone 3G on July 11 (probably the white 16 GB model), because I like my iPhone, and with 3G and the App Store, it’s finally what the original iPhone should have been from day one :)

And therein lies rub #1. The iPhone 3G is really just a minor improvement over the original iPhone. Sure, GPS is useful and SDK 2.0 is a significant update over what Apple shipped with a year ago, but look at all that’s still missing:

- Cut & paste
- Video recording
- Bluetooth/USB tethering (DUN)
- Bluetooth stereo audio (A2DP)
- Bluetooth file/contact transfer (ObEx)
- Voice dialing
- MMS

Of course, some of these missing features (video recording) can be addressed by third-party developers via the App Store. Some are not important to me (MMS). But some are essential to a 3G device (tethering), and I don’t see Apple approving alternatives like JoikuSpot anytime soon. Furthermore, the missing Bluetooth profiles (A2DP, ObEx), being low-level, are likely impossible to implement using SDK 2.0.

As for the camera, I was not expecting much, but it’s unfortunate that the hardware was not improved. Where’s the auto-focus and macro? Where’s the proper 2-stage shutter button and the flash? Look at the difference these features make, even with just a 2 megapixel sensor!

And here lies rub #2. Now that Apple and AT&T’s revenue sharing agreement is apparently over, where’s my optional, unsubsidized, unlocked iPhone 3G? I don’t care if it costs $200 more, I want to be able to swap my AT&T SIM for a prepaid foreign SIM when I’m travelling. There’s no major customer attrition risk for AT&T since it’s the only 3G network compatible with the iPhone 3G in the US.

Whatever happened to keeping things simple? An unsubsidized and unlocked iPhone 3G would be as simple as inserting a SIM, and simple is Apple’s mantra. But with the subsidized and locked iPhone 3G, it’s not even clear who amongst existing AT&T customers will be eligible to upgrade to the iPhone 3G, other than existing iPhone customers.

Since the iPhone 3G is subsidized like all other locked AT&T phones, will I be able to use any AT&T SIM with the iPhone 3G or will it, like the original iPhone, only function with the SIM used during activation?

Then there’s the artificial pricing for the iPhone 3G data plan. I’ve never been duped by AT&T’s arbitrary pricing differences between data plans, like MEdia Net Unlimited ($15 per month, $20 with 200 text messages) and PDA Personal ($30 per month, $35 with 200 text messages). Both data plans provide the same service and work with any device, 3G or not.

So why is AT&T pricing the 3G iPhone data plan differently than the original iPhone data plan, other than pure profit?

Yeah, I’m disappointed. Sosumi.

Amazon Kindle vs. Seabol & friends

Once a upon a time in the good land of milk & honey lived a band of happy gadgets. The leader of the band, Seabol, took it upon himself to keep a loving eye on the others, a MacBook Air, an HP Mini-note, an iPhone, and an alien gadget from another planet, the Nokia N95-3…

The band’s benevolent dictator was always very nice to all of them. She made sure no unwanted gadgets from the dark land far far away joined the band.

One fateful night, an evil gadget, the Amazon Kindle, somehow infiltrated the band, unbeknown to the benevolent dictator. It first attacked the iPhone, which managed to escape, being so thin and slippery.

The Kindle jumped on the MacBook Air, but was foiled by its strong aluminum shell. it then pounced on the HP Mini-note, but was blinded by its glossy frameless screen.

Something needed to be done. The Kindle was about to consume the Nokia N95-3 when Seabol jumped to the rescue. Within seconds, the Kindle was foiled and Seabol & friends prevaled!

Life with the HP Mini-Note

I’m sitting on the patio at Cafe Flore in the Castro on this balmy spring evening (70 degrees at 11 PM) in San Francisco, blogging on my HP 2133 (Mini-Note) instead of my MacBook Air - oh the things I do for my dear readers :)

Now that I’ve played with my Mini-Note for a couple weeks, I’m really not quite as excited about it as I’d like to be. Here’s a summary of my experience so far…

Pros:
- Small
- Über sexy anodized aluminum
- Nice build quality
- Great keyboard
- Good screen resolution (almost too good?)
- Integrated Bluetooth
- Lots of memory and storage

Cons:
- Too heavy for its size (> 3 lbs)
- Bulky 6-cell battery and AC adapter
- Screen too dim at times (and no LED backlight?)
- Small trackpad (and horrible buttons)
- Fan is almost always running
- Overly sensitive accelerometer
- Poor video performance

I’m still running Windows XP Pro, now with the official drivers - I’ve also upgraded to XP SP3.

The screen resolution is good but possibly too good for my eyes. As a result, I’ve set the screen to 144 dpi (150% original size), which is a definite improvement.

I’ve downloaded the official SuSE Linux disk image, and I may be taking it for a spin very soon.

Overall, the Mini-Note is a nice machine with good features for the money, but I’m not sure it’s the right machine for me.

I think the upcoming Asus 901 (Eee), with its Intel Atom CPU, integrated Bluetooth, multitouch trackpad, and more manageable 1024×600 pixel screen resolution, may be a better choice for me.

Besides, I already know from my Asus 701 (Eee) that I’m comfortable with the smaller keyboard.

I’ll keep you posted!

LG Vu: the good, the bad, and the ugly

So I’ve been using my LG CU920 (Vu) for almost a week now and - sorry for the cliché - it’s no iPhone killer!

Despite 3G support and a much nicer camera, the user experience is far from polished…

The good:
- It’s small, thin, and light
- 3G support with DUN
- Nice 2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and macro (see some pictures)
- Impressive sound quality over Bluetooth (A2DP stereo support)
- Streams 3GPP (for Internet radio)
- Video recording
- Haptic feedback
- Removable battery
- Good battery life

The bad:
- Resistive touch screen (not sensitive enough, no multitouch)
- No flash or lens cover on camera
- No gapless music playback
- No iSync support (not even via hacked plugins)
- No accelerometer, WiFi, or GPS
- No USB data cable or Micro-SD card supplied with device
- Micro-SD slot behind battery
- Proprietary audio/USB/power connector
- User interface problems (scrolling is difficult and counter intuitive, landscape setting is not saved for browser or virtual keyboard)

The ugly:
- Screen is unreadable in direct sunlight
- Crashes randomly (and hangs temporarily)
- Bad Java support (not full-screen, no virtual keypad for menu shortcuts makes it impossible to zoom in Google maps)
- No file browsing over Bluetooth (incomplete ObEx support, transfer works)
- No multitasking other than music (and this disables the camera)
- No configurable POP3/IMAP/IM client
- Inoperable without SIM inserted

BTW, I’m not evaluating the TV service (mediaFlo) since I’m not signed up for it.

That’s it for now :)

Unboxing the HP 2133 (Mini-Note)

Well my HP 2133 (Mini-Note) finally arrived yesterday! I got the KX870AT model (1.6 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, 7200 rpm 120 GB HD, Bluetooth, 6-cell battery, Windows Vista Business)…

Check out my unboxing pictures - the Mini-Note is definitely full of hotness :)

First impressions?

Build quality is exceptional - the screen and keyboard are great. The trackpad feels tiny compared to the giant one on my MacBook Air, and the power jack sticks out in an unwieldy way while connected (an L-shape would be ideal).

I removed Vista (like any sane person would do) and installed Windows XP Pro before even booting for the first time… I used this guide, which required some updating for Bluetooth support.

Everything is working properly and XP is snappy!

Etymotic Research hf2 review

I’ve already mentioned Etymotic Research, purveyors of fine canal earphones such as the wireless ety8, and the professional-grade ER.4 - one of my reference listening devices.

The hf2 are wired canal earphones similar to the ER.4, but designed primarily for use with the Apple iPhone. As such, they also function as a headset and feature a connector specially designed to fit the iPhone (reduced diameter body and 4-prong 3.5 mm jack).

While the ety8 are also designed for use with the iPhone, they don’t function as a headset like the hf2. Furthermore, both the ER.4 and the ety8 are more expensive than the hf2.

The hf2 are molded from a pleasant (both to the eyes and to the touch) soft black material. However, the headset, which is located on the right cord, detracts from the overall design by being rather bulky (see pictures).

I tried the hf2 with other devices and the earphones worked properly, but the headset only worked with the iPhone, and should work with some Blackberry devices (like the Curve). As for Nokia N-series devices (like the N95, N81 and N810), the hf2 can be used via the remote control (it should not be connected directly).

When used properly, the hf2 sound absolutely fantastic and attenuate outside noise extremely well. In addition, they operate exactly like the earphones/headset supplied with the iPhone.

I noticed an extremely mild difference in sound quality between the newer hf2 and my older (both design and age) ER.4. I prefer the high-end on the hf2, but I prefer the low-end on my ER.4. In fact, the transducers in the hf2 appear to have a similar frequency response the ones in the ety8.

The verdict? Great performance and great value - thumbs up for the hf2.

Pictures taken with the Nokia N81 8GB

I’ve already covered the pros and cons of the Nokia N81 8GB as a music phone. But what about its camera?

Like the other 2 megapixel N-series devices I’ve tested, the camera in the N81 8 GB features an LED flash, but no auto-focus or macro.

It takes similar pictures to the Nokia N75, but suffers somewhat from the green tint problem I experienced with the Nokia N76.

Compare the picture above with this one which I snapped at the same time with my Nokia N95-3 - note the difference in color balance…

In the world of 2 megapixel cameras without auto-focus or macro, the Blackberry Curve (and to some extent the iPhone, despite lacking an LED flash) takes better pictures than the N81 8GB.

Hopefully, Nokia can address this with future firmware!

Tasty bits - CTIA and beyond

Wait! Did two months of tasty bits just go by, CTIA and all? Hmmm yes…

HP 2133 (Mini-Note):
- HP 2133 Mini-Note UMPC Reviewed (Verdict: Rich Man's Eee PC)
- Lightning Review: HP 2133 Mini-Note
- HP Mini-Note 2133 officially official, reviewed
- HP Mini-Note gets unboxed, causes extreme jealousy
- jkOnTheRun review- hands on with the HP Mini-Note UMPC

Asus 701/900 (Eee):
- Video Hands on With the 8.9-inch Asus Eee PC 900
- Asus Eee PC 900 Hits U.S. May 12 for $549
- 1.2 GHz Pentium M in your Eee PC? No problem
- Hands-on with the 9-inch Eee PC
- ASUS' 9-inch Eee PC, now with living pixels!
- Eee PC 900 gets dissected, looks about the same as the Eee PC 700

Nokia N810:
- Android on the N810: Working on it!
- Nokia Internet Tablets to get Ubuntu and Qt ports
- Nokia's N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition gets official

Nokia N95:
- 8 GB North American Model N95 available: $779 online
- North American Nokia N95 8GB (Nokia N95-4) Unboxing

Nokia N82:
- All About Symbian Review: Long term battle: Nokia N95, N95 8GB and N82
- Nokia N82 gets blacked out for retail

Other Nokia:
- Eight useful codes for S60 devices
- 10 Awesome Applications for Symbian Phones
- Your S60 smartphone as a drum machine!
- WalkingHotSpot trial available for download
- Nokia E71 Pops up Down Under
- FCC Gives Nokia 6220 Classic the Nod
- T-Mobile’s new mystery 3G Nokia handset outted
- Nokia secretly shows E71 at Mobile Wor… er, in Sydney
- Google gets even chummier with S60, releases search app
- S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 gets broken down to the nitty gritty
- Nokia N96 gets in-depth review months ahead of release
- Things may be looking brighter for Nokia N96, Xenon flash in the works?
- Nokia readies iPhone-ish "Tube," disses Apple's sales
- Nokia E71 sneaks into the wild once again
- Exclusive: latest update on the hotly anticipated Nokia Tube
- The Nokia Guide: Getting the most out of your Nseries’ camera

Apple iPhone:
- iPhone Pwnage Tool Getting Public Release Tomorrow; Unsigned Firmware Support For All
- iPhone to Support GPS, Stereo Bluetooth, Nike+, Battle Hackers
- iPhone firmware 2.0? You’re damn right we got it!
- Nike+ going WiFi and 3G, headed to iPhone
- The second-gen iPhone: 3G, GPS, only slightly thicker - Engadget
- Touchpad turns your iPhone into a remote trackpad
- Palm emulated on the iPhone: finally we can leave that IIIc at home
- Easy 1.1.4 jailbreaking with iNdependence, Ziphone, and… iTunes?
- iPhone PwnageTool released!
- 3G iPhone rumors building up steam
- iPhone gets VoIP and chat options thanks to Fring
- iPhone firmware hints strengthen case for GPS support
- iPhone feature rumor round-up: Jabber and iTunes control
- Flickr Find: Lilliputian iPhone unboxing
- Twinkle: location-aware Twittter client for iPhone
- iPhone video recorder with audio support debuts

Sony Ericsson:
- Sony Ericsson's X1 reviewed
- XPERIA X1 white paper reveals yet more details
- Is this Sony Ericsson's P5 or "Paris"?
- Specs revealed of the real (or fake) Sony Ericsson "Paris"
- Another shot of Sony Ericsson's Paris?
- Yet another convincing Sony Ericsson Paris pic — open, this time

LG:
- LG KG750 Is Sleek of Line, High (Five) of Megapixels, Shoots DivX, Called Secret
- Live Pics: MediaFLO for AT&T on the LG Vu and Samsung Access
- LG Vu further slides into view
- Hands-on with the LG Vu
- Thin is in: LG shares a glimpse of its 5 megapixel hottie phone

Samsung:
- Samsung-built, Google-branded Android phones due later this year?
- Rumored Prada II specs surface in purported leaked press release

Motorola:
- T-Mobile considering Motorola Z10 for 3G launch?
- Motorola’s 2008 Roadmap Revealed
- Spy shots of the Motorola ZN5
- Motorola's ZN5 gets clearer, Kodak co-branding and all

Android:
- Android gets handled, now with Street View
- T-Mobile confirms it'll have an Android device sometime this year

Other:
- Meizu M8, Something You Burn in a Paper Bag on Someone's Porch
- T-Mobile's 3G Network Rolling Out May in NYC, Coincides With 3G HTC Touch Dual?
- Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC With Intel Atom Centrino, Vista Hits the States on June 20th
- Crowded Ultraportable Party Gets Dissected
- Meizu prototype caught in the flesh at CeBIT, we handle it
- Meizu M8 interface gets tweaked once again. A few pixels to the left, please?
- Meizu's M8 gets more UI tweaks for its music player
- More MID videos: IdeaPad U8 and Aigo
- Mozilla Mobile shows 5.9x performance increase on ARM device
- Opera Mini 4.1 beta released- good gets better
- Sharp Willcom D4: Vista in your hand for $1,526
- Life with the MacBook Air

Nokia N81 8GB music phone

As you’ve probably noticed, it’s been a bit quiet around here lately… But fear not. Despite being rather busy, I’ve managed to review some products and line up a few more!

The first one of these is the Nokia N81 8GB, kindly provided by Nseries WOM World. It’s a music phone with 8 GB of built-in flash storage, WiFi, and a 2 megapixel camera - the successor to the microdrive-equipped Nokia N91.

Take a look at my pictures and videos (1 and 2).