Monday, October 21, 2013

Latest firmware update XXCMI1 for Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (GT-N5100) seems to have fixed the S-pen misalignment issue

Samsung has just released a new firmware update (build number: JDQ39.N5100XXCMI1) for Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (GT-N5100) in Southeast Asia region including Malaysia (XME), Singapore (XSP), Thailand (THL) and Indonesia (XSE) today, which users can get it through OTA update or from Kies software.


After the update, the Android version remains as 4.2.2, the firmware version becomes PDA: MI1 / PHONE: MI1 / CSC:MH2. Kernel version becomes 3.0.31-1475545 dated Mon Sep 16 2013.

This firmware update seems to have fixed the S-pen misalignment issue introduced by previous firmware of JDQ39.N5100XXCMH1.

I believe the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 users have been waiting for this bug fix for long. Finally, it has come.

Monday, October 14, 2013

My HiMedia Q5II dual core Android 3D smart TV + media player box

The China made HiMedia Q5II Android 3D smart TV + media player box is the second generation of the famous HiMedia Q5 Android box.

It is officially announced to be powered by HiSilicon 3718 STB chipset (HiSilicon is a subsidiary of Huawei), but the current Q5II boxes are very likely powered by the HiSilicon 3716c V200ES chipset, integrated with ARM Cortex-A9 1.6G Dual-core CPU and Mali-400 GPU, comes with IGB DDR3 RAM and 4GB NAND flash internal storage. It is running on Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) OS.



I got it with a promotional price of RM3xx, which is very attractive for an Android STB claimed to be the world's 1st dual core STB that supports 3D Blu-ray ISO replay.

Beside being a powerful media player that is able to play many kind of video, audio and picture format, this HiMedia Q5II also function as Internet TV STB preloaded with hundreds of China TV channels (Live TV), connected to major video streaming sites (HiTV). We can also install 3rd party media streaming apps such as XBMC onto it.

Being an Android box, we can also use it to browse the Internet with its web browser, run Android apps such as social media apps, Android games, etc.

Input wise, it has 3 USB ports, a 2-in-1 SD/MMC card reader, one SATA interface. It is able to connect to the network using network cable or 801.11N WiFi.

Beside normal 2D videos, it also support both side-by-side and up-and-down 3D videos.

It can link up with our computers and smart mobile devices using UPnP, Samba (Windows network sharing), NFS and UPnP. It can also interact with smart mobile devices using DLNA, AirPlay, Miracast and its own apps called HiControl and HiShare.

HiControl transforms our Android smartphone into a HiMedia remote control. By utilizing the sensors in the Android smartphone, we can use it to play motion sensing games on the TV.

HiShare enables the Android smartphone to share out its multimedia content onto the TV screen.

I use NFS to let my HiMedia Q5II to access the files in my PC. This is achieved by installing the haneWIN NFS server in my PC and put the files I want to share to HiMedia Q5II into the configured shared folder in the PC. The HiMedia Q5II can auto discover the NFS server and the shared folder, as long as the PC and the Q5II box are connected to the same LAN network.

You might notice that I put a G-Shark GS-NC860 tough cool laptop cooling fan pad below my HiMedia Q5II box. This cooling pad cost me RM25 only. Without the cooling pad, the HiMedia Q5II is pretty hot on its aluminium surface after switched on and running for some times.


The HiMedia Q5II has an intuitive GUI, which can be controlled by its own remote control or with Android smartphone installed with the HiControl app. You can also control it with 3rd party accessories such as air-mouse, game controller, keyboard, mouse, etc.

This is really a feature rich Android box, selling at an attractive price.

MyDigi and MyMaxis Android apps

Quite some times ago, Digi released MyDigi Android app for their postpaid and prepaid subscribers to manage their account, particularly to monitor their payment status and Internet quota usage. Prepaid users can also perform reloads with the app.


In order to use this MyDigi app, user need to have an active Online Customer Service (OCS) account, which Digi subscribers can register for one here: https://www.digi.com.my/ocs/

Today, Digi has also released the MyDigi mobile app in Apple App Store and Windows Store beside Google Play store.

In early 2013, Maxis follow suit and released MyMaxis Android app for their Maxis postpaid and Hotlink subscribers. Beside Android, they have also released the app for iPhone/iPad and Blackberry Z10 subscribers as well.


However, the MyMaxis Android app is as bulky as 13MB (compared to only 2.8MB for MyDigi). Generally, MyDigi users give good comment with a rating of 4.1 to their app, while MyMaxis users have more complaint and only give it a 3.3 rating.

Celcom is yet to come out with their official mobile app for subscribers. This is pretty disappointing.


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