Accessories and J2ME software for V3x and 6300

17 June 2007

Accessories:

The accessories that I bought was the microSD flash memory cards. The cheapest that I found was RM42 for Kingston 512Mbyte but now for the RM45 we can a Kingston 1Gbyte at Boulevard, 3rd Floor, Karamunsing Complex. It used to be RM39 for a TwinMOS. But by the time I bought my V3x, it was already RM45 but RM29 for a 512Mbyte one, at Digital Wise, 2nd Floor, Wisma San Hin.

Initially I had problems with disappearing applications and pictures from the memory card. For 3 days and night, I had to sweat hard trying to find out the problems. The main problem is that it was intermittent. Sometimes, I can read, sometimes I cannot. Upgraded Mobile Phone Tools to the latest version, scanned for viruses for free next to Master Phone Shop where I bought my V3x, called Motorola toll free help desk, that recommends that I do a master reset. I had downloaded the software update but while waiting for the virus scan, I also find another customer with similar problems while scanning for virus. Replacing the memory card solved all problems. This is the 2nd time that I meet the same problem of disappearing contents. It happened to my 256Mbyte Apacer MMC card. I still keep it for general testing and short time use. This memory cannot maintain its contents for more than a few minutes.

The phones were equipped with transparent hard covers but it was not a good idea for a clam shell phones. I keep on opening it to the point of scratching its surface. For bar phones, there should be no problem, but there is none available for Nokia 6300. However my wife managed to get a soft rubber casing that could be better because it maintains its thinness while giving protection.

I advised my son to discard his hard casing the moment he needs to open its cover. Taking out the covers make the V3x small and handy but exposed. The cheapest screen protectors can be bought at the 3rd floor of Karamunsing Complex, for RM5. We don’t the correct models but using V3i works well and it comes with 2 pieces.

For additional protection, I bought a spiral plastic cord with a lockable hook from Boulevard, and a soft pouch from our local mobile phone shop at Taman Jumbo for RM6. A better looking but coarse inside costs RM29 which is not worthwhile for me who is not fashion conscious. My wife and children didn’t like to hook the phones because they feel that this is not the fashion. Safety does not seem to be a fashion here. I am extremely safety conscious, not against theft but against myself in case I drop or misplaced them.

Setting up:

I set up for both 3G wap and MMS services. Celcom does not offer over-the-air setup for V3x but Maxis does via the *100#. For Celcom, refer to its website for the 3G setup. Enabling 3G and MMS is free for all operators. For Celcom postpaid, we had to change our SIM cards but Maxis pre-paid 014 does not need to.

I had wasted my time calling Celcom operators because I thought my MMS setting was faulty but actually it was due to the large size of messages that I had tried to send. Nokia 6300 converts images that are too large, but V3x does not give a proper error message and does not do any conversion. There is no need to setup GPRS because 3G settings will default to GPRS if 3G were not available.

Setting up for internet access is best described by the Celcom site. It describes way of connecting a personal computer to the internet via Bluetooth. There is no need to buy a 3G data card just to access the internet.

3G services and costs:

Testing the phones cost my son RM3. Mine could be even larger but my Maxis pre-paid consumed RM3 while not allowing the activation of mobile TV. Celcom offers mobile TV for RM1 per day per connection even for pre-paid. Not sure for Maxis but my 014 was not allowed but I watched a lagging MTV channel from one of the promoters of Maxis at Centre Point, KK.

One colleague, a technician at TM, incurred charges of RM300 in just one day. Be careful with browsing via mobile phones. A few colleagues who need to connect frequently, had opted for the unlimited data connection. I am thinking of using this service but reports indicate that wireless internet connection is not as reliable as wired ADSL services. I intend to use the 3G for backup connection but for only for really emergency uses. Going to the cyber café should be much cheaper.

Free Software:

Much time is spent searching and downloading software. Because I don’t intend to use the software for serious uses, I search for free software only. Many sites offer so called advert sponsored free but you had to connect to the web sites which is expensive here. Downloading those adverts will cost a lot of money so beware.

The best site is www.getjar.com. It comes with a filter for your own phone brands but unlisted phones, you can use J2ME as a search filter.

We can update for free Motorola Mobile Phone Tools V3.xx up to version 4.xx by repeatedly updating the software. However I find it not that useful. It is better to use just the mass storage driver for Motorola and Nokia. It allows the full power of MS File Explorer to be used to see hidden files.

Bluetooth cannot be used to install applications to V3x but can be used by 6300. For V3x, the safest is to take out the microSD from the phone, and use a card reader to read its contents. Reading via the phone USB connector is risky. When the USB is connected to the V3x, the phone goes into the local storage mode, where the phone cannot access the memory card. When the USB is disconnected, it takes time for it to revert access of the memory card to the phone. Making I worse, sometimes it gives warnings of out of date applications. Earlier, I deleted these files but it is best to just switch off the phone after every USB connection, or wait for a while longer.

For V3x, you need to install to the kjava hidden folder but you still need to install them first. For 6300, you can copy the .jar file anywhere and it is immediately installed.

Another useful free application is the J2ME phone emulator. Download the Version Sun Java Wireless Toolkit for CLDC from http://java.sun.com/javame. The latest is version 2.5.1. It requires the .jad file in order to execute .jar J2ME executable files. V3x an 6300 does not need these .jad files. After installing the WTK, just double click on the .jad files, in order to lauch the emulator.

This emulator is fast enough and more convenient to use compared to our phones and it is free. Its size of 38 Mbytes requires fast connection.

These J2ME are very powerful indeed. Some are more powerful than any pocket PC software available. My favourites are the graphic scientific calculators XCalc from getjar and Fnattlab from Helmut Dersch. I also got Microsoft Word and Excel emulators in J2ME but are just basic but should be useable, from J2ME applications distributed in pirated disks. You can also try the PtviewerME2 from Helmut Dersch. It allows J2ME phones to display panoramic pictures that few Pocket PCs are capable of. The need powerful but not free J2ME virtual machine from IBM in order to run this program.

Both V3x and 6300 comes with QVGA screen resolution, as large as most Pocket PC PDAs. It is not surprising that they are capable of running programs as expressive as those in PDAs. Their speed will be getting faster and faster making them capable of performing better and better. Please note that these mobile phones are already more powerful than those widespread Apple II and CPM machines which are capable of running more useful software such as word processors and database management systems. There is no reason why these mobile phones cannot support these classes of software.