Samsung Galaxy S i9000 First Impressions

I’ve had this phone for over a week now. First impressions are very positive. In fact it only took a few days to become totally reliant upon it. Gone are all my folded pieces of notes in my breast pocket where I used to keep all my notes / numbers / reminders / shopping lists. Now it’s all on the Galaxy S.

In short I think the Galaxy S is fantastic which is why I suppose it would be quicker to tell you the things I’m less than happy with and then you can just assume that I’m ecstatically happy about the rest of the phone.

Micro SD Card not easily swapped

In order to swap the Micro SD Card you need to remove the silicone protective cover* and then the plastic back. Then you can pop out the existing one and pop in another. What a shame that you cannot access the Micro SD card without opening up the back as this would mean that one could swap in and out different cards and build up a collection. One for music, the other for shiurim, another for films… Having to remove the cover makes the collection option impractical.

Camera Lens Position

Small Gripe: While holding the Galaxy S in its standard portrait position with your left hand (so that you can type with your right), the camera lens is situated exactly where I place the tip of my index finger. (See photo  of back below). This means that whenever I want to take a photo I first need to clean the fingerprints off the lens with my glasses cloth. No doubt the designer was a “lefty”.

No Exit (Close App) button

Annoyance: This is not a fault with the Galaxy but a missing feature of Google’s Android operating system. There is no standard Exit button for the windows. This means that even when you return to the desktop of the Android machine, the application you were in is still running and taking up resources. To cope with this I have placed the Task Manager app on the first desktop screen so that I can see what is running and go into the task manager and kill all apps I don’t want running anymore. It’s annoying but manageable.

*** UPDATE ***

I've since learnt that pressing and holding the Home buttom brings up a kind of a task manager where you can switch to currently running apps, go to resently run apps and kill existing running apps. After using teh Galaxy S for a few months I no longer consider this issue a problem.

Loses Mobile Network

Slight Worry: I’ve noticed that occasionally (maybe once or twice a day) the Galaxy S loses the ability to send or receive calls but it only lasts a few minutes. The notification bar up the top tells me that I have a signal yet when I try and call someone it come up with “Call Ended” and never dials. While this is happening, people who are trying to call me receive the answer machine. Quite often, redialing immediately succeeds. Sometimes it lasts a few minutes. It's something to speak to Orange about I think. I suspect that the problem is not on the phone side.

*** UPDATE ***

The phone kept getting blocked every few days. I kept phoning Orange and they'd unblock the phone and it would work another couple of days and then get blocked again. Then one morning, Orange phoned and said that the reason why the device kept getting blocked was because Pelephone had marked my device as stolen! Orange told me that they could not unblock it anymore and asked me the details of where I'd bought the phone and how I'd paid. I told them everything, after all, I had nothing to hide. I contacted the phone shop where I'd purchased the machine and then began a week of arguments. Eventually I returned the phone by registered mail after they had agreed to give me a full credit card refund. However, as of this date (4/5/2011) they have yet to return my money and refuse to return my calls.

I loved the Galaxy S so much that I went to Orange and bought one there with a full package. The device works perfectly and of course now I get full support and insurance from Orange.

 

Network Signal Strength

The Galaxy is not as good as my old Motorola V3 but then again that was better than most others. For instance, going through the Jerusalem tunnel, many phones lose signal all together where as I could continue a conversation while driving through it the whole way. I’ve noticed that the Galaxy S drops to 1 or 2 bars signal strength and loses klita (signal) altogether while in some parts of the supermarket across the road from where I work. The Motorola had no problems in the supermarket ever. Whilst at work (in the centre of Yerushalayim) it remains a steady full signal however.

Battery Life

This is not a phone to take into the countryside for a few days. The Galaxy S needs recharging at least once a day. The good news is that it recharges not only from its charger but from any USB outlet as well so If you work in an office, you won’t have a problem. It’s worthwhile getting a micro USB charger for the car as well, just in case.

* It is a must, I repeat, a MUST to purchase a silicone protective cover for the Galaxy S body and a plastic strip for the screen. Make sure you get a protective cover that overlaps the device so that there is a protective lip running all around the front of the phone as well. (See picture below). It costs around NIS 50 for the set and will save the phone if accidently dropped. BTW, I have already done this. I dropped the Galaxy S in the street. The phone bounced once on the silicone cover and then came to rest on the ground. Baruch Hashem, not a scratch.



A clear cover.  I prefer this to all the flashy colours.



The silicone extends around the front, procecting the screen.

Straight Driving

I will never get used to how so many drivers in Israel consider it normal to snake in and out of lanes. I’ve seen them do it with the Police in full view. I always thought the Police were simply turning a blind eye but never actually thought that this is the preferred way of driving until I saw this sign in Yaffa road, Jerusalem, opposite the Central Bus Station.




(Taken with my new Samsung Galaxy S)


Actually the sign in Hebrew says “Straight Ahead Forbidden!”

I have no doubt that the Jerusalem council has plenty of native English speakers working for them yet the iriyah cannot be bothered to get their signs properly checked before they are put up.

Rembrandt, The Olympics and Zionist conspiracies

The British Press (See Daily Telegraph here and The Mirror here for two examples) seem totally flummoxed by the Iranian accusations of racism against the British. You can tell by the tone of the articles that they really don’t know what to make of (or how to deal with) Iran’s “outrage” and their threats to boycott the London Olympics 2012.

(From YNET)

Iran: London 2012 logo 'racist'

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4035509,00.html

Islamic Republic says Olympic Games emblem spells word 'Zion', accuses British organizers of racism

“The jagged, multi-colored emblem, which reportedly cost 400,000 pounds (nearly $650,000) features four bold numerals representing 2012, with the signature Olympic Rings emblazoned within the digit zero.


But Mohammad Aliabadi, head of the National Olympic Committee in the Islamic Republic, said the logo was undermining the event and accused the British organizers of indulging in "racism," ILNA reported.


"Unfortunately, we all are witnessing that the upcoming Olympics ... faces a serious challenge, definitely spawned out of some people's racist spirit," Aliabadi said in a letter to International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge.


"The use of the word Zion by the designer of Olympics logo ....in the emblem of the Olympics Games 2012 is a very revolting act," he added, warning that if Rogge did not act the logo would "affect the participation of several countries, especially like Iran which insists on following principles and values."
Zion is a biblical term which often refers to the city Jerusalem.”

Indeed the London Olympics organiser and spokesman, Sebastian Coe (a great British runner in his time) seems to have been left speechless!

The British Press constantly accuses Israel (read: “The Jews”) of being totally paranoid when it comes to criticism of themselves and screaming “Anti-Semitism” at every opportunity but as the saying goes,

"It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you”.

The first thing that the British press should understand is that only someone who is obsessed with Jewish hatred and sees Jewish/Zionist plots at every corner would have made such a statement.

As can be seen from resent You Tube videos of demonstrations in Egypt, for many people there, their main motivation for the overthrow of the government is not freedom of speech, freedom of the press, democracy or all these nice Western words but that, incredibly they needed to overthrow the government in order to install one who’s main goal will be the destruction of Israel! Even whilst they revolt against their oppressive leaders they still hang on fast to their Anti-Semitic beliefs.

See here:

http://rebmordechaiwrites.blogspot.com/2011/01/question-why-do-egyptians-want-to-be.html

This seems to be a common theme throughout the Middle East revolts as was correctly picked up by the brilliantly funny team at Latma TV:



In order to read “Zion” into the emblem one will have to read it Chinese style, that is top to bottom, going from left to right and ignore the diamond in the middle. No doubt the Iranians will explain that this diamond is actually a map of “Greater Israel”

For those who are baffled as to how Iran could possibly interpret the emblem this way and accuse the British of racism, I’ll enlighten you.

The Iranian leader, (aka Persian leader) knows that there is a famous Rembrandt painting sitting in none other than Britain’s National Gallery, London called 'Belshazzar's Feast', (painted in 1635).

The text of the warning reads:

מנא ,מנא, תקל, ופרסין

(Daniel 5:25)

Mene Mene – Hashem has counted the years of your kingship.
Tekel – and you have been weighed on the scales of justice and found wanting.
Upharsin – Your kingship is broken up (the word Pharis which means Persia is hidden within the word as well).

It is a warning to the Persian king that Hashem is about to destroy him.

However, in order to see the words in the painting you must read it from top to bottom, right to left.

(The “nun sofi” looks more like a zayin as well which adds to the confusion).

Just like the Olympic emblem!!! Now do you see why the Iranians are so worried?

There have been ingenious attempts by the British at hiding messages inside arstist's designs but this isn’t one of them!

To side track for a minute I’ll mention a lovely example.

The Channel Islands postage stamps during the German occupation.1941-1944, issued under the authority of the German occupation Army.

This set of postage stamps look like simple artist's drawings of the Jersey countryside with a simple pattern at the bottom incorparating the face value (postage price). The scenes were drawn by the British / local Jersey artist Edmund Blampied (who I understand had a Jewish wife).

Now, look at the 1/2d stamp upside down:

The initials "G VI R" (in reverse) which was the symbol for the King, King George VI (of “The King’s Speech” fame) can clearly be seen along with a huge “V” for victory symbol, . This was a tremendous act of defiance and may well have resulted in his execution had the Germans discovered his desception. How the people of Jersey kept this a secret from them I have no idea?

As can be seen from mainland British postage stamps from that era, the paper they printed on had a watermark with the symbol "G v R".

This one here for example is from the era of King George V, hence the "G v R".

See below for more details of Edmund Blampied and his brilliantly clever design:

http://www.ask.com/wiki/Edmund_Blampied

Getting back to the main issue of Iran and the British Press.

Here is a link to a BBC video where they discuss the issue (badly):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12604512

Everything the BBC correspondent and so called expert says is factually correct yet they fail to state the obvious. Iran's statements should be condemned as the Anti-Semitic rant that it is. The BBC's failure to mention this shows that they have become blind to Jewish hatred even when it is shoved in their faces. They are prisoners of their own lies and bias for how can the BBC say the truth when they know that this will contradict their position that Israel (read the Jews) are to blame for all the problems of the Middle East? Boiled down,  the BBC's position on the Middle East conflict for the last 40 years has been that all the problems of the Middle East would be solved if only Israel ceased to exist.

Mumarac, defaced with Star of David

However, just as Hitler did in the 1930s and the Russians did in the 1900s, the Arab world scream and tear out their hair in hatred for the Jews because they have been taught in schools and by their leaders that the Jews are to blame for every problem they have. (Hence translations of "Mein Kamp" and "The Protocols" being best sellers throughout the region). Anti-Semitism is used today as it was then as a tool to take the people's minds off the fact that they have no human rights, democracy or freedom of speech and that their leaders are stealing all their national assets to amass their own personal fortunes. These are the true sources of the Arab's ills.

Gaddafi, defaced with Star of Davids

Even when revolution for freedom is now sweeping the Middle East, the BBC and indeed most of the British media still sticks to its postion that Israel is the route cause and every day that goes by, they look more pathetic.

There will never be true freedom until they stop blaming Jews for all the world’s ills and looking for Zionist conspiracies at every corner.

You may be thinking who I’m referring to? The Iranians, the Arab world or indeed the British Press?

I’m referring to all of the above!

How to set up the Samsung Galaxy S for the Orange.co.il network

*** UPDATED ***

I bought a new smart phone yesterday, the Samsung Galaxy S i9000. Orange sell this model in Israel but it’s only the 8 GB version and costs almost twice as much as the 16 GB version bought in an independent mobile phone shop. (Try http://zap.co.il/ for the best deals.)

*** UPDATE ***
Orange now do the 16 GB version.
I no longer recommend buying over the Internet due to nightmare experience. See below.

I also bought a 16GB MicroSD card. I would have liked the 32GB but it's way too expensive at the moment but as soon as a 64Gb version becomes available, I'm sure the price of the 32GB will drop.

The trick is to get it working fully on the Orange network. Here's how to do it.

You should check before purchase that you are getting a phone which already has Hebrew support and Android 2.2 (probably within a few months of writing this, you should insist that it comes with Android 2.3).

Some Internet sites have Hebrew support as an option for extra money. You should ignore this and make sure that the supplier is sending you a model from an Israeli supplier.

The model that I received was destined for Pelephone so it came with all the stickers plus wallpaper and widget setups for that phone company. Just pressing for a few seconds on the widgets brings up an erase option and I removed them from the wallpaper menus. Note that you have not deleted the applications as they still exist inside the Menus.

The setup:

1. Pop in the SIM card and then phone up Orange

2. The most important thing to do once you’ve popped in your Orange SIM card is to phone Orange on *054 or if you are phoning on a landline phone, 1-800-074-074.

Tell them that you have just bought this phone and ask them to check that the System recognises the phone.

If you fail to do this then the phone might well work for a few hours but eventually you will receive the worrying message:

Conditional Call Forwarding Active -- Call Ended

You won’t be able call anyone or receive any calls.

I wasted a good few hours scouring the Internet for solutions and going through every single setting in the phone to no avail. I lost a night’s sleep trying to solve this problem. I assumed all along that it was the phone that was to blame as upon popping the SIM card back in my old phone, the old phone worked fine.

Solution:

You simply have to phone Orange and tell them that you have a new smart phone because they need to configure something at their end.

*** UPDATE ***

The phone kept getting blocked every few days. I keep phoning Orange and they'd unblock the phone and it would work another couple of days and then get blocked again. Then one morning, Orange phoned and said that the reason why the device kept getting blocked was because Pelephone had marked my device as stolen! Orange told me that they could not unblock it anymore and asked me the details of where I'd bought the phone and how I'd paid. I told them everything, after all, I had nothing to hide. I contacted the phone shop where I'd purchased the machine and then began a week of arguments. Eventually I returned the phone by registered mail after they had agreed to give me a full credit card refund. However, as of this date (4/5/2011) they have yet to return my money and refuse to return my calls.

I loved the Galaxy S so much that I went to Orange and bought one there with a full package. The device works perfectly and of course now I get full support and insurance from Orange.

3. The next thing you need to do is configure the Orange Internet 3G network.

Click on Settings and go to Wifi and Network settings.

Scroll down and click on Mobile networks settings.

Click on Access point Names
Click on the Menu button and click on New APN.

Enter the following Orange configurations:

Name:	3G PORTAL
APN:	uwap.orange.co.il
Proxy:	192.118.11.56
Port:	8080
User name:	orange
Password:	mobile54
Server:	(leave unset)
MMSC:	http:/192.168.220.15/servlets/mms
MMS proxy:	192.118.11.56
MMS port:	8080
MCC:	425
MNC:	01
Authen Type:	(leave unset)
APN type:	internet + mms

Save these settings.

4.Set up a Fake APN

Orange Internet connection is on by default if you are out of range of any recognised Wifi network. Unless you have paid for unlimited GPRS Internet access, this is going to be very expensive. Once you go over your allotted monthly MB download limit, Orange will start charging you muchas muchas buckeroonies!

I searched and searched but could not find a way to shut the Orange Internet Service off. I found a work around though by defining another APN called “Fake APN” and setting the IP addresses to 0.0.0.0. Then, when you wish to shut the Orange Internet service down you simply go into APN settings and switch to your “Fake APN”.

If you've followed these instructions, you should have a fully working Smart Phone running on the Orange network.

Morel’s Fat Lady loud speakers

Let's make one thing clear from the start. This is not a review and I probably will never get to hear these little beauties. Nevertheless, I thought they were interesting enough to blog about.

First off, I saw these speakers on Malcolm Steward’s blog pages. Malcolm was a kind of a hero of mine back in the 1980s. Back then, he wrote for a magazine called HIFI Review, long since deceased, (not him, the magazine), and was one of the first HIFI reviewers to not write about “mids”, “highs” and “bass” tones but instead, actually write about how a piece of music sounded. Did the piano sound like a piano? Could you identify the musical instruments in a piece or was it all merged into one? Did the HIFI set up a convincing sound stage, placing the instruments and singers in their proper place or was everything flat?

The fact that the measured frequency response of those speakers or wattage power output of that power-amp was low according to someone’s standards was for him, totally irrelevant. Absent were those oscilloscope style graphs that had always accompanied hifi component reviews in other magazines up until then and instead he simply stated that "the proof of the pudding was only in the eating", or, in this case, in the listening. If it made your foot tap, if it put a smile on your face then that’s all that counts!



Naim Nait

 (Take the Naim Nait Intergrated Amp for example. On paper it didn't have the power to drive a pair of paper cups but connect them up to the most demanding of loud speakers and they sung for all they were worth.)

Talking of sayings, let’s mention another one. “It’s not over till the fat lady sings”.

The term was actually used first in the 1970s by American baseball commentators and is synonymous with the English football term “It’s not over until the final whistle”

According to Wikipedia, the original saying was “The opera is not over ‘till the fat lady sings” which was supposed to conjure up an image of some obese woman singing on stage in the final act of a Wagner opera.

By calling his speakers “Fat Lady”, the designer is making the outrageously bold claim that these speakers are the ultimate, never to be improved HIFI speakers. According to him, anyone who listens to his Fat Lady will agree that she has indeed just sung.

The Fat Lady sings

When I first heard this claim I laughed at the guy’s chutzpa. I should have known. Only an Israeli could have said such a thing. Sure enough, the company that produces these works of art is called Morel and is based in Ness Ziona, Israel.

The manager of Morel is one Oren Mordechai but the designer of the “Fat Lady” is an oleh chadash from England (swelling with pride time...) called Russell Kauffman.

The first thing you notice about these speakers is that they look more like a cross between a shiny black double bass and a giant slug than an obese woman. Indeed, the unit’s girth is actually quite slim.

Here’s a very sleek video of the product.



For those who are interested, there is a review here.

http://www.avguide.com/review/morel-fat-lady-loudspeaker-tas-209
and a Video interview with Russell Kaufman here.

(Before you play the video, I'd just say that it features an American, Israeli and Anglo Jew. Just for fun, try and guess from the picture below, which is which - Clue:  Not difficult!).



Morel has made the ultimate claim with regard to the qualities of the Fat Lady and has backed this up with a totally outrageous chutzpadik price. They are retailing in the States for $32,000. (Yes, that is for the pair!)

I wish the company much hatzlacha and hope they bring out a cheaper version soon (perhaps called the "Not So Fat Lady") so that us mere mortals can hear what this company has to say.

Question. Why do the Egyptians want to be free? Answer. To destroy Israel

Interview with demonstrators on the streets of Egypt.

Simple facts that everyone should know... (about Egyptians):

It is revolution,
We hate Husnei Mubarak.
We want be free of him.
Because Mubarak support Israel.
We hate Israel. Israel is our enemy.
We want be free so we can destroy Israel.
Everyone know that the country who control United States is Israel.
We destroy Israel. We destroy America ([Editor's comment]...then I suppose the whole world is free?)

A review of the Steel Series Siberia v2 headset

The first thing I can say is that these are beautiful looking cans. Yes they are big, certainly too big for travel purposes. The build quality is excellent with a good solid feel to them. The elasticated headband insures that the Siberia v2 will fit almost any head size. So big are these ear pieces that your ears, instead of resting against the ear pads, actually sit inside the ear pads creating a seal which is very effective in cutting out external sounds. If this is a problem for you and you want to use them in an environment where you need to know what is going on around you then the Siberia’s are not for you.

The Siberias come in a wide choice of colours including “Star Wars” style white, black, orange, red and blue. I was boring and chose the black.

They are extremely comfortable and remain so after hours of continuous use. However, the icing on the cake of their brilliant design is the microphone. This hides inside the left earpiece when not wanted and can be instantly pulled out when needed. The microphone is on the end of a very flexible and sturdy cable.

So, looks and design are outstanding, but what about the sound?

A word of warning here. Because these headsets have such massive drive units, they need a lot of wearing in before the moving parts start to loosen up and begin reproducing music to their full potential.

Initial listening showed a wonderful sound stage with excellent depth of field. This is hardly surprising as these headsets were primarily designed for Computer games where a pin point clarity and sound stage is all important. As mentioned in my previous headset reviews, I played all reviewed headsets on the standard “Jazz” setting in Microsoft’s Media Player. This setting however brought a horrendously overblown noise from the Siberias and I very soon found that the only way to listen to them was to switch the Graphics Equalizer off all together!

Straight out of the box, vocals were thin and unrealistic lacking character and although the drive units went down really low, deep organ notes were lacking body. The overall impression was a complete lack of emotional expression. You could not deny however, an amazing amount of subtle detail which was totally absent from all previous headsets or even some Sennheiser headphones I have tried.

The headsets gradually began to settle down and opened up after about a week. It continued to improve in leaps and bounds. I was finally ready to put these cans through its paces.

I started listening to the introduction of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”. So enjoyable was it that I simply continued until the end of the album. Detail of all the weird sound effects has never been better and there was an overall balanced rightness to the whole production.

I wanted to fully test the sound stage of these beasts so moved on to Classical music. Jacqueline du Pré’s interpretation of Elgar’s Cello Concerto, recorded in 1965, remains the reference standard until today. Once experienced, it is sometimes painful to listen to other attempts at this minefield of a piece. The EMI recording itself is somewhat flat with microphone placed some distance away from Jacqueline’s cello. Nevertheless, the Siberias managed to transmit all that emotion - the delicate melancholy of her bow; Ah! it was all there in all its depth.

Jacqueline du Pré

Bernstein’s Live recording of Shostakovich Symphony Nos. 5 had less of the sound stage I would have expected but successfully portrayed this most dramatic of pieces. One was clearly able to distinguish clarinets under all that brass section, Piccolo from flute etc.

Rostropovich’s Shostakovich Symphony Nos. 7 (now that’s a mouth full) is a piece pregnant with anxiety and tension yet there is an underlining simple confidence that reassures and holds it all together. The Allegretto develops with a military drum being continually played far off in the distance while oboe and bassoon gently duel together in the foreground. Gradually, the drums increase their volume, further increasing the tension, just like one would feel with an invading army coming closer. With the climax, you have the string section on one side and brass section on the other, playing for all they are worth. One can forgive any computer audio setup for losing it at this point but the Siberia v2s kept their clarity throughout. Again I was expecting more depth of field from the recording but overall, a truly breath taking performance.

Getting back to rock, I played Electric Light Orchestra’s “Standin in the rain” and was delighted by the thunder storm at the beginning and the dramatic chord that commences the song. I found myself aware of the backing vocals separate from Jeff Lynn’s voice which I don’t ever remember noticing before.

Supertramp’s “School” from their album “Crime of the Century” is a wonderful headphone friendly track so I was expecting something amazing from the Siberias. The bass guitar and drums can sound overblown but the Siberias remained in control throughout. There was clarity and power there but I felt it could have done with slightly more. I’ll have to return to this track after a few weeks and see if the Siberias have loosened up still further. I’ll update you. Roger Hodgson’s voice can sound screechy on some systems but with the Siberias there was no hint of this.

I skipped to the last track in this album, namely “Crime of the Century” which is the grand finally of this classic Rock album. The drums were deep and full bodied with a potent punch that I have only ever experienced on HIFI systems costing tens of thousands of shekels.

In conclusion, playing mp3 compressed format audio files with their restricted frequency range from a standard onboard computer sound card, the Siberia v2s did a spectacular job of coming close to a HIFI quality experience. I haven’t mentioned the price up until now and for good reason. I’d say though that they are worth every penny. I have not enjoyed listening to music so much in years.

If you are looking for a high quality headset with a built in microphone for VOIP use but want to use them primarily for listening to music then these beauties are for you.

Steel Series Siberia v2.

Price: NIS 350 (gulp!)