Presentation Kit for SGNote

For those who, like me, must do presentation often, a tool to make life easier during nerve wrecking public speaking is always worth to invest. At one side, the tool could create a buzz of attention to the presenter. On another side, it will also give the presenter some level of freedom.

I have just bought a mini bluetooth keyboard branded as Rii Mini. This is an unbranded bluetooth keyboard and manufactured in China. It costs me $45 to get ownership of this funny little thing.

As I have mentioned before in one of my article and twitter, you can use a mouse on SGNote. It will function like a little PC that you can bring anywhere you go. Rii Mini is the tool that makes it more complete. It has QWERTY keyboard, function keys, and a small touch pad as a mouse pad. In addition, it has small button on the side that will enable laser pointer.

So, all I need to do is turn on SGNote bluetooth, plug HDTV connector to enable screen sharing with a TV or projector, then like magic, I have a fully functioning micro personal computer for presentation anywhere I go. Of course, bring TV or projector with me all the time is still a pain. Plus Pico Projector has low lumens that it is not functioning well in bright surrounding. At least it is a step closer to make micro PC more closer to me.

Samsung GNote ICS Update News

From all the gadget news sites, everyone has been renewing their news on ICS update for SGNote. For those not familiar with Android, ICS is Ice Cream Sandwich, the code name of Android OS 4.0.

Apparently Samsung Executives announced it formally since they have been promising SGNote ICS woyld be released sometimes at the end of March. Now, they said it will be sometimes in Q2. It blows, yes. So to lessen the blow, Samsung also announced there will S Pen Premium updates along with the ICS update. This package is promised to enhance the S Pen functionality of SGNote.

I hope it is worth the wait.

Soonr Scribble, Exclussive for Samsung Galaxy Note

Before using GNote, I have used iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab (the original 7").  The one function that I have missed dearly from iPad, applications that enable me to annotate on PDF.  I was hoping that GNote has better apps on this matter since GNote has built in SPen system.  I was quite disappointed when I found our that the apps to enable this features apparently not so practical nor easy to use.  One example is EasySign. 

EasySign is a very useful annotation apps on Android, it has text annotation function as well as signature annotation for PDF documents.  It was pretty good, but for free version, you have point system for each annotation that you need to do.  Also, when data connection is not so smooth, it will take forever to get your annotated documents ready for sending.  It was a rather disappointing.

Then early last month, I found Soonr Scribble announcement in CES 2011.  The demo in YouTube shown me that GNote has stroke the right button in my brain.  The Soonr Scribble app is what I have been waiting for all this time.

Soonr Scribble is basically similar to Soonr Workplace.  The Soonr cloud system saves your files in the Internet (hence, Cloud).  The category in the workplace is not called folder, but project.  You can share your folder with another person by authorizing the connection.  Also Soonr Scribble have email link to open  Nothing fancy up to there.

The feature of Soonr Scribble that put GNote over the rest of the smartphone and tablets is the annotation.  Soonr Scrible enables GNote to scribble on PDF, MS Word documents, MS Excel spreadsheets, MS PowerPoint presentation slides, and more.  This is the first smartphone/tablet application that enables annotation on so many type of documents.  All annotated / signed / scribbled are saved in PDF format for safety reason.  The best thing is, that the scribbles that we make on the documents look like they are part of the document from the beginning, not attached later.
For example: I need to send a quotation to a client by email.  Usually, I just type a word documents and send it.  No signature.  With Soonr Scribble, I can sign the document to make it more official.


Recently, Soonr also introduce Soonr Workplace for iPad.  It also has scribbling functionality.  The difference with the one in GNote is that in GNote using your finger means only for navigating and zooming inside the documents.  When you need to annotate or scribble, you need to use the S Pen.  This differentiation make Soonr Scribble in GNote is the most powerful document processor available in the market, at the same time making Samsung Galaxy Note the king of business smartphone, or tablet, or hybrid phone in the market.

Samsung Galaxy Note = Portable Micro Computer

I think there is not secret that smartphones are in the category of portable micro computer, but what we did realize is how well it function as a micro personal computer.

I have combined Samsung Galaxy Note ( from now on I will shorten it as GNote) HDTV (HDMI-MicroUSB) connector, HDMI ready LCD/LED TV/monitor, and bluetooth keyboard (with mousepad built in).  In this case, I tested it with:
- Samsung HDTV connector
- Sharp Aquos 22" LCD TV, HDMI ready
- Logitech diNovo Mini

What I have found is that the mousepad activate cursor to appear on the screen of my GNote.  Since the screen is copied to the LCD TV, my GNote has become a micro PC that I can use to browse web, documents, emails, play games, etc.


Practical Funtionality

The functionality of this feature is making office computing very portable.  Leave the monitor, keyboard and cables in the office, and you can just bring the 5.3" GNote as your portable office.

For data, just use Dropbox, Google Docs, Soonr (on this one, I will make a separate blog since it has one of the coolest feature I have ever seen), or similar type of cloud document storage system and your document will always be with you.  And if you need bigger space, just use USB Flash Drive.  GNote can read it using microUSB to USB connector which you can buy at very affordable price.

Enjoy!!

Tips on how to keep your email in you Samsung Galaxy Note locally

This tips actually works for almost all Android smartphone versions from 2.0 or above.

Basically, Android smartphone by default is set on Internet online dependency. That means, only new emails will be shown by connecting all the time. This is how you can copy the email locally and get them sync later on if you need to go to an area without data connection.

Open you GMAIL App, press menu, open the menu extension by selecting the arrow down with a circle icon. An extended menu will appear, select Settings, a choice of General Preferences and email accounts will appear. Select the intended email account, another level of menu will appear. Right in the middle, there is a selection of Sync Inboxes and Labels, choose it by touching it.

Another level of menu will appear and under the first category of menu: Quantity, there will be only 1 selection: "Amount of email to sync". By selecting this, you will open a counter. Adjust the number of days that you feel required to be saved on local memory, for example: 7 days or 30 days, etc. Then press back button once you have set it. It will save your selection and GMAIL app will start syncing with your Gmail server to download your emails locally to your phone in accordance to the number of days you want the emails to be saved in your phone. This might take some times to download depending on the connectivity and how many days of email to be synchronized.

Please note, if you have an Android smartphone with low memory capacity, it is better to only sync max 7 days.

Enjoy the tip. Strangely enough, I gave this tip to a store manager who has been selling a lot of Samsung Galaxy Note and using one himself, apparently not many people know about this settings.

A New Zenus Case

I have been looking for a new cover/case for my Samsung Galaxy Note.  Last Saturday, I found a store that has just received new collections of Zenus leather case for Samsung Galaxy Note.  One of them, apparently the least expensive one, is perfect for my needs.  Not too thick, but enough protection.  Also it has ear speaker hole to enable me receiving call without opening the front cover.  Another unique quality is that this cover is using rubber band to secure the front cover, which is important since Samsung Galaxy Note screen is sensitive to magnet, apparently that is how SPen works its magic.  I bought it for around US$ 25, so not too bad.  For your information, it comes in Black, Brown, and Red.  My wife was eagerly pushed me to buy the red one, but I firmly chose the Black Leather.

Here are some pictures of Zenus Flip Leather Cover for Samsung Galaxy Note.

Why I wrote this journal?

I have been using several Smartphones in my life. Android smartphones have lately became my favorite. My first Android phone that I bought was Motorola Milestone, which was the GSM version of the famous Motorola Droid. From then on, I cannot find a more sophisticated and powerful phone in comparison than Android smartphones.

The latest one that I bought is Samsung Galaxy Note. I stood in line to buy it immediately during it's first launch in Indonesia and bought the Premiere package that consisted of a desktop dock and original navy blue flip cover.

Right from the start, I knew this would be a masterpiece of a smartphone, despite of my suspicion of battery weaknesses.

Here now is my Samsung Galaxy Note journey. This blog might not be commercially popular, but I can promise you, you will find some useful tips and tricks that I found useful and I do believe you will too.