Category: Interviews

Welcome to our interview series here on Fone Arena, something we wanted to do for quite some time now. We invite you to (virtually) meet the team working behind the scenes, we invite you to meet the Fone Arena Team! Each week I will conduct a new interview with one of our authors, in which you’ll get to know us a bit better.

This week I’d like you to meet Jon Choo from the UK. I’ve had the pleasure to meet Jon at the Ovi “good things” trip, and then again at Nokia World last year in London. A true tech enthusiast and very nice guy, enjoy his interview!

Who are you? Introduce yourself!

Hi, I am Jon Choo. I grew up in Malaysia but spent all my adult life in Britain. I currently live near London. I enjoy fell walking, watching films, video gaming, camping, photography, attending live music, socialising and doing cool stuff like flash mobs. I am also a twitter addict – you can find me on @jonchoo

Tell us a little bit about your “mobile career”. What did you do prior to Fone Arena?

Prior to joining Fone Arena, I ran my own blog (jonchoo.blogspot.com). In fact I still do. I started blogging about technology and video games in general since 2003 – Palm OS and Pocket PC were my main interests back then. I’ve also contributed to www.palminfocenter.com in the past. Before that I hung around various IRC channels and forums relating to Palm OS.

I have always been fascinated by mobile technology all the way from my first phone, a Motorola StarTac 75; first PDA, a Palm Vx; and finally to my first smartphone, the HTC Magician.

Which Device(s) do you currently use?

As far as phones goes I currently use a Nokia N8 and a Motorola Milestone 2, which I recently reviewed here on Fona Arena. I currently use a ThinkPad X61 (looking into getting a ThinkPad X220 in the future) as my main and only computer, and shoot with a Nikon D90 and Canon S90. In addition to those I also have a PS3, PSP, Wii and DS Lite. Finally I also have a Three MiFi (Huawei E585) mobile wireless router.

Your favourite OS at the moment?

I have none. I still use Symbian out of habit, and because I’ve made several investments in applications. I would move to Android but have never warmed to the UI. I have high hopes for Windows Phone 7 – the UX is there, Microsoft just need to get those missing features for power users. Hopefully this is an area Nokia can help.

What was the coolest thing that ever happened to you, involving mobile phones?

Getting to attend events and meeting influential people. Some of these people are no longer ‘contacts’ as I consider them as friends. But if I have to name one, it was Conspiracy for Good (http://www.conspiracyforgood.com), held in London during the summer of 2010. The augmented reality gaming (ARG) event combined two of my favourite subjects – mobile technology and gaming – into a form of offline and online interactive story telling. Getting to hang out with Tim Kring, the creator of Heroes, was also pretty memorable.

I also enjoyed the entire week of Nokia World 2010. The entire week was mental, from the pre Nokia World meetup in London, the VIP party, watching Tim Berners-Lee’s rousing speech on stage, shaking Stephen Elop’s hand to witnessing HTC ‘gate-crashing’ Nokia World (and vice versa).

Where do you see mobile phones in the future?

In the future there would be no mobile phones. Everything will be connected rendering the concept of a traditional mobile phone/smartphone irrelevant.

As for the immediate future, manufacturers will increasingly try to out-spec each other with features like projectors and 3D displays we do not need. We are already seeing that happen. There is a reason why I am not rushing to reach my wallet for any of the new phones announced recently at MWC.

And last but not least, how would your dream device look like?

This is a tough question, if only because my dream device would be based on current technology limitation. In terms of design I would like to see Nokia work on their Nokia Aeon concept.

At this point in life, I just want something that delivers a great user experience, be always connected so I can be in touch with people who matters to me and yet maintain a great battery life. There is far too much emphasis on raw specs and features we do not need and solutions to problems we do not have. But who knows what the future will bring? A fully functional Tricorder perhaps? 😀

Welcome to a new interview series here on Fone Arena, something we wanted to do for quite some time now. We invite you to (virtually) meet the team working behind the scenes, we invite you to meet the Fone Arena Team! Each week I will conduct a new interview with one of our authors, in which you’ll get to know us a bit better.

This week, please say hello to Sandeep Sarma! You wonder what Sandeep thinks about mobile phones, what his favourite OS is and what he likes to see in his dream phone? read on!

Continue reading “Meet the Fone Arena Team – Sandeep Sarma”

Welcome to a new interview series here on Fone Arena, something we wanted to do for quite some time now. We invite you to (virtually) meet the team working behind the scenes, we invite you to meet the Fone Arena Team! Each week I will conduct a new interview with one of our authors, in which you’ll get to know us a bit better.

This week, we’d like you to meet Rita El Khoury! You don’t know Rita El Khoury? Oh it seems like you have spent the last few years on the moon then .. 🙂 Continue reading “Meet the Fone Arena Team – Rita El Khoury”

Welcome to a new interview series here on Fone Arena, something we wanted to do for quite some time now. We invite you to (virtually) meet the team working behind the scenes, we invite you to meet the Fone Arena Team! Each week I will conduct a new interview with one of our authors, in which you’ll get to know us a bit better.

Starting off this week, is our friend from Pakistan, Asad Rafi! Nice to meet you Asad!

Who are you? Introduce yourself!

Hello, my name is Asad Rafi. I am a 17 yr old boy who lives in Pakistan, and sometimes in USA. I am a very big fan of everything related to tech world. Besides blogging, I study and read books, actually most of the time surfing on the net and learning about different things. In my free time, I watch movies, listen to songs and play football but it’s so hard to get free times these days! You can catch me on Twitter @asadrafi.

Tell us a little bit about your “mobile career”. What did you do prior to FoneArena?

I started my career as a blogger 2.5 years ago, when I was just 15. Well, before that I never heard about blogging but then one of my friends told me about it, he is also a professional blogger. I created my first blog with Blogger.com. In the beginning, it was very hard for me because my first language is not English, and I was also new in blogosphere. When I started my career, I was used to write about gadgets, computers, cameras, cars and mobile phones. But then I choose mobile phone as my specific class. I started with a very small blog of my own, and then I moved to another blog. After few months, I joined AndroidSPIN which is a good and famous blog related to Android. I worked for more than 5-6 months there, and then I joined Fone Arena last year. Fone Arena is currently the best place and I love working here. All my co-workers are awesome and very supportive especially Varun Krish, who always supports and guides me. Besides Fone Arena, I am also Editor of HomeShopping.pk, which is Pakistan’s largest online retailer.

Which Device(s) do you currently use?

At the moment, I have an Asus K52 F laptop. Other than that, I have a Sony Ericsson W350i, and some other devices. Now I am looking forward to extend my gadget library by adding some new devices. I am planning to buy a smartphone in the upcoming days, and after that, I might buy my first DSLR camera too. But if anyone wants to gift me, then most welcome 😛

Your favorite OS at the moment?

My favorite OS is Android OS, and it will stay as my favorite OS forever. I started my mobile career by writing about Android phones only but after joining Fone arena, I also started writing about other phones. I used to have an Android phone, but don’t have it at the moment. I am looking forward to buy a new phone, and it will be none other than an Android powered phone. If you talk about phones, then I also love the iPhone 4. I don’t like the iOS, but I am a fan of iPhone 4 hardware. The hardware is so amazing, the Retina Display and the amazing looks. Well, I am not including the death grip. I wish that the iPhone 4 could run Android OS officially, but I know that’s never going to happen.

What was the coolest thing that ever happened to you, involving mobile phones?

Well, that’s hard to tell. Let me tell you some of them. Getting selected as a writer for Fone Arena was one of the best things ever happened. I didn’t sleep that night, and I was so happy. It was a very big moment for me. The second is when I bought my first laptop because it was my dream to have a personal laptop. And now I am waiting for a lot of coolest things to happen…

Where do you see mobile phones in the future?

If we have a look on the past, then mobile phones have improved a lot. Few years back, mobile phones were only used to make calls, but now they are everywhere. People are checking their mails, chatting, sending mms, playing games, taking pictures, uploading them and a lot of other stuff. I can say it without any doubt that mobile phones are slowly taking place of computers. Mobile phones are getting stronger and stronger each day. Recently, LG launched first phone with Tegra 2 processor and a full 3D display. After few years, we are going to see phones with some powerful graphic and processing speeds. So it means that smartphones are going to be changed into superphones, or I think they are already changed. I think mobile phones are changing and getting better and better. Like we have seen type of concept phones in movies and also on the web, and I am sure that these phones will be real after a short period of time.

I also want to talk about tablets. Tablets are around us from long time, but after the launch of Apple iPad, tablets are getting popular and common. A lot of big companies are working on tablets, and recently Motorola and Samsung announced new tablets. That shows that we are going to see a tough competition between tablets in future. As Apple iPad 2 is also around the corner, so I can guarantee that this year we are going to see some good tablets. Desktop era will be ended soon and portable laptops, tablets and mobile phones will replace it.

And last but not least, how would your dream device look like?

Well, what we all want in our dream device is power and performance, not to forget the X-factor. The device should be blazing fast and beautiful. The device should have a medium size design, not that big and not that small; it should be like Desire or Samsung Galaxy S. The device should have an amazing and crystal display and have some awesome sound. And the important thing that it should have is good battery life, because I don’t want a phone with awesome features and poor battery life. Last but not least, the device should run Android OS. Well, I think I am going to see this type of device in near future, or not?