So what’s the post about?

Well it’s the new Samsung ATIV PC promotion by Celcom!!

For just RM1,758 you can get a the wonderful tablet pictured above from Celcom. You’re probably wondering why would anyone spend that much on a Windows tablet when you can get an iPad or a Galaxy Tab for the same price–until you realize it’s a Windows 8 tablet–and then you start wondering again. Until it hits you that this isn’t really a tablet, it’s ‘almost’ a full fledge PC–except with an optional keyboard. This is what Microsoft designed the Windows 8 ecosystem for, and this is Samsung best interpretation of Microsofts vision.

Don’t believe me, well would a normal tablet have the following connection ports:

You’ve got just about every sort of port and plug you could possibly want out of a tablet and then some, this unit working with a full-sized USB 2.0 port, SIM card port, microSD card slot (for 64GB more storage than you get standard inside (also 64GB)). You get two microphone holes (built-in, not for larger microphones) that bring some noise cancellation, and there’s a microHDMI slot long the left. (Slashgear)

No. You’d be lucky if the next iPad had just 1/2 of what the ATIV offers in terms of ports. For more info on the Samsung ATIV, check out this review from Slashgear.

Coming just days after an announcement from Maxis, Celcom is looking to launch their own LTE network. I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about, only a handful of phones in the market will actually be able to ’enjoy’ the faster speeds of LTE, but I do remember my American Colleagues telling me that LTE is America is faster than the fibre connection they have at home–so be prepared people these things as blazing fast.

Malaysian wireless reports on an SKMM study done in the first half of 2012 to compare dropped and block call rates for the 3 major telcos in Malaysia. At the moment it’s still unclear why neither YES or uMobile have been studied but the study is a move in the right direction towards providing concrete data on call quality for Malaysians to make inform decision about the telco. Incidentally, SKMM also offer a form you can fill if you’ve experienced a dropped call–for some unknown reason the form is hosted on Google Docs, one can only think SKMM didn’t want to fork out cash to host the form  on their own servers.

First off, I’d like to point out that while I can see the report and search for direct links to the PDF version of the reports online. I can’t seem to locate any link to the report from the SKMM website, which is strange, it also appears that only Malaysian Wireless has reported on this particular study. With other blogs seemingly unaware of the study.

In essence, the study is rather simple:

According to the MCMC drive test report, the assessment was conducted with following criteria:

• Tests were carried out in moving vehicles (Drive Test).
• Call duration lasts for 60 seconds, with 10 seconds interval between calls.
• Phones were set on roam-free environment between 2G and 3G networks that simulates the experience of user in making voice call using phone supporting both technologies.
• The results of the study only reflect the behavior of the networks on the locations and time of the measurements.

Although, the methodology isn’t clear, and there are missing details, the study is a great starting point to confirm if the telco you’re currently on is providing you top notch quality. The 2 key measurements from the study were the drop call rates and blocked call rates, defined as follows:

a. Dropped Call Rate (DCR) Dropped call means a call where a connection succeed, that is, the network is accessed, call set up is successful and traffic channel has been assigned, but is disconnected due to abnormal call release. Dropped Call Rate is calculated based on the percentage of number of dropped call over total number of call attempt.

b. Blocked Call Rate (BCR)  Blocked call means a call is not connected after call attempt due to unavailability of free traffic channel. Blocked Call Rate is calculated based on the percentage of number of blocked call over total number of call attempt.

So the best telco based on these definitions is the one with the lowest DCR and BCR.  A high BCR means calls don’t get connected in the first place, and a high DCR means calls get disconnected once they’re connected. A good telco should strive for the lowest possible numbers on these 2 parameters. While the study was conducted nationally in each and every state, I thought KL would be a good place to dissect the data and provide a benchmark for the nation, if you’d like to know how your telco fared in your home state, head on over to Malaysian wireless who have all the details broken down by state.