The Just Online Reviewer

Powerful Earthquake Rocks Chile Saturday Morning
Posted: Feb 28, 2010 4:16 AM CST Updated: Feb 28, 2010 4:18 AM CST

TALCA, CHILE -- One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Chile on Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into the fractured earth. A tsunami threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean -- roughly a quarter of the globe.

Chileans near the epicenter were tossed about by the magnitude-8.8 quake as if shaken by a giant. At least 147 people were killed, according to Carmen Fernandez, director of the National Emergency Agency.

The quake shook buildings in Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires, and was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil -- 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) to the east.

About 13 million people live in the area where shaking was strong to severe, according to theU.S. Geological Survey.

In Talca, just 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the epicenter, furniture toppled as the earth shook for more than a minute in something akin to major airplane turbulence. The historic center of town largely collapsed, but most of the buildings of adobe mud and straw were businesses that were not inhabited during the 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. EST, 0634 GMT) quake.

Neighbors pulled at least five people from the rubble while emergency workers, themselves disoriented, asked for information from reporters.

Collapsed roads and bridges complicated north-south travel in the narrow Andean nation. Electricity, water and phone lines were cut to many areas -- meaning there was no word of death or damage from many outlying areas.

In the Chilean capital of Santiago, 200 miles (325 kilometers) northeast of the epicenter, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.

The jolt set off a tsunami that swamped a village on an island off Chile, then raced across the Pacific, setting off alarm sirens in Hawaii, Polynesia and Tonga.

Tahitian officials banned all traffic on roads less than 1,600 feet (500 meters) from the sea and people in several low-lying island nations were urged to find higher ground.

The first waves were expected to hit Hawaii after 11 a.m. (4 p.m. EST; 2100 GMT) and measure roughly 8 feet (2.5 meters) at Hilo.

Officials evacuated people and boats near the water and closed shore-side Hilo International Airport.

Experts said tsunami waves could hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores as well as the U.S. West Coast and Alaska. In all, 53 nations and territories were subject to tsunami warnings.

Waves 6 feet (1.8 meter) above normal hit Talcahuano near Concepcion 23 minutes after the quake, then inundated the village of San Juan Bautista on Robinson Crusoe Island, 410 miles (660 kilometers) off the Chilean coast.

At least three people were missing on the island, said Ivan de la Maza, superintendent of Chile's prinicipal port zone.

"There was a big wave that covered half of the village," said de la Maza, who is responsible for the island's port as well.

A helicopter and a Navy frigate were enroute to the island to assist in the search, he said.

President Michelle Bachelet declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile but said the government has not asked for assistance from other countries. "The system is functioning.

People should remain calm. We're doing everything we can with all the forces we have," she said.

Powerful aftershocks rattled Chile's coast -- 41 of them magnitude 5 or greater -- in the 10 hours after the quake. Six were sizable quakes in their own right, magnitude 6 or greater.

In Santiago, modern buildings are built to withstand earthquakes, but many older ones were heavily damaged, including the Nuestra Senora de la Providencia church, whose bell tower collapsed. A bridge just outside the capital also collapsed, and at least one car flipped upside down. Several hospitals were evacuated due to earthquake damage, Bachelet said.

Santiago's airport will remain closed for at least 24 hours after the passenger terminal suffered major damage, airport director Eduardo del Canto told Chilean television.

TV images showed smashed windows, partially collapsed ceilings and pedestrian walkways destroyed.

Santiago's subway was shut as well and hundreds of buses were trapped at a terminal by a damaged bridge, Transportation and Telecommunications Minister said. He urged Chileans to make phone calls or travel only when absolutely necessary.

In Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city and only 70 miles (115 kilometers) from the epicenter, nurses and residents pushed the injured through the streets on stretchers. Others walked around in a daze wrapped in blankets, some carrying infants in their arms.

A 15-story building collapsed, leaving only a few floors intact.

"I was on the 8th floor and all of a sudden I was down here," said Fernando Abarzua, marveling that he escaped with no major injuries. He said a relative was still trapped in the rubble six hours after the quake, "but he keeps shouting, saying he's OK."

Marco Vidal, a program director for Grand Circle Travel who was traveling with a group of 34 Americans, was on the 19th floor of the Crown Plaza Santiago hotel when the quake struck.

"All the things start to fall. The lamps, everything, was going on the floor," he said. "I felt terrified."

Cynthia Iocono, from Linwood, Pennsylvania, said she first thought the quake was a train.

"But then I thought, `Oh, there's no train here.' And then the lamps flew off the dresser and my TV flew off onto the floor and crashed."

The quake struck after concert-goers had left South America's leading music festival in the coastal city of Vina del Mar, where organizers canceled performances on Saturday, the final night of the festival. But it caught partiers leaving a disco.

"It was very bad. People were screaming. Some people were running, others appeared paralyzed. I was one of them," Julio Alvarez told Radio Cooperativa.

The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless. The tsunami that it caused killed people in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines and caused damage to the west coast of the United States.

Saturday's quake matched a 1906 temblor off the Ecuadorean coast as the seventh-strongest ever recorded in the world.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

BUILD & DESIGN

The Bold2 may be the best looking BlackBerry yet. The most notable contrast with the first-generation Bold is its overall size. It’s thinner, shorter, and less wide than the Bold. It’s also less wide than the BlackBerry Tour, though not by much.

Its distinguishing features include subdued chrome accents around the bezel, a faux-leather backed battery compartment, black matte convenience keys on the sides, and of course, a track pad where users have become accustomed to seeing the iconic but sometimes finicky BlackBerry Ball.

Also changed in this version is the layout of the camera and flash on the back of the device –they’re now side by side rather than above one another. The Bold2 also has charging contacts on the side of the device that are discussed more below. The most practical change in styling is a redesign of the battery compartment which now feels more secure and in solid.

Screen
The screen is simply amazing. The iPhone’s screen was great, then the Bold took the same resolution and packed it into a smaller, richer screen. The Bold2 has done the same thing, but more so. Graphics are detailed, and smooth and pictures and web pages render sharply.

Of course, the screen itself is smaller than its predecessor, and is on par with a Curve 8900 or Tour so you’ll want to think twice if you’re primarily concerned with browsing. If this is your primary concern you might want to think twice.

The screen is bright enough, but does seem less bright than the Bold… though that device was almost too bright.

Track pad & Keyboard
To fit the smaller form factor the keyboard had to be scaled down, though not at the cost of usability. The keys maintain the rubbery, responsive feeling from the Bold, albeit smaller. If you are used to a BlackBerryCurve or even a Tour, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this keyboard. If you’re coming from a Bold, you’ll notice only a slight difference, and if you’re coming from a Storm you’ll be thankful (for more reasons than just the keyboard) that you made the switch.

The trackpad is a delight to use, and has almost no learning curve. I liked it on the Curve 8520, and I love it on the Bold2. It’s responsive, accurate, doesn’t stick, is less likely to be damaged. Moreover, it simply looks better than the ball. I did notice that BrickBreaker was a little more difficult with the pad, perhaps its biggest flaw. In the future the pad could be improved if it scrolled when the user rested his/her finger on the edge of the pad.

The9700 sports two programmable convenience keys — one on each side –as well as volume rockers, and a top mute/lock rocker. I did notice that the volume keys were sometimes slow to respond, or required me to hit them more than once before they responded.

Accessories
Like the Bold, RIM has built in charging contacts into the sides of the Bold2, intending it to be used in a charging cradle. Though useful, it is annoying that due to the different size, thelatest modelwon’t charge in the originalone’s cradle.

Like some of its contemporaries, and unlike the Bold, the Bold2 charges using a micro-USB port, so depending on what you’re trading up from, you may have to invest in some new accessories.

PERFORMANCE

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 overall offers solid performance in every area I’ve looked. The hardware and software combination work well together, and I haven’t experienced any major glitches.

Wireless
T-Mobile users will be happy to know that the Bold2 has betterwireless accessthan their current BlackBerry, thanks to the 3G coverage. Though the coverage is increased, it’s still not on par with AT&T or Verizon in my test area.

This issue is somewhat overcome by being able to call over Wi-Fi (T-Mobile only). Wi-Fi calling is not always flawless; if your signal is weak there is noticeable quality degradation. On more than one occasion, my call was dropped when switching from Wi-Fi to cell tower.

Call Quality
Though the coverageisn’t always stellar, the call quality is consistently good. Calls are loud, and the sound is well balanced.

When using the speakerphone at the loudest volume, calls were tinny as compared to the Bold. This was a problem I noticed on the Storm2 as well; hopefully it isn’t indicative of things to come from RIM!

When making calls using the 3G signal on the Bold, the device can get uncomfortably hot. This problem seems to have been addressed in the new offering.

Like is its predecessor, the 9700offers visual voicemail, another feature that will likely become standard on all Berries in time.

Software
This BlackBerrysports the newest 5.0 operating system, and there are some notable improvements over theprevious generation. Menus are easier to navigate and better looking. RIM borrows from the iPhone OS in areas such as time/date selection, which are now offered as a rolling wheel. My favorite feature of the 5.0 is the ability to more easily customize ringing profile settings. There are some features thatwere previously unoffered as well, such as the ability to set vibration to short, medium, or long sessions.

Another major improvement over previous versions is the ability to wirelessly sync contacts with Google accounts. The option to auto-sync is given after setting up an eligible email account, and it’s a great way to consolidate your address books.

Browsing
The smaller screen size is noticeable when browsing, and not in a good way. If no mobile version is available, pages that loadare more zoomed out than the Bold, and from there you have to zoom in to the section you want. This process is manageable, but can easily be frustrating if you plan on doing a lot of browsing.

Additionally there are some media types and some pages that don’t play well with the BlackBerry; again, if browsing is your main concern this probably isn’t the device for you.

Messaging & Productivity
This is a BlackBerry, so of course messaging is quick and reliable, and RIM packs in plenty of options including threaded text messaging, email, and instant messaging options including BlackBerry Messenger, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo.

The9700 also offers the DataViz Documents To Go Office Suite that allows you to view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPointfiles, and even send as attachments.

Media & Camera
The Bold2 can play basic media: audio files, movie files, etc. There is a standard headphone jack on the side. Due to the smaller form factor your headphones will not plug completely into the slot — some of the stem will be exposed). It doesn’t affect the audio but it does bother me.

This phone ships with the same ugly headphone/mic combination as other BlackBerrys. This is unfortunate because the headphones that came with the original Bold are far superior in comparison.

This BlackBerry comes with 256 MB of internal memory, and ithas an microSD slot. It is bundle with a 2 GB card and is expandable up to 32 GB, giving you plenty of room for MP3s and video. The slot is accessible by removing the battery cover (but not the battery).It was located on the side of the Bold 9000, but given that most users don’t switch cardsvery often it won’t be a big annoyance.

The camera is vastly improved. It boasts 3.2 megapixels, auto-focus, flash, and video recording. The downside the camera is thatyou can only auto-focus by using the right convenience key. I’ve had experiences of these keys failing over time. If that were to happen here the user would be unable to take advantage of this great feature.

Battery Life
TheBold 9700uses the same huge battery as the Bold, but it seems to last a little longer, I’ve been getting as much as two days, depending on use.

CONCLUSION

In just a little more than a year RIM has proved that it can improve on a design that was already great. If you can afford it, there are very few reasons not to get the BlackBerry Bold 9700.

The browsing experience isn’t on par with some competitors, but that’s not why you buy a BlackBerry. There is a decent number of apps available, but again that’s not RIM’s core competency. The Bold2 has a great track pad, excellent form factor with a very solid feel, an improved OS, and I’ve experienced nearly no glitches. I can’t wait to pick mine up.

Pros:

* Smaller form factor
* Trackpad not a trackball
* Better camera
* 3G andWi-Fi calling (T-Mobile)

Cons:

* Accessories not backward compatible,
* Poor browsing experience
* Speakerphone quality degrades at high volumes

"When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that in itself is a choice"

Earth Hour is here again to reach out to everyone to increase awareness and to take action on climate change issues. And why is it important to get involved? Put it simply, WE NEED IT! IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER OUR FUTURE GREATLY DEPENDS ON IT.

So this March 27, 2010, please mark your calendars and let us all show our support to this wonderful campaign in helping our mother planet by simply turning off your lights at 8:30PM to 9:30PM.

You can show your support by doing the following guidelines. (From Earth Hour’s Webpage)

1. Turning off your lights at 8.30PM on March 27
2. Showing your support and adding yourself to our world map
3. Adding Earth Hour widgets, logos and banners to your blog or website to help us spread the word
4. Talking about Earth Hour in your social network by updating your Facebook status, grabbing a Twibbon, tweeting about your support, and more
5. Get together with your friends and family, by hosting an Earth Hour party or holding your own candlelit affair
6. Rally your local council or community group to run an Earth Hour event for your community
7. Encourage your employer and workmates to take part in Earth Hour and make energy savings every day
8. Make an Earth Hour Lantern as a symbol of hope for the future
9. Be creative! Find a new way to mark Earth Hour and let us know all about it!