Solution to Speed Dial on the Sciphone i68+

Something as simple as speed dial on a cellphone doesn't work on the Sciphone i68+
This is the bigger problem i had with this phone but i found a fix for it.

Even when you turn on the option and assign the numbers (all options on the menu) it wont work.

At the end the phone use automatically the numbers stored on the SIM card in the ordered they were saved (the first 9).

That means that in order to get it work the way we want, we should store them in the card one by one.

In my case, i had all the contacts stored in the memory card so the only thing i had to do was copy the ones i need to the SIM card in the proper order.

To do this:

Go to the icon "Phone" (down left), then to "quick search" and search for the contact wanted.

Select it and go to "copy" and then "Copy from phone to SIM1"
Same thing for the other contacts.

Now to use the speed dial just go to de "Dial" menu and press the number followed by #
The contact should appear and now press the little green phone in the lower center and select the SIM to call from.

Opera Mini on the Sciphone i68+

One of the best apps we can add to our phone is the Opera Mini.

This portable web browser has many advantages compared to the one included with the phone and one of the best features is this. It optimize the web pages making them smaller and faster to load and it even can be used to load complex pages through WAP or use ports blocked by our provider.

They are two versions at the moment, the 3.1 and 4.2
Even many people says the 3.1 is better we should try them both and decide for ourselves.

I left both links to download and try


Opera mini 3.1

Opera mini 4.2

For instructions to install Java apps see the previous post.

Many people had problems connecting with opera mini. It just get network error.

To fix it try changing from HTTP to WAP...

These are the steps:

Service - WAP - Settings - Edit Profile - SIM1 - OK - Edit Profile

and in the "Connection Type" change from HTTP to WAP
Check the IP address and make sure "Security" its ON

Besides you need to go to Service - Data account - GPRS - Edit
and change "Auth. type" to "Secure"

With this settings Opera Mini 3 worked well in my phone and i even could check gmail from gmail.com

The FM Radio on the Sciphone i68+

One of the new features in this phone is the new FM Radio.

With a simple interface and design it allows us to enjoy the FM we like wherever we are.

To access it we should go to "Multimedia" and select "FM Radio".

When opened it reminds us to connect the earphones because it doesn't work without them. This is because it uses them as antenna and won't turn on if not connected.

If we want to listen the radio through the speakers we should go to "options" - "Settings" and change to on the "Loud speaker".

The "Bakground Play" option allows us to listen the FM even when returning to the main menu or in another application.

In the main screen of the FM we can use the buttons to move ourselves over the frequency in amounts of 0.1 or we can use the "search" to jump from stations with a good signal.

In the options we have a Channel List to add the radio stations we like

Ebooks in the Sciphone i68+

Electronics books are still one of the main uses i give to the phone and there isn't one day i pass without read at least a chapter of a novel on it.

In the i68+ model things are pretty much the same as in the P168.
The supported format is TXT and the only visible change is the background of the fullscreen in the ebook reader. It now has a clear blue sky instead of the old white.
Looks weird at first but it gets comfortable to read when you get used to it.
I also think the fonts are better in this model.

All the rest is the same as in the previous cellphones.
If you have ebooks in PDF format you can allways select all the text, copy it and past it in a notepad. Then you can save it as TXT and transfer it to the ebook folder in the phone.

It is possible to read a PDF directly in the phone but for that you need to install a Java app dedicated to that purpose. We will explain how in another post.

Sciphone i68+ features

Today we start this blog about Sciphone Cellphones like i68, i68+, i69 etc.

Let's begin with the Sciphone i68+ features

Size: 111 mm x 60 mm x 11 mm
Double Sim, two cards active at the same time
Built-in gravity inducer supports auto horizontal, video and picture
Touchscreen) 3.2" ,262K colors, 240*320
Internet: WAP, GPRS
SMS, MMS, Voice Mail
JAVA - Allow loading games and apps
Internal memory : Micro SD 1GB (included). Supports up to 4GB.
Bluetooth: 2.0 High speed data transfer.
Audio format supported: MP3, MIDI, WAV, VMA.
Video format supported: 3GP/MP4
Weight: 100g
USB charger and car adapter included
Camera: 640x480, 320x240 (works as a webcam too)
Multilanguage menu
GSM GPRS 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
Data transfer type: USB / Bluetooth
Vibracall
Games, Calendar, Alarm, Calculator, 64 tones
USB cable for PC connection and battery charge
Includes 2 batteries
Standby Time: 200 - 420 horas
Talk Time: 200 - 380 minutos


These were the features

From all the chinese phones this is the most similar in looks to the Iphone. It doesn't have all the features of that one but is a much improved phone compared to previous models.
It now have JAVA support, dual sim dual standby and FM radio.

The Operating System is also newer and easy to navigate with more menu options.

Overall it's a good phone and a much better experience than my previous P168. I still miss the lack of 3G, GPS and a good camera but we are still talking about a very cheap device with good features like touchscreen, dual sim dual standby, FM, Bluetooth, built-in gravity inducer, shake to change songs and images feature, Java support and all for little more than a hundred bucks.

You can ask for more but it sounds a little exigent