Few points to note;

1. Currently the patch will keep the LED blinking for SMS notification only. Both Palm threading message application and default Pocket Outlook, are supported. Although the program is designed to support other 3 notifications, namely missed call, voice mail and email, they are currently disabled due to lack of testing.
2. Default duration that determines how long will the LED light keep blinking before it times out, is 60 minutes. If you want to extend or shorten the duration, you have to manage this in registry (sorry, no GUI at this moment!)  Go to HKCUSoftwareZenyeeNotif Blinker and change the key value Duration to the desirable length, in minutes. Of course, if you happen to read or dismiss the new message notification before the time limit, the LED will stop blinking. Becareful of setting a long duration(e.g. 240 minutes), because it may drain the battery unnecessary (see below for further explanation).
3. You can personalise the colour of the LED to your liking, but this is device dependent. For Samsung i780, the colour index for the LED is as follow;  Green (1), Blue (2), Red (3), Yellow (5). The index should be updated in the registry HKCUSoftwareZenyeeNotif BlinkerLED Color. Take note that if you choose yellow as the blinking LED colour, it will not show up if your device is connected to a power source.

Lastly, it is important to understand how this patch is being delivered. Essentially, it is created to keep the device in unattended mode, rather than sleep mode, during the notification process. The latter effectively suspends all running programs (including system programs) except for selected hardware-specific/relevant programs. That explains why LED light stops blinking after a while without the patch software. The patch utility is designed to keep the LED blinking, while due diligence is taken to ensure it consumes minimal power during the process of blinking. However, it doesn’t stop other program from running havoc in the background, which would otherwise be blocked when the device is in suspend mode. In anycase, when there’s no notification occuring, the patch software will not stop the device from getting into suspend mode.

Anyway, enough of geek speak. If you own a Samsung SGH-i780, and you are baffled by the non-blinking notification, you may want to try this Notif Blinker v0.1.

Update

12th July Notif Blinker v0.1a fix some bug where new message either couldn’t be detected, and/or LED light stops abruptly.

13th July Notif Blinker v0.2 (build 0713) fix a bug that cause new message notification not to trigger any LED blinking. Also added multi-notification support.

14th July Notif Blinker v0.2 (build 0714) fix a bug that affects Palm Messaging App users.

18th July Notif Blinker v0.2 (build 0718) bug fix and code improvement

Samsung launched its flagship qwerty product, Samsung SGH-i78,0 a couple of months ago and it has been the talking point in the “geek” town. Having tried its previous qwerty models, I had my reservation. The impressive technical specification and corresponding internet reviews, however led me to take a huge step. I finally sold my trusty Motorola Q9h and got myself a Samsung i780. So is this ultra slim Microsoft Windows Mobile-based smart phone liveing up to its reputation? After using it for a few days, here’s my take;

My first visual impression on the phone was decent, although it does not exactly have that “wow” impact on me. The front has a full glass finish surrounded by a piano-black trimming, while the rear cover plate is coated with a rubberized-like material. The glossy buttons felt a tad cheap-skate though, probably a biased perception after using Q9h’s keyboard for the last 5 months. The WM6 professional phone comes with the usual suspect features, such as micro-SD slot, volume control buttons. Like Q9h, the qwerty keyboard has a few function keys that are mapped to camera, messaging and GPS applications by default, making quick access to one’s favourite applications a snap.

As I turned on the phone, I was greeted by a slightly customised home screen. It is not fantastic although it is still better than the dull looking Windows Mobile’s Today screen. I ended up installing PointUI software, which is by the way, one of the better looking and functional shell program you would find for a Windows Mobile device.

Like many other smart phones, Samsung completely ignored the needs of bilingual users like yours truly, where the ability to read and write English and Chinese text is becoming a necessity than a nice to have feature. Luckily, there is third party software available, PlumSIP, which was not available for my previous smartphone platform. The Microsoft bluetooth stack, as expected, offers limited bluetooth management functionality although the essential bluetooth profiles such as A2DP, PAN, etc are available. The background noise level, when connected to a bluetooth handsfree car kit, is acceptable but my previous Q9h did a better job. Qwerty keyboard layout, as a result of a narrower phone design, makes texting a tad challenging. Luckily for me, having own the likes of Treo 500v and Dopod C730 previously, helps to transition alot. Thus, it didn’t take too long for me to get used to the “squeezy key buttons”. What really annoyed me is the change of the keyboard layout, which had some of the basic keys like “Return” and “Cap-lock” buttons re-positioned. So I always ended up hitting the “Enter” key when trying to type a capital “A”, for example.  Can’t the manufacturers agree and standardize on a common (basic) keyboard layout in the first place?

What really caught my attention is the optical sensor in replacement of the conventional 4 way d-pad. The optical sensor can be used in two different way; a mouse function, or 4 way navigation. All these are achieved through swiping of one’s finger on the sensor to simulate a mouse movement or a d-pad click. Without having a physical touch of a d-pad, or a mouse, I had my reservation on how this ‘revolutionary’  navigation control would be effective. Having used to Windows Mobile Standard smartphones for the last 9 months, I also have the apprehension to switch to a touch-phone because the former had the entire user interface designed based on keyboard navigation. I find it counter productive when you have to switch between keyboard and touchscreen just to access a certain phone function. With the mouse function, it totally eliminates the need for me to use my fat finger to ‘poke’ on the screen. However, not all applications respond well to the new mouse function. On the other hand, the 4-way navigation actually does a good (navigation) job very well most of the time.  Thankfully, someone created a mouse toggle utility so all I need to do is to map a hardware short-cut key to toggle the control mode depending on the need. Now I can switch to mouse function with just a key touch, if the keyboard becomes a pain to navigate for that specific application.

The other big plus I have observed is the phone’s excellent file system and graphic processing capability. Running Garmin Mobile XT with a 3D map, is a breeze, and there was no sign of lag at all. The software could render 3D view of the map during zoom-in and zoom-out without any glitches, something that my previous Q9h could not afford to do.  Hardwarezone and Zol.com.cn had previously done some benchmark comparison, and Samsung i780 outperforms the like of HTC Cruise and iMate 8502 in various department (File system, CPU, GPU, etc). Not even the HTC Diamond or Tytn II come close to i780, if the following SPB benchmark report were to suggest anything.

In a nutshell, despite the mediocre offering in some departments, i780 has already starting to win my heart due to its excellent optical mouse function and graphic processing capability. The two essentials are enough (for now) to make the whole experience a notch higher than some other “bare-bone” WM Professional phones you would find in the market. Samsung SGH-i780, certainly scores more than the literal meaning of its chinese brand name, “三星”, which means “three star” in English.