Mister Jonjon - A Philippine based blog about technology. Made by a techno kid.

HTC One now available in retail stores for P32,990

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Fri, 24 May 2013 03:27:16 PDT

It has been plagued by supply and inventory problems. It faced quite a number of delays. But finally, the HTC One is here. Earlier this week, executives from HTC Philippines shared how important it is for them to keep their devices current and able to cope with what the users need.

“With HTC’s continued effort to put the consumer at the center of our innovation, we have reimagined mobile experience to cater to their needs with the creation of the HTC One,” said HTC Philippines Country Manager Richard Javier at the launch event on Tuesday.

Encased in a zero-gap aluminium unibody and boasting a vibrant 4.7-inch full HD 1080p Super LCD 3 screen, the HTC One runs the latest Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system and supports LTE networks to offer blazingly-fast browsing and downloads in a package that combines premium design with breakthrough build quality.

The sleek and tapered profile of the HTC One makes it very comfortable in your hand, add to that the slightly cold feeling the aluminum body has. HTC says there’s nothing to worry about the metal design. Thanks to their unique antenna design, you should get strong and clear signal no matter how you hold the HTC One.

The HTC One, which runs the latest HTC Sense 5 user interface, has three major features that the company says sets it apart from the other smartphones, namely the HTC BlinkFeed, HTC Zoe, and the Ultrapixel Camera.

The HTC BlinkFeed combines the latest content from the sources that you subscribe to, and displays it right at your homescreen without the need to download and open multiple news applications and web sites. To date, HTC has partnered with more than 1,400 media sources globally like ESPN, MTV, Vice Media, CoolHunting, Reuters and many others. Aside from news, you can also post and the latest updates happening around on your social media accounts like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook on BlinkFeed.

For the first time on a phone, HTC BoomSound introduces front-facing dual stereo speakers with a dedicated amplifier that plunges people in music, videos, games and other media contents they like. Beats™ Audio integration is enabled across the software for rich, authentic sound whether you’re listening to your favorite music, watching a video or playing a game.

Lastly, there's the Ultrapixel Camera. HTC developed a custom camera that includes an f/2.0 aperture lens and a sensor with larger pixel size that gather 300% more light than traditional smartphone camera sensors.

HTC also added more features on the software-side of the camera. HTC Zoe gives people the ability to shoot high-res photos in three-second snippets. These are then displayed in a way that brings the gallery to life and transforms the traditional photo gallery of still images into a moving gallery of memories.

Zoe also automatically creates feature films from each event set to music with professionally designed cuts, transitions and effects. These feature videos can be remixed or set to different themes, and can be shared on your social networks and other services.

There are so much more to discover on the HTC One and a one-time hands-on is not enough to try them all out. I’m hoping to get a review unit from HTC so I can put the One thru paces.

The HTC One is available now at HTC Concept Stores, and other distributors and retailers in the country. It bears a price tag of P32,990. But wait, there’s more!

Someone from the media asked whether the HTC One will be available on postpaid plans, to which HTC answered that it indeed will be! The HTC One will be available on Globe Postpaid starting on Plan 1,799 (I suppose with a P4,800 cash-out) and for free at Plan 2,499.

Sony Xperia Z for Globe exclusively available on Allphones on Plan 1,799

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:07:25 PDT

Phone retailer Allphones just announced that they will be carrying the Sony Xperia Z for Globe Postpaid and that it will be available exclusively on their stores.

The Sony Xperia Z will be offered by Allphones on Globe Postpaid Plan 1,799 with a cash-out of P8,079. They Xperia Z will be exclusive to Allphones and will not be available on Globe Stores.

Allphones is a new phone retailer in the country, which only started their operations in April. They are originally based in Australia, but have since expanded here in the Philippines. They have retail stores at SM Marikina, SM Cubao, and Starmall EDSA-Shaw.

Samsung presents its latest Series LED monitors and Xpress printers

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:57:57 PDT

Whether you’re a designer, a gamer, or a professional who needs equipment like monitors and printers, Samsung has got you covered. Samsung recently demonstrated the performance, flexibility, and efficiency of their latest Series LED monitors and Xpress printers.

"We are very pleased to present the latest range of monitors and printers from Samsung," says Hannah Castillo, Head of Product Marketing Group. "These products are designed to provide optimum performance and efficient productivity to every user. Samsung fans can really look forward to a perfect partnership with these new sleek yet power-packed offerings."

The Samsung Series 3 LED Monitor features a 2ms response time, which makes for a fast refresh rate and prevents images from getting distorted. The fast response time results in a significantly better gaming experience as it can accommodate all those blazing-fast moving objects easily. It also supports MHL or Mobile High-Definition Link so you can connect your mobile devices like smartphones and tablets and mirror what’s on your phone on to the monitor. You can also watch your favorite television shows while you work with the Picture in Picture Plus feature of the Series 3. Yes, it has a built-in TV tuner.

No, the Series 5 LED Monitor doesn’t have a floating display. What Samsung did is add a crystal-like stand which reflects the color of the environment that provides an illusion that it is floating. It sports a sleek and premium finish and features Magic Upscale that enhances the image quality, even the source is a low-res one. With a 1080p full HD resolution, the Series 5 is suitable for those who design stuff.

The Series 8 LED Monitor, on the other hand, has a WQHD resolution — that’s 2560x1440. It thus gives 4x clearer display quality than the average HD monitors. The monitor itself can be tilted from landscape to portrait or to just about any angle for added convenience. It also sports a 178-degree viewing angle, perfect for those who run a multi-monitor setup.

Along with those top-of-the-line monitors, Samsung also showcased its duo of Xpress printers. The Samsung Xpress and Pro Xpress printers can now handle up to 30 pages per minute at an estimated cost of about 58-cents. Talk about efficiency — perfect for those who have small businesses.

Printouts are of improved quality with vibrant colors, thanks to Samsung’s unique ReCP or Rendering Engine for Clean Page. ReCP automatically sharpens the focus of both graphics and text, while solid objects are overlapped to eliminate white gaps.

Samsung's Xpress printers allows you to print documents and photos wirelessly straight from your smartphones or tablets. It also has the Auto Duplex feature for double-sided printing which helps cut down your paper usage.

They also developed a polymerized toner for its printers, which has smaller and more uniform particles than traditional toners. It gives out crisper lines, more vivid colors, improved image gloss, and prevents unwanted fading.

Globe bares new Tattoo@Home landline and internet plans

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:23:45 PDT

Globe recently announced an update to their Tattoo@Home landline, WiMax, and DSL plans, a move aimed to appease the budget-conscious people looking to get a home broadband and landline for their homes.

For those who are looking to do light internet activities, Globe has the starter Plan 799. It includes a landline with unlimited NDD, Globe, and TM calls, a 1Mbps internet that has a monthly data allowance of 3GB. I told you, this is for light users only. If you want a higher data allowance and speed, you can opt to get the Plan 1,099 for 2Mbps with 10GB allowance or the Plan 1,299 for 3Mbps with 15GB allowance. The two plans also include unlimited NDD, Globe, and TM calls.

For the real heavy users, they have their premium home broadband plans which doesn’t have monthly capping. Premium home broadband plans start at Plan P1,099 for 1Mbps internet and goes for as much as P2,299 for 5Mbps internet. It is worth writing that the 3Mbps plan which used to be priced at P2,299 per month now goes for only P1,599. Globe also have the Plan 1,299 for 2Mbps.

All premium broadband plans include unlimited NDD, Globe, and TM calls. They are subject to a daily fair use policy. I personally have the 2Mbps plan at home and it’s really great. It does have a 5GB daily allowance which pretty much enough for me. We do heavy YouTube and iWantv streaming and occasionally download files (phone firmware, updates, and stuff) and I’ve never been throttled, at least, yet.

Anyway, it looks like the Plan P1,599 is the best choice if you’re switching for PLDT. At the moment, PLDT offers the Plan 999 DSL which has a 1.5Mbps speed, that’s excluding the P650 landline service which is mandatory (P1,649 total). To their credit, PLDT doesn’t implement data allowances.

ASUS launches the 7-inch Fonepad tablet in the Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (Daniel Kenneth Sandimas) — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:55:49 PDT

ASUS Philippines finally launched the 7-inch tablet, Fonepad in the Philippine Market.

The ASUS Fonepad is a 7-inch tablet with built in 3G voice and mobile data functionality. This is ideal for people who want a phone functionality at the heart of a big 7-inch screen.

The 7-inch tablet sports a 1280 x 800 IPS 10-finger multitouch display together with a 1.2-megapixel front camera for easy video chat and an optional 3-megapixel autofocus rear camera with 720p HD video recording. It also has built-in 3G with HSPA+ mobile data which means that the ASUS Fonepad lets you get connected for seamless web browsing, fast downloads, and smooth audio and video streaming. Making calls with this gadget is great with its built-in noise-cancelling digital microphone. All these features are packed with Android Jellybean and powered by the latest Intel Atom Z2420 processor.

ASUS Fonepad Specifications and Features

Display	7-inch IPS LED-backlit display with 1280x800 resolution at 217ppi
Processor / Graphics	1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2420 processor PowerVR SGX540 GPU
Memory and Storage	1 GB RAM 8GB / 16GB internal memory, expandable up to 32GB using microSD card
Camera	3 Megapixels autofocus camera 1.2 Megapixel front-facing camera 720p HD video recording
Networks	GSM / EDGE - 850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G/HSPA+ - 850/900/1900/2100MHz
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 3.0
Sensors	GPS / GLONASS Accelerometer Proximity Ambient light sensor Compass
Others	Noise-cancelling microphone Micro-SIM card
Battery	4,270mAh
Dimensions and Weight	196.4 x 120.1 x 10.4mm 340g
Operating System	Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

The ASUS Fonepad will be out in stores by the end of May and will be priced P14,995 for 32GB and Php 11,995 for the 8GB. This tablet comes in two different colors, Titanium Gray and Champagne Gold.

5 Things You Should Know About AMD

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:03:19 PDT

If you own a desktop computer or a laptop, chances are you’ve seen that tiny AMD sticker placed on the palm rest of your laptop or on the front of your desktop’s CPU. You probably have been wondering, what’s AMD?

To start with, AMD, which stands for Advance Micro Devices, is a multinational company which develops semi-conductor solutions like PC and graphics processors for consumer and commercial purposes. Having a great market presence in the Southeast Asia, AMD goes on making buzz and new records as they continue to innovate and develop new achievements.

Ryan Sim, General Manager of AMD Far East Ltd., and Sonny Sy, AMD’s National Sales Manager for the Philippines shared AMD’s plans for the coming year. They also talked about some interesting facts about the company, some of which are milestones they are proud of.

In the big screen
The AMD Radeon™ is the world’s fastest and most advanced graphics cards. In tests made by AMD as of May 22, 2012, single-GPU graphics cards such as the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 showed higher performance in running graphics-intensive programs and applications than the other brand. The company’s graphics chips also provided the means to make special movie effects that netted billions in worldwide revenues.

Powers supercomputers
The world’s number one supercomputer, the Titan, is powered by AMD processors. The Titan reigns supreme, dethroning IBM’s Sequoia with a performance of 17.59 petaflops. 24 of the world’s top computers are also powered by AMD processors.

King in overclocking
When it comes to overclocking, AMD chips are unparalleled in terms of performance and endurance. Overclocking, the process of exceeding the chip's clock rate, tends to break and challenge the durability of the chip, therefore increasing the performance and speed. AMD’s FX octo-core processor broke records with speeds reaching 8.249 Ghz and is still the current World Record Holder for the Fastest Overclocked CPU.

In your hands
Next-generation consoles such as the upcoming Playstation 4 and Xbox will be powered by AMD chips. The Nintendo Wii U, which is already on the market, uses AMD hardware. This proves the versatility and the reputation of the chip when it comes to providing fluid gaming experience. AMD not only proves itself when it comes to the gaming scene, but also when it comes to powering servers. Last year, about 500,000 enterprises relied on AMD-based servers.

Two-in-one
AMD’s APU Technology accelerates the performance of more than 500,000 programs and applications. The APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) combines the GPU and the CPU in a single chip. This in turn increases the transfer rate and also lessens the power consumption compared to two discrete chips. AMD’s APUs uses Radeon™ as its GPU, making it an all-around hardware even on graphics-intensive applications. AMD chips are offered at a competitive price and is widely available in the market.

Arc Mobile enters the market, announces the Nitro 400D, Prime 350, and more affordable Android phones and tablets

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:26:51 PDT

You probably haven’t heard of them yet, but here they are, now ready to conquer the market. Arc Mobile is the newest Filipino-owned mobile phone company which are planning to take on the masses. As with all other local companies, Arc Mobile’s goal is to offer phones and tablets to those who are in tight budget without sacrificing the key features most people need.

Arc Mobile told bloggers and some members of the press at their gathering yesterday about their naming convention for the lineup. All smartphones and tablets will have a unique series name then followed by three numbers and a letter for special models. For example, on the Arc Mobile Prime 350, the ‘35’ means that it has a 3.5-inch screen; and on the Arc Mobile Nitro 500D, the ‘50’ implies that it packs a 5-inch screen and the ‘D’ means it’s powered by a dual-core processor. So, that’s their naming convention. Let’s move on to the devices themselves.

First off is the Arc Mobile Prime 350, their entry-level smartphone. The Prime 350 packs a 3.5-inch HVGA (320x480) screen, a 1GHZ Spreadtrum SC6820 processor, Mali-300 GPU, and 256MB of RAM. It has a 1.3 Megapixel main camera and a VGA front-facing camera. It is dual-SIM-capable and will have Wi-Fi although 3G will be absent from this device.

Analog TV support is included which should come handy at times like when you’re commuting. It will have a 4GB internal memory which can be expanded using a microSD and a battery capacity of 2,000mAh. It will launch with Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It will be available on 4th week of May for less than P2,600 (exact SRP is not yet final).

Next up is the Arc Mobile Nitro 400D. It comes with a 4-inch WVGA (800x480) screen, a 1GHz MT6577 dual-core processor, PowerVR SGX531 GPU, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB internal storage which is expandable using microSD.

It also have dual-SIM, 3G, and Wi-Fi connectivity on board. It sports a 5 Megapixels main camera with LED flash and a VGA front-facing one. The battery is rated at 1,450mAh. It runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

The Nitro 400D is now available for P3,999.

Coming up next is the Arc Mobile Nitro 500D, a 5-inch smartphone which packs hardware similar to that of the Nitro 400D except for the camera and battery. The camera on the Nitro 500D is 5 Megapixels with BSI sensor for low-light shots, along with a 1.3 Megapixel front-facing camera. The battery capacity is bigger at 2,000mAh.

Everything else is similar to the Nitro 400D. You have a 1GHz MT6577 dual-core processor, the PowerVR SGX531 GPU, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB storage. It also runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. It’s coming on 4th week of May too, and although the pricing is not yet final, Arc Mobile says it will retail for less than P5,299.

The last smartphone in Arc Mobile’s lineup is the Arc Mobile Nitro 450QD. As you can probably tell by the name, it packs a 4.5-inch screen with a qHD (960x540) resolution. On the inside, there’s a 1.2GHz MT6589 quad-core processor, a PowerVR SGX544 GPU, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB storage.

It features a 5 Megapixels main camera with LED flash as well as a VGA front-facing camera. It will have 1,800mAh battery and will launch will Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean on board. Pricing is also not yet final. They say it will retail for less than P6,200 starting this June.

The company also launched a trio of 7-inch tablets. Among those tablets is the Arc Mobile Tab 700M, which has a 7-inch screen with an unfortunately low WVGA (800x480) resolution. It’s powered by a 1GHz MT6515 processor, a PowerVR SGX531 GPU, and a 512MB of RAM. It will come with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Tab 700M will also come with dual-SIM card slots, which you can use to make phone calls and send text messages. They’ve also bundled analog TV functionality on the tablet. A 3,000mAh battery should get you going for a couple of hours using this device.

The Arc Mobile Tab 700M is now available for P3,999.

In case you’re interested, you can buy Arc Mobile’s products at the following distributors and retailers nationwide: Memo Xpress, Technomobile, BSD International, Sandztel, SDL, CyberWidget, Mobilizer, IntoGadgets, MMR Dynamic, MediaBox, M2 Mobile, Eazy Text, 5th Avenue, Inbox Mobile, GSN Wireless, Telefonetics, and at Lazada Philippines.

Google announces the Samsung Galaxy S4 with stock Android

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:20:10 PDT

We really did not see this one coming. But apparently, the Samsung Galaxy S4 with stock Android operating system is in fact real. It has just been announced by Google a couple of minutes earlier at Google I/O 2013.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition will come unlocked, and with LTE network support for T-Mobile and AT&T in the US. It will have 16GB of storage and will come with an unlocked bootloader. Everything else is pretty much the same as the original version of the Galaxy S4. What we are not sure as of the moment is whether the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition comes with international LTE support. What makes it really special is that it will instantly receive Android updates as soon as Google rolls them out.

Google says that the Galaxy S4 Google Edition will be available starting June 26 at the Google Play Store for $649 or around P27,000.

Google’s Hugo Barra also dropped hints of an HTC One Google Edition too.

Allphones, an Australian-based mobile phone retailer, starts operations in the Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Tue, 14 May 2013 23:56:57 PDT

A new friend of mine told me about this relatively new mobile phone retailer in the Philippines that is really unique from the other retailers. They go by the name Allphones, a company based in Australia, which only started operations in the country last April. The Philippine operations is spearheaded by TAO Corporation, a holding company founded in 1995 which focuses on supply-chain services.

What makes Allphones stand out from the other mobile phone retailers is that they offer postpaid plans at their stores. Think of BestBuy in the US. You walk into one of their stores, and you go out with a brand new phone with a postpaid plan.

They do not only focus on selling products, they are also committed to customer satisfaction. Their staffs had extensive training on product knowledge, how to entertain customers, and how to give them the best aftersales service. Allphones say that they will try their best to recommend the phone that suits you best and not just push you to the ‘hot’ ones just to have sales.

Allphones’ stores also look simplistic and the ambiance is so inviting. Their store layout is very neat, with no obstructions at all on the entrance. They also have units on display which you can actually try and not just look at.

Just like what I’ve said, you can buy phones at Allphones with postpaid plans. As of the moment, they only offer Globe Postpaid plans, and they even have some exclusives! For instance, you can get the Sony Xperia Z at Allphones with a Globe Postpaid plan. If I remember correctly, it’s free at Plan 2,499 and on Plan 1,799 with a P4,800 cash-out.

UPDATE: An employee from Allphones got in touch and told us that the Sony Xperia Z is temporarily not available. We’ll update this once we have more information.

Allphones now have three retail stores in Metro Manila. The first store is located at SM Marikina, which opened just last April 30. They also have stores in SM Cubao and Starmall EDSA-Shaw. They are planning to have more than 250 stores across the country within the next two years.

Nokia announces the aluminum-clad Lumia 925

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Tue, 14 May 2013 23:25:55 PDT

Following months of rumors and speculations, Nokia has finally unwrapped its latest flagship Windows Phone, the Nokia Lumia 925.

Moving from the usual polycarbonate plastic tradition for Lumia devices, Nokia gave the Lumia 925 an aluminum treatment with real metal surrounding its edges which makes the phone a real looker. What even made it more appealing is the trimmed down body, now just 8.5mm thin. The bezel has also shrunk and now more proportional with the body, similar to that of the Lumia 720.

The Nokia Lumia 925 also features the same 8.7 Megapixels PureView camera found on the Lumia 920, which they tout to be having great low-light capabilities. Not only just that, Nokia has added more camera features on the Lumia 925 too like Action Shots, Best Shot, and Motion Focus thru the new Nokia Smart Camera app which brings it at par with most new Android devices today.

Nokia also announced a new app, the Oggl from Hipstamatic. Oggl will let people take and share high quality pictures and add effects using filters. Users can then share photos on social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr, Flickr, and Instagram.

Spec-wise, the Lumia 925 features a 4.5-inch AMOLED display with 1280x768 resolution. It is powered by the 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, and 16GB of storage. It also sports penta-band LTE with support for both Globe’s and Smart’s networks. The battery has also stayed the same at 2,000mAh.

Nokia Lumia 925 Specifications and Features
4.5-inch AMOLED display with WXGA (1280x768) resolution
Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2
Super Sensitive touch
8.7MP with Nokia PureView advanced optical imaging stabilization and Carl Zeiss optics
1.2MP front-facing camera with wide-angle lens
Full 1080p HD video capture at 30fps
16GB mass memory with 7GB free SkyDrive storage
1GB RAM
2000mAh with integrated Qi wireless charging
GSM / HSPA+ / LTE (Compatible with Smart and Globe)
1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 dual-core processor
Gyroscope
Compass
Accelerometer
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Windows Phone 8 OS

Nokia says the Lumia 925 will be available this June in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and China in June, followed by the US and other markets. Pricing is 469 Euros or about P25,000.

Review: Nokia Lumia 720 — flawless body, amazing camera and battery life

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:10:55 PDT

Nokia has been pushing a lot of Windows Phone devices lately, mainly to cover all price categories as possible — from entry-level up to the top high-end models. The two latest Lumia devices fall under the entry-level (Lumia 520) and the mid-range (Lumia 720) categories. In this review, we will tackle the Nokia Lumia 720 specifically, and how it positions against the other Windows Phones and smartphones.

Hardware and Design

“The Lumia 720 is flawless.”

Nokia is known to making smartphones with blocky and rectangular corners. That characteristic makes holding them somewhat tiring, and gives you an impression that it is somewhat old. Well, it’s kind of. The design Nokia used on the Lumia 920 has been there since 2011, when the N9 was announced. Some people want a change in that aspect. Thankfully, that change has come in the form of Lumia 720.

The Nokia Lumia 720 is not your typical Lumia device. It is light and slim. It is easy to hold in one hand despite it having a 4.3-inch screen. The glass blends into the curved edges which makes for a seamless ‘flow’ around the phone. There’s no abrupt edges anywhere which makes it feel ergonomic and comfortable in one-handed use. If the Lumia 720 was a skin of a person and I were to describe it, I would say it’s a flawless one.

Moving forward, there is Nokia’s usual button placement. Volume rocker to the right, followed by the power button, the camera button, and the microUSB port at the bottom which is being accompanied by the microphone. The microSD card slot can be found on the left side, and the 3.5mm headphone jack and the micro-SIM card slot at the top — both of which are flush which maintains a clean look overall. Both slots can be accessed easily by using the PIN tool included in the box.

The front is ruled by the 4.3-inch IPS ClearBlack display, with the trio of Windows Phone buttons below, and the front-facing camera and the earpiece at the top. Unfortunately, the bezel at the bottom is still asymmetrical and bears that extra space as on the other Lumia phones. Had it not been there, the looks would have been perfect. It’s not that of a deal breaker though.

The screen by the way sports a WVGA (800x480) resolution, which equates to 217ppi. The colors on the screen look a little washed out, and sometimes the graphics look as if they undergone a compression which is most noticeable when you’re playing games or watching videos. I wish Nokia had put something better on the screen, but until Windows Phone support 1080p screens, it looks like we’re going to be stuck with mid-range devices with this screen resolution.

Software

Everybody should now be familiar that Nokia now uses Windows Phone for their smartphones. The Lumia 720 is no different, it runs on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system. We’ve mentioned in our review of the OS that it still badly lacks some major apps, though it really is worth noting that Microsoft (and Nokia) is doing what they can to attract big-name developers to bring their apps to Windows Phone.

Over the past 6 months, we’ve seen some major apps hit the Windows Phone Store like Pandora, YouTube, Temple Run, Camera360, Hulu, Twitter, and many more. Aside from that, Microsoft is working with the developers too to update existing apps like Facebook,

Apart from the apps available on the Store, Nokia also has its ever-growing own suite of apps. The Nokia Collection offers apps exclusive to the Lumia devices, which is a really good testament to their commitment of providing the best experience available to their customers.

Among those apps are Nokia Drive, Cinemagraph, and Nokia City Lens. Nokia Drive, we all know it, offers free voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation with the aid of offline maps — perfect for travel junkies. If you’re a GIF-addict, you should try Cinemagraph. It basically captures multiple sequences of a scene, and after that you can select a subject to mask and animate it. Lastly, the City Lens app gives you an augmented reality view of points of interests around your location. Found the address of a restaurant you’re looking for but don’t know where exactly is it? City Lens is the app for that.

The Lumia 720 can play most of the casual games on the Store, but some of those with intense graphics might probably not install due to the 1GB RAM requirement. Yes, unfortunately, Nokia has decided to go with a 512MB of RAM on the 720.

Performance

The Lumia 720 handled most of the day-to-day activities that you would do on a smartphone easily. I only faced minor lags when launching and switching between apps, but once you’re the app is running, there are almost no hiccups at all.

Battery Life
With a 2,000mAh battery, the Lumia 720 trumps almost all other mid-range smartphones. On my usual moderate to heavy usage, the Lumia 720 lasted a little short of 24 hours. I believe that’s pretty impressive since the Wi-Fi and cellular data was always on. In my terms, moderate to heavy usage consists of three 2-minute calls, sending a few SMS, 1 hour gaming, 1 movie streamed from the Internet, and using apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

The Lumia 720 supports the Qi wireless charging standard too, with the use of a separate case. I haven’t tried that though as I don’t have a wireless charger and the case.

Camera

The camera of the Lumia 720 is one of the best, if not really the best, cameras in smartphones today. Don’t be fooled by the 6.7 Megapixels sensor it has, it really means nothing. You’ve got to use it to see how amazing it's camera quality is. We found the Lumia 720’s camera to be outstanding in low-light. Check out the samples we took below.

What I really liked about the Lumia 720’s camera is that it takes photos with the right colors even the lighting conditions are not good. For example, when I was at an event, my Note 2 takes bluish shots due to the all-blue lighting at the venue. The Lumia 720, meanwhile, managed to take photos with the true color tones.

I think, it was so good that Nokia should have added the PureView label on the Lumia 720. That really says it all.

Verdict

Here’s my final say on the Lumia 720. If you want a PureView-like camera which you can find on the Lumia 920, a good Windows Phone experience and a phone that can last a day, but does not have the budget, go for the Lumia 720.

However, if the display quality and the low amount of RAM are stopping you, I suggest that you go for the Lumia 920. You’ll also get LTE with that.

The good
Slim body and solid build quality
Easy to hold
Amazing camera quality
Long-lasting battery life
Wireless charging

The bad
Display quality is not that good, though still acceptable
512MB RAM

Nokia Lumia 720 Specifications and Features
4.3-inch IPS ClearBlack WVGA (800x480) display with Super Sensitive Touch
1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor
512MB RAM
6.7 Megapixels autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics and LED flash, f/1.9 aperture
1.3 Megapixel front-facing camera
HD 720p video recording at 30fps
8 mass memory, expandable by 64GB using microSD
GSM - 850/900/1800/1900
3G/HSPA+ - 850/900/1900/2100
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0
NFC
2,000mAh battery capacity with wireless charging
Windows Phone 8 OS
Price: P14,590

Globe bares new MyRewards offers, seals partnership with Figaro, Wendy’s, and Enchanted Kingdom among others

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:41:09 PDT

At a press briefing today, Globe Telecom has revealed its new and more exciting MyRewards offers that subscribers may avail of using their points. Globe has shared how successful the rewards program is — to date. over 12 million subscribers have already used their points to redeem various rewards such as call & text services, electronics, and gift certificates.

“The positive impact the rewards program has impress on subscribers is translated to the brands’ churn rates being sustained at low levels. The subscribers’ continued use of Globe services was also reinforced as a result of giving subscribers the type of rewards no other mobile network can offer,” shared Jay Beltran, Head of Customer Lifecycle Management at Globe.

Those redemptions have usually been delivered thru the traditional way of courier, which makes it quite not efficient due to the long waiting times and the delivery charges paid off by Globe. Starting from now on, Globe will make using your reward points easier. Redemptions can now be done instantly at the place you intend to use the points on. Say you want a coffee, then just type the code the cashier tells you, send it, and boom, free or discounted coffee for you! It’s that easy. So easy that Globe says about P7-million worth of goods have been already redeemed during the pilot program.

Your reward points can be redeemed towards free or discounted purchases at the initial partner establishments which include Ayala Malls Cinemas, Enchanted Kingdom, Figaro Coffee, Petron, Rose Pharmacy, Sunglass Hut, and Wendy’s Hamburgers.

What’s even more exciting is that the minimum threshold to redeem points has gone substantially lower, likely thanks to the elimination of the costs related to the delivery of the items. For example, you can use points as low as P50 to redeem items at Figaro, Petron, Rose Pharmacy, and Wendy’s.

Globe has now also simplified the value of the points as to avoid confusion for the customers. 1 point is now equivalent to a P1-value. You can still also redeem points to the existing items like call & text services, gift certificates for shopping and dining, and electronics.

Viber releases app for Windows and Mac, updates its Android and iPhone apps

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:09:37 PDT

If you always fancy free call and text apps, take a good seat and look at this. Viber, a very popular app which lets people send text messages and make calls for free on their phones, has just released the Windows and Mac versions of their app!

Viber for Windows and Mac allows its users to do the basic Viber features such as making calls, send text messages, send photos, and engage in group conversations — all without any cost on your part. In addition, the Windows and Mac versions adds support for video calling, although the app notes the feature is still in beta. It also supports transferring of calls between your PC or Mac and your phone, even while the call is active.

Setting up Viber for Windows or Mac only requires two steps; first is entering your phone number and then typing the verification code sent to the Viber app on your phone. After that, all your contacts who use Viber will be synced to your PC or Mac immediately.

Viber also release updates to its Android and iOS apps. Viber 3.0 for Android and iOS brings support for the Windows and Mac versions, transferring of calls, online status indicator, video messages, auto-download of photos, photo captions, and more stickers.

HTC Butterfly Sense 5 and Android 4.2.2 OTA update leaks out

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:05:56 PDT

Owners of older HTC smartphones like the Butterfly, Droid DNA, and One X may have been feeling a little bit left out since all of HTC’s attention is now aimed at their new flagship, the HTC One.

Apparently, that isn’t entirely true. Today, we have managed to snag a copy of the pre-release update that will bring Sense 5 and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean goodies to the HTC Butterfly. The update brings the refashioned interface which now looks flatter and more easy to the eye.

The HTC BlinkFeed, one of the features the manufacturer are heavily promoting, is also present here. Now I remember when the HTC One reviews came, most of the reviewers said that the BlinkFeed cannot be disabled in its entirety. In this Sense 5 build, it looks like they added an option to switch to the traditional home screen style which only displays widgets and shortcuts alike. I am not sure if the reviewers just missed that option as it is buried deep inside the Settings app. Either way, this is a good news particularly for those who don’t use BlinkFeed at all.

Another major feature, but from Android 4.2.2 this time, that comes with the update is the quick shortcuts and toggles in the notification center. This feature in specific is really hand as it allows the users to activate some settings and actions without the need to leave the app or screen they are on. As opposed to stock Android, tapping on a toggle on Sense 5 will activate that said, well, toggle, whereas on stock Android it will only take you to the page of that toggle in the Settings app. Quick shortcuts and toggles can be accessed by swiping your two fingers down from the top edge of the screen or by tapping the icon in the notification center.

Unfortunately, the HTC Zoe seems to be not coming to other devices aside from the One, as the feature is nowhere to be found in this build. It could be that or HTC hasn’t just really added Zoe in this pre-release version. I hope it’s the latter.

The overall smoothness and performance of this update is really good, with some minor quirks like the crashing of the Sense 5 launcher. But other than that, it seems that the update is almost ready for release. Insiders say HTC will release it this Month.

HTC One arriving in the Philippines on May 13 for P32,990 with LTE and 32GB memory (update)

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Fri, 10 May 2013 01:01:06 PDT

UPDATED, May 10, 2013: HTC Philippines has now opened the reservation for the HTC One. As announced, it will have a price tag of P32,990. Those who pre-order can claim their units on Monday, May 13. Yup, that’s on the day of elections.

If you happen to hate plastic smartphones but carry an affection to beautiful-looking and nicely-build ones, then you probably already know, or should know at the very least, the HTC One.

If you cannot recall anything about the HTC One, then allow me to share that this baby packs a 4.7-inch Super Clear LCD display with a 1080p full HD resolution, which makes the pixel density stand at 441ppi. It sports the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB memory, and an Ultrapixel camera which HTC says can capture 300% more light than others, supports LTE right out of the gate, and runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Sense 5.

The good news is that the waiting game for the HTC One is now over. Online retailer CMK Cellphones announced today that the HTC One will have a price of P30,990, which makes it more appealing than the 16GB Galaxy S 4 which sells at the same price. The retailer says the official stocks are arriving soon.

UPDATE: Apparently, the actual SRP of the HTC One is P32,990 as announced by HTC. It is still worth pointing out that the units being sold by CMK Cellphones always have the official local warranty.

Source: CMK Cellphones

Facebook for Windows Phone gets major redesign, now more functional and intuitive

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:59:21 PDT

Long-time Windows Phone users know how unpleasant using the current version (4.2.1) of the Facebook app. It’s clunky, confusing, slow, and just has too much wasted screen space. Luckily, Microsoft and Facebook has not forgotten to make the app better.

Today, Microsoft announced the newly updated app coming soon which includes a new design now in line with the iOS and Android aps as well as several much-requested features like Timeline support, post sharing, high-resolution photos, and the sliding menus for easy navigation.

As for me, I like the new layout and design of the Facebook app. Going in and around it is now a more pleasing experience which actually makes me want to use Facebook on Windows Phone. Previously, I have always resorted to using the mobile web version and not the app. Kudos Microsoft for the job well done!

That being said, the app still bears the beta label and is set to undergo improvements as feedbacks are sent to Microsoft. So if you’re the type of person who like to use pre-release software and help improve the app, head on to this link and get it.

Nokia is offering 5-day test drive for Lumia 720

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:58:26 PDT

Heads up Nokia fans! If you are currently looking to upgrade to a Windows Phone device but still haven’t made your mind on it, then take a look at Nokia Philippines’ Lumia 720 test drive offer.

For 5 days, you will get the chance to use and try the Nokia Lumia 720 at the convenience of your time and home. That’s right, you can take home that a Lumia 720 provided you are eligible. This will be really good if you are still holding to make a Lumia purchase because you are still new and a stranger to Windows Phone.

The test drive have already started on April 26. But don’t fret, the test drive program will run until June 17, which makes for a good 7 weeks and a total of 8 cycles. Nokia says 49 Lumia 720’s will be lent out which translates to 7 devices per Nokia Store every cycle.

The participating Nokia Stores are as follows: North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, Glorietta Digital Exchange, Festival Mall, SM Cebu, and Gaisano Davao.

For those who are thinking that they can simply apply for a test drive and get away with the device, well, that’s just not possible. You will have to leave a P5,000 security deposit which you can claim again upon the return of the device. Not only you need to do that, but you will also have to pass through strict identity checking. Just to be sure, read the full terms and conditions at Nokia’s Facebook page.

Globe launches the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with its very customizable MySuperPlan

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:55:45 PDT

Earlier today, Globe has shared with the members of the media, press, and bloggers the details of their newly unveiled plans for the Samsung Galaxy S 4.

Globe Postpaid subscribers surely are now familiar with the MySuperPlan, which allows them to create and customize their plan and the included services based on their needs. This time, Globe has made it better and even more customizable so it will even suit their budget and needs.

For starters, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 will be available for free at P1,599 per month, which includes unlimited LTE data (P999) and the cashout fee (P600) on a 24-month contract. That also includes 5 minutes of calls and 100 SMS to all networks, which might seem not enough for some. If you need more consumable, you may get it at Plan 1,799 which has unlimited LTE data and P800 consumable. The cashout fee will be P4,800 (P200/month) on a 24-month contract or no cashout at all on a 30-month contract.

Aside from that, you can also pick a plan with shorter or longer contract periods, depending on what you like. For instance, if you plan on upgrading phones every year or so, then you should get a 12 or 18-month contract — even a 6-month one if you’re really into new phones. Take note though that shorter contracts mean slightly higher cashouts and longer ones has less, some even don’t have cashouts at all.

For the elites out there, they get a Samsung Galaxy S III Mini, Galaxy Camera, or a Galaxy Note II on Platinum Plans 3,799, 5,000, and 10,000 respectively.

The Samsung Galaxy S 4 will be available at Globe Stores starting May 2. The unlocked model direct from Samsung, on the other hand, will be released on May 6.

You can refer to the chart made below for more information on the Globe Samsung Galaxy S 4 plans.

Click image to view in full resolution.

Lastly, here is a comparison chart of Globe’s plans vs. Smart’s. Take a look and see why Globe has the better plans.

Click image to view in full resolution.

Alcatel and Sun Cellular launches the One Touch Idol Ultra for P14,990

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:06:33 PDT

Alcatel and Sun Cellular yesterday announced the arrival of their latest smartphones and tablets, one of which is the Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra which made a cameo on Iron Man 3 (the movie is splendid by the way).

The One Touch Idol Ultra, which was announced at CES last January, was officially recognized as the thinnest smartphone at just 6.45mm. At just P14,990, it runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and packs a 4.7-inch HD AMOLED screen with Gorilla Glass and oleophobic coating which makes it oil and fingerprint-resistant. It features an 8 Megapixels camera and a 1.3 Megapixel one on the front. Both are capable of recording 720p HD videos.

Hardware-wise, the One Touch Idol Ultra sports a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. To be honest, I was hoping for a quad-core processor for the price. You’ll also get 16GB of storage on board. There’s Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi b/g/n, which are now pretty standard, but you won’t get HSPA+ here. The maximum supported speed is just 7.2Mbps.

The Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra will also be offered by Sun Cellular for free on Plan 999 and it will come with unlimited data, Sun texts, and 4 hours of Sun calls. Pretty nice deal if you ask me.

Samsung Galaxy S 4 arriving on Globe for free at Plan 1,799

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:54:39 PDT

Globe has just posted on its website the plans and pricing details for the highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S 4.

Apparently, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 will be available for free at Plan 1,799 for 30 months or for P4,800 for the normal 24-month contract and will come with unlimited LTE if you opt for the unlimited data plan. Aside from that, the device will be also offered in other plans too, ranging from Plan 299 all the way up to Plan 10,000 in 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30-month contracts. This is the first time we’ve seen Globe offering phones and allowing customers to choose from five contract periods.

The Galaxy S 4 will also come in retention plans as well as prepaid and will be priced at P30,990. The Galaxy S 4 variant that will be coming to Globe seems to be the quad-core Snapdragon 600 16GB model with LTE.

On the other hand, Samsung has announced that there will be a consumer launch happening on May 5, and a release on Globe coinciding that date doesn’t seem to be too far-fetched.

You can refer to the full plan and pricing matrix for the Samsung Galaxy S 4 on Globe below. You can order it now at their website.

Globe bags the Most Innovative Telecom Project in the 16th Telecom Asia Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:56:33 PDT

Globe Telecom just shared with us that on the 16th annual Telecom Asia Awards, they were given the Most Innovative Telecom Project award for their MySuperPlan offering, which is truly innovative in most ways.

The Globe MySuperPlan allows would-be subscribers to choose their own monthly price plan and add their choice/s of additional things like free calls, SMS, or data services and permits existing subscribers to change their plan every month as they see fit.

Globe bested four other companies from Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Indonesia. The criteria for the award is the measure of impact on the market of a project. True enough, MySuperPlan has caught the attention of most postpaid users and can be proven by the numbers alone. In Q4 2012, Globe added 71,715 customers to its postpaid base, a far cry from the competition.

Speaking of MySuperPlan, watch out for some great news from Globe as they reveal the Best Ever MySuperPlan this month.

Smart to announce LTE for prepaid tomorrow, here are the details

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:00:51 PDT

News that Smart will announce LTE for prepaid subscribers tomorrow are making rounds online. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait until tomorrow because we have independently confirmed the pricing details for the forthcoming subscriptions.

Apparently, Smart will offer LTE for prepaid in unlimited variants, just like its UnliSurf counterparts. There will be a total of three available variants with the same pricing for the postpaid LTE, 1-day for P50, 7-days for P299, and 30-days for P995. It is not immediately clear if Smart will be offering volume-based packages too or whether there will be a fair-use policy that will be imposed on the plans, although the latter is definitely probable.

Other important details such as the pricing for the LTE modems and other devices are currently not available, though it is expected to be announced tomorrow.

The prepaid LTE will be available for Smart Prepaid and Smart Bro Prepaid SIMs.

Google may be launching carrier billing for Play Store in the Philippines soon

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 06:56:18 PDT

Android users and fans alike may soon have a reason to rejoice. We have just discovered that search-giant Google may soon launch the ever useful carrier billing as an additional payment method on the Google Play Store.

As you can see in the Google Play Store screenshot above, there is now an option that allows you to bill the purchase on your mobile phone bill or deduct it from your prepaid credits, although the option itself is not yet functional. This should be truly beneficial for those who do not have a credit card and want to legally own apps and games for their devices, especially when you consider how easy and more convenient it would be to buy contents in the future — you just go to a tindahan and reload your phone and that’s it. Compare that to other solutions like using prepaid cards issued by banks, which is very hassle.

Moving on, it is worth noting that the carrier billing option will be available to all networks in the Philippines, that is, Globe Telecom, Smart Communications, and Sun Cellular. Lastly, Google says you need to be using mobile data connection and not Wi-Fi to use carrier billing.

Here’s hoping that Google will flip the switch for this shortly.

Apple starts selling unlocked iPhone 5 in the Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:16:17 PDT

It’s been a long time coming, but now Apple has finally decided to sell unlocked iPhone 5 units in the Philippines. Long before, iPhones were only sold thru carriers like Globe, which offered the iPhone 3G as its first in 2008. Smart have since joined Globe in 2011 at the launch of the iPhone 4S.

Anyway, enough of that. The real news is here. The iPhone 5 can now be availed with no strings between you and the carriers attached. The unlocked iPhone 5 have a retail price of P33,600 for the 16GB model, P38,780 for the 32GB model, and P43,950 for the 64GB model.

The 16GB iPhone 4S and the 8GB iPhone 4 also joins the aforementioned device too. Both will retail for P28,425 and P19,415 respectively. Quite expensive for old generation devices I know, but hey, it’s Apple we’re talking about here.

The unlocked iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 4 are now available at Apple Resellers like Beyond the Box, Digital Hub, or Digital Walker.

Beyond the Box locations:
Eton Centris Walk
Lucky Chinatown
One Rockwell
Resorts World Manila
Robinson’s Ermita
Robinson’s Galleria

Globe to reportedly offer the LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 soon

noreply@blogger.com (Neil Ross Goco) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:12:35 PDT

It seems like that the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 may be joining Globe Telecom’s array of LTE smartphones as they gear to launch the LTE version of the 5.5-inch phablet in the Philippines soon, an anonymous source has told Mister Jonjon.

The second generation Galaxy Note was launched by Samsung in the country October of last year. All three Philippine carriers are also offering it with their postpaid plans. If Globe’s plans are anything to go by, I expect the Galaxy Note 2 LTE (which has a GT-N7105 model number by the way) to be offered on Plan 1,799 which includes unlimited data and P800 consumable with a P4,800 cash-out. It may be also offered completely free on Plan 2,499 and up.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 sports a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD screen, a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM, a 3,100 mAh battery, an 8 Megapixels camera with a 1.9 Megapixel one on the front, and runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. An update to version 4.2.2 is already planned in the coming months.