The new Samsung i8910 Omnia HD will come in two models, 8GB and 16GB and will have the following suggested retail price when it comes out.

The Samsung i8910 HD is by far one of the most feature-packed smartphones by Samsung and probably the first to feature an AMOLED display screen.

Samsung i8910 HD specs:
3.7″ AMOLED screen (640×360 pixels)
ARM Cortex A8 600Mhz
8GB/16GB storage
32GB microSD support
HSDPA 7.2Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0
8MP camera, HD 720p @24fps video recording
GPS with aGPS support
FM tuner

The 8GB model will be priced at Php32,000 and the 16GB model at Php36,000.

Globe Telecom will officially release the Apple iPhone 3GS on July 31 and will start taking in order on the 15th. The official price on postpaid and prepaid kits of the iPhone 3GS are as follows:

iPhone 3GS Prepaid Kits
iPhone 3GS 16GB – Php38,850
iPhone 3GS 32GB – Php42,250

Globe Regular Plans (iPhone 3GS 16GB)
Plan 500 – Php29,500
Plan 800 – Php25,350
Plan 1200 – Php23,100
Plan 1800 – Php19,050
Plan 2500 – Php11,850
Plan 3500 – Php3,950
Plan 5000 – Free
Plan 7000 – Free
Plan 10000 – Free

Globe Regular Plans (iPhone 3GS 32GB)
Plan 500 – Php35,100
Plan 800 – Php30,950
Plan 1200 – Php28,700
Plan 1800 – Php24,650
Plan 2500 – Php17,450
Plan 3500 – Php9,550
Plan 5000 – Php1,000
Plan 7000 – Free
Plan 10000 – Free

The iPhone 3GS is Apple’s 3rd generation mobile phone. Globe Telecom is the exclusive distributor of the iPhone 3G/3GS in the Philippines.

If you’re in the hunt for a netbook, the Asus EeePC 1005HA comes highly recommended as it tops Amazon’s Bestselling Netbooks besting the Asus 1000HE and the Acer Aspire AOD150.

The Asus 1005HA is from Asus’ Seashell collection which features a thinner form with its flagship model being the Asus 1008HA.

It’s specs are quite standard from other netbooks:

• Intel Atom N280
• 1GB RAM
• 160GB HDD + 10GB Online Storage
• 10.1” LED-backlit display
• Bluetooth and WiFi b/g/n
• 3 USB ports
• 1.3mp webcam

It is a sub-$400 netbook which makes it a good buy and is quite an improvement from the Asus 1000HE. It is lighter and thinner than the 1000HE and boasts of 10.5 hours battery life with its 6-cell Li-Ion 6 63Wh battery.

According to PC Corner, the 1005HA will arrive in a couple of weeks and will have an introductory price of P22,500.

Smart Comm. announced today their exclusive deal with HTC on the new Adroid-powered phone, HTC Magic. The phone is the 3rd Android OS powered smartphone coming from HTC.

Smart is offering the HTC Magic for a 2-year lock in period witht he ff. postpaid plans:

Suggested ratail price: Php 39,900

Smart Plan 500: Php27,000
Smart Plan 800: Php24,000
Smart Plan 1200: Php20,000
Smart Plan 1800: Php15,000
Smart Plan 2500: Php9,500
Smart Plan 3500: Php3,000
Smart Plan 500: Php27,000

HTC Magic specs
Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528 MHz processor
3.2 inches, 320×480 pixels
accelerometer sensor
handwriting recognition
192 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM (expandable via microSD card)
HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA, 2 Mbps
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
3.15 MP autofocus camera (2048×1536 pixels)
built-in GPS
digital compass

Joining the premiere showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, LG has officially announced that their flagship mobile phone for 2009, the LG Arena (KM900), is officially out in the market. This multimedia phone comes at a retail price of Php24,900 and is available in black and silver titanium colors.

Here are some feature that you will get for that Php24.9k of yours:

• 3″ WVGA display (480 x 800) 16M, TFT Touch Screen
• Cool and intuitive 3D interface
• Web browser and GPS
• 3G HSDPA 7.2, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0
• Support for Google Mobile Services including Google Maps
• 5 megapixel camera with auto and manual focus and support for video recording
• 8 GB internal memory and support for up to 32 GB micro SD
• MP3 and WAV support with equalizer settings
• DivX and Xvid video support
• Dolby mobile
• TV Out
• USB 2.0 data connectivity
• FM Radio and FM Transmitter
• GPS
• Bluetooth

It’s really a complete package for a multimedia phone. I’ll try to get a review unit for a more in-depth review but by the looks of it, it’s really packed with cool features.

I personally like its built-in FM Transmitter so you can broadcast your music to your car stereo without any cables.  The Dolby mobile sounds good and the matching equalizer is a nice addition.

I also like the way you can easily connect the LG Arena to your TV to view your videos. I can’t even do that with my iPod Touch without buying an expensive cable!

The price is rather attractive if you compare it with other phones in its category and remember, it’s more of a multimedia phone than a full-blown smartphone.

PayPal, an eBay company, yesterday announced that it is launching new protection for its Filipino eBay sellers.

• The new coverage will provide protection against unauthorized payments and claims for items not received for eligible items sold on eBay websites.
• Sellers will benefit from a new feature which alerts them of potential, high-risk transactions within moments of receiving a payment so that they don’t ship their items until the payment clears – helping them to reduce their losses.
• The addition of seller protection helps Philippine sellers by reducing their burdens of online risk and for making selling on eBay with PayPal even safer and easier. Seller protection is free and has no annual coverage limit.

This new protection mechanism was made effective last June 15, 2009. Coverage is free. All you need to do is simply follow the rules below:

When you ship your items…

• Be an eBay seller with a Premier/Business account registered in qualified countries.
• Accept only full payments from the same PayPal account (no partial payments).
• Receive payment via PayPal for tangible items sold on eBay.
• Check eligibility in your ‘Transaction Details’ by logging in to PayPal, go to your Account History and click on the ‘Details’ link next to the transaction.
• Ship to the buyer’s address shown on PayPal’s ‘Transaction Details’ page when the payment status indicates it’s “OK to ship” Learn more about Payment Review.

All transactions are covered, except in the following cases:

• Digital goods (downloadable software), services or intangible items.
• In-person delivery or local pick-ups.
• Transactions for cars, boats and other vehicles.
• Unauthorised payments for transactions outside of eBay.
• Where adequate proof of shipment or delivery is not provided.

Following on from last month’s phishing attacks on Twitter via the mass distribution of spam messages, Symantec Security Response has now detected a wave of fake Twitter invitations that come carrying a mass-mailing and malicious worm.

The observed messages appear as if they have been sent from a Twitter account; however, unlike a legitimate Twitter message, there is no invitation URL present in the body. Instead the user will see an attachment that appears as a .zip file that purportedly contains an invitation card. The malicious attachment carries a mass-mailing work that gathers email addresses from the compromised computer and spreads by copying itself to removable drives and shared folders.

And here is a sample header:

From: invitations@twitter.com
Subject: Your friend invited you to twitter!

In May 2009, Symantec observed that overall spam levels climbed to nearly 90 percent of all email, consistent with levels ob-served in May 2008. As Twitter continues to gain popularity among social networking users, people are regularly receiving invitations and email updates from fellow users. Symantec expects that spammers will continue to use Twitter and other popular social networks as bait in their attacks.

Sony and adidas teamed up to celebrate the Def Jam and adidas Originals’ 25th anniversary collection by giving you a chance to own a Sony W202 Walkman.

With the Originals Def Jam Promo starting from June 18 to July 18, for every purchase of adidas Originals apparels from participating Metro Manila outlets worth P3,000, you will receive a raffle entry to win one of 30 Sony W202 Walkmans (wearable digital music player) in the adidas lucky draw.

If you’re not feeling lucky, you are also entitled to a Sony discount voucher worth P1000 that you can use to purchase the Sony W202 Walkman for only P3,999 (SRP P4,999).

Now if you purchase the Sony W202 Walkman from participating Sony Centres, you will be given an adidas voucher for a limited-edition adidas Originals USB stick (no word on its capacity) whenever you purchase P3,000 worth of adidas Originals items.

Whew. That’s a lot of purchasing.

Anyway, there will be two draws for the lucky winners of the Sony W202 Walkman on July 3 and July 18.

Click on the image above to view entire details.

A new full touch screen phone was just announced — a Nokia 5530 XpressMusic — which has a similar form factor as the earlier 5800XM.

2.9″ screen (360×640 pixels)
proximity sensor
accelerometer sensor
handwriting recognition
3.15 MP (2048×1536 pixels)
Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, LED flash
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth
TV out

The 5530XM does not have 3G, only EDGE, as well as GPS. The price will be under Php15,000 when it arrives in the Philippines in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

Internal memory is only 70MB but has extended storage via microSD of up to 16GB (comes with a 4GB microSD card).

Globe just launched their newest broadband internet offering powered by WiMAX technology for those areas that are not reached by 3G or DSL. This is the first in our country.

Now before you go on thinking that Globe has poor coverage for its 3G so why should I bother with this new WiMAX thing, you should know the basics of WiMAX.

Yes, 3G reception for Globe is spotty due to low number of cell sites. With WiMAX though, it can cover way much greater distance than 3G so you don’t need to put up a lot of sites. It uses a different infrastructure so you won’t be competing with other services. Just like WiFi and 3G, your device should be WiMAX ready or you need a modem or a dongle built specifically for WiMAX signals.

As of this month, Globe’s WiMAX is only offered to select locations, particularly in rural areas:

• Select areas in NCR
• Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon
• Cebu Province
• Bacolod, Dumaguete
• Silay City
• Cagayan de Oro City

Globe’s planning to extend their coverage though before the year ends.

Now for the WiMAX plans, Globe boasts that its entry plan is 33% faster and 25% more affordable than other broadband providers.

• Php795 for 512 kbps
• PHP995 for 512 kbps PLUS landline
• PHP1295 for 1 Mbps PLUS landline

They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied which should’ve been the case with their other broadband plans.

If broadband internet in your area is hard to come by then it wouldn’t hurt to give Globe’s WiMAX a try.