YugaTech | Philippines, Tech Reviews Blog

Anyone here uses Globe Tracker?

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:25:42 +0000

My recent story about locating a lost phone via cell triangulation drew a few questions about its accuracy, including some privacy concerns. This reminds me of the service offered by a local telco for tracking a handset called Globe Tracker.

Globe Tracker has been around for a couple of years now but it’s pretty useful in some cases.

Basically, what it does is provide an estimate of the location of an active phone number and its user. The Tracker website also provides a map for reference. It’s not very accurate but can be as close as a few meters of the actual location of the phone.

Globe charges Php2.50 to manage the account over SMS or the website and an additional Php5.00 per inquiry for a location.

Even if the phone is already turned off or dead, Globe Tracker can still provide the location where the phone has made its last transmission (tried it just to be sure).

You will need to have your number enrolled into Globe Tracker before you can use the service.

You can check it out here.

Why ultrabooks were a flop in 2011?

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:21:30 +0000

From the informal discussions with a few dealers and distributors, MB Technews Editor @artsamaniego shares that the biggest flop in the PC industry for 2011 were ultrabooks. It must have been a classic case of overhyped and underperformed — and we wonder why.

I was surprised as well about this insider info considering the ultrabooks that we saw in 2011 were already impressive both in hardware and design. Still I wondered why they didn’t sell well in the Philippines (could have been a different scenario in other countries).

We offer several possible reasons:

1) Ultrabooks are expensive. Price could have single-handedly caused this. The median price for ultrabooks in 2011 was around Php50,000. The market for laptops in those price range is relatively small.

2) The Macbook Air Distortion Field. The Macbook Air has been around for 4 years. Ultrabooks have only been around for under a year. I guess people will always take the MBA into consideration every time they look at ultrabooks.

3) The ultra-hype. Before the era of ultrabooks, we saw a whole generation of ultra-portables. They also promised portability, processing power and long battery life.

Maybe in 2012, with all those dozens and dozens of new ultrabooks coming into the market (Intel promised no less than 75 models) we will see the price point become more rationalized and be more affordable.

Here’s my suggestion to manufacturers — give us an 11.6″ ultrabook, running a Core i3 with 4GB RAM and 64GB of SSD for around Php30k and maybe we’ll see more takers.

Drobo FS Network-Attached Storage Review

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:09:49 +0000

When we talk about NAS (network-attached storage), we often think of office-type setup where voluminous amount of files are secured in the local network. My first encounter many years back was with Drobo and how it help manage multimedia files in the house.

So when the local distributor of Drobo contacted me asking if I’d like to check out Drobo, I was excited to learn the brand was already available locally.

So last month, they sent me a couple of Drobo units to check out — one is a 5-drive unit which attaches to the PC via USB or Firewire 800 (Drobo G2) and the other one connects to the local network via a Gigabit LAN (Drobo FS).

Having a multi-drive NAS devices allows you to stack up on all your spare HDDs and convert them to a single huge storage solution. The Drobo G2 has 4 drive bays that can accomodate up to 12TB of storage (4x3TB HDD) while the Drobo FS can do 15TB with its 5 drive bays. Western Digital also provided me with a couple of their HDDs so I just plugged them into the Drobo without much trouble (HDDs are sold separately).

After installing the Drobo Dashboard, I set up the two Drobo units — one connects to my desktop PC in the room while the other one is connected to the LinkSys E4200 router. The Drobo FS took some time (about an hour or so) since it was formatting up to 4TB of HDD space. Technically, you just insert the hard drives and Drobo does all the rest.

After installing the Drobo Dashboard on my desktop PC and my Macbook Air, I am able to see the status of the Drobos and the drives in them.

Drobo uses it own type of Raid system it calls BeyondRAID that comes with a slew of features and special capabilities: single-drive redundancy, double-drive redundancy, thin provisioning, instant expansion, automatic healing, etc.

Drobo’s website has this Capacity Calculator (see here) which shows you how the the HDD storage are allocated (data, protection, expansion, overhead).

That means not all of the HDD space you insert into the Drobo can be used for storage. Some chunks of the entire HDD storage will be reserved for data protection so it’s good to have the Capacity Calculator that shows you how the HDDs are allocated.

The Drobo FS can only be used when you connect it to a router via the GigaBit LAN port. The speed of access will then rely on the connection. Since I’m using it with the Linksys E4200 that supports gigabit LAN and up to 450Mbps on WiFi, I am able to to get really good data rates over my wireless network.

I’d normally get transfer rates of around 10MB/s when copy files to the Drobo FS from my laptop. That’s already pretty fas considering my previous transfer speeds from my old router is just 1 to 2MB/s. Again, this is over WiFi. If you go thru the GigaBit LAN over cables, you’d reach maximum speeds of up to 25 to 35MB/s. Now that’s blazing fast.

The drive bays on the Drobo has indicator lights to give you quick status reports on the state of the HDDs inserted on the individual bays.

And while you can just insert and pull any HDD into the drive bays anytime, make sure that the HDD is not actively writing (as per the indicator lights) on the disk when doing so.

Drobo does not also just pack multiple drives into one single storage, it also offers some level of protection and redundancy.

This means that when one of the drives fail, you still have access to your files. This is because the system backs up the files while storing it. The effectivity of this fail safe (BeyondRAID) feature depends on the number of drives you install and the level of redundancy.

Normally, if it is just one of the HDDs happen to fail, you are still good. However, if you experience multiple drive failures at once, the risk of losing data is much higher.

From using the Drobo FS and Drobo G2 for about a month now, I noticed that the Drobo G2 has a bit of noise when operating. I reckon it’s because of those really old refurbished drives that came with the unit. The Drobo FS, on the other hand, is pretty quite.

The Drobo G2 is best used when you want direct access to the unit via a PC or laptop using either USB 2.0 or Firewire. The Drobo FS can only be used with a router so that’s something to consider when you want to get one of these for your home or office.

The Drobo FS retails for about Php36,800 in stores while the Drobo G2 is only Php19,000. They’re very easy to use, almost plug-and-play, reliable and works flawlessly out of the box.

Take note though that these are just the NAS and do not include any HDD. The complete line-up of Drobo NAS are available from JT Photoworld.

Disclosure: The Drobo FS was given to me for free. I used it along with the HDD given to me by Western Digital Philippines.

What’s the best gadget that came out of CES 2012?

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:32:53 +0000

CES 2012 has just ended this week and there were quite a number of really great gadget announcements made by several manufacturers both in the handset and personal computing categories.

Here are our candidates:

Sony Xperia S. Son’y very own Android smartphone — the first one to come out after Sony’s break-up with Ericsson.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga. This ultrabook that flips over to look like a Windows 8 tablet was among the most interesting tablets that came out of CES this year.

HP Spectre. That almost all Gorilla Glass ultrabook from HP drew quite a lot of oohs and ahhhs.

Acer Iconia A700. Tegra 3 quad-core tablets is going to be the new battle-front this year and Acer’s one of the very few ones to show off their own tablets. That’s, plus the 1080p full HD display. This one’s going to be a challenger to the Transformer Prime.

Lenovo IdeaPad S2. Lenovo’s very own version fo the Transformer Prime promises up to 20 hours of battery life on a tablet + keyboard dock configuration.

Nokia Lumia 900. Packing a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen and Windows Phone Mango 7.5 OS capable of LTE speeds is the Nokia’s flagship handset for CES.

LG 55EM9600 OLED TV. This 4mm superthin OLED TV from LG is an impressive feat.

Asus Memo T370. This 7-inch Android tablet from Asus runs ona quad-core processor and costs only $249.

There may be a few more tablets or phones out there I failed to mention but you can go hit the comments and cast your favorite device from CES 2012.

A strange tale of a stolen and recovered iPhone 4

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:34:42 +0000

Every once in a while people lose their precious handsets, either unintentionally left behind or stolen. I’ve personally lost 2 iPhones, a Nexus One, an HTC HD7, a Galaxy Nexus and Droid Razr. If only there were more accurate or high-tech ways to recover them.

The most frequent suggestion is to use an app like Find my iPhone (or something similar) to locate the last known location fo the device.

This interesting story that was recently told to me is a bit extra-ordinary.

A messenger was sent to the telco’s Business Center to pay the bills of a customer. While the sales clerk was checking on documents, he intentionally placed his iPhone 4 inside his table drawer which the messenger saw. The sales agent left his station to go to the back of the office and when he came back, finished the transaction and saw off the messenger.

By lunch time, when the sales agent looked for this iPhone 4 inside the drawer, it was already gone. After frantically looking for it, they decided to seek the help of the network engineers and was able to locate where the last signal the iPhone 4 was sending out from (this is where cell site triangulation is done) before it was turned off.

The suspected location was Makati Cinema Square. Several of his officemates then proceeded to the mall and asked around, pretending they were looking to buy several 2nd-hand iPhone 4 units. They were specific with the iPhone’s color and capacity to narrow down the search.

For each iPhone 4 that was presented to them, they would pretend they were just checking the settings when in fact they were already looking for the IMEI number of the device.

After the 3rd device, they finally found the stolen iPhone 4 with the matching IMEI number. Since the incident happened inside the business center, the telco sent out police officers to the mall and confront the stall owner.

And since the usual strategy in malls like MCS is for one stall owner to scout from other stalls for available units (and just get a commission afterwards), the original stall owner that bought the device was already gone by the time the police arrived.

The iPhone 4 was eventually recovered. It was already restored back to the default factory settings but was already upgraded to iOS 5.

The customer who sent his messenger to the business center was also contacted and the messenger was confronted.

Now that was a lucky one. In many cases I’ve heard which is of similar nature, the stolen phones are rarely recovered. This one’s just that lucky.

Update: The concerned person has messaged me last night over FB confirming that this story happened to him, with some slight deviations.

Update 2: Changed some parts of the story as we get additional details of what happened (had to ask for some more questions). Apologies for some of the errors — was writing this while on the road and only had 2 hours of sleep in the last 2 days.

Update 3: Check out how you can try and use Globe Tracker to find a person or handset via cell triangulation here.

RIM & Globe offers unlimited BBM for Php99 a month

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:11:03 +0000

During the product launch of BlackBerry handsets last week, the regional executive from RIM also announced an unlimited BBM plans for only Php99 a month. The details weren’t clear then but it looks like the unli-plan is now being offered by Globe.

For Postpaid Subscribers: Register to BlackBerry Chat for only Php99 per 30 days and get 200 free SMS. Just Text BB CHAT ON to 8888.

For Prepaid Subscribers: Register to BlackBerry Chat for only Php15 per day and get 100 free SMS. Just Text BBCHAT15 to 8888.

Note that mobile browsing is NOT allowed while subscribed to BlackBerry Chat except if you are on WiFi. Promo runs from January 15, 2012 to March 31, 2012.

Interesting to note that the pricing plan for unlimited BBM is much cheaper when you are on postpaid compared to prepaid. IN any case, unlimited BBM for Php99 per month is the cheapest value-added service I’ve seen from RIM and this could drive huge adoption of new subscribers.

Poll: Which desktop CPU are you using right now?

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:35:10 +0000

Was in SM Cyberzone MegaMall yesterday after a meeting, did the rounds and was looking for a desktop processor for my next gaming rig (specifically, the 1st generation Intel Core i7 960) but could not find any store that still carries them (they were all pushing for the Sandy Bridge Core i7 2600).

So today, I’m hoping I could find that CPU and be able to complete my hodge-podge of a gaming rig (still have a couple of LGA 1366 ROG motherboards Asus gave me a year or two ago, plus the video card from Inno3D I won in a raffle and Gainward gave me a kick-ass top of the line GPU several months back, the HDDs that Western Digital gave me last year and the Cooler Master CPU case I bought just for kicks). So all I need is a fairly new processor and two 4GB sticks of RAM.

This is in anticipation of Diablo 3, which should be out anytime soon.

Anyway, I was thinking that if I still cannot find that Core i7-960, then I should have a back-up processor. The most likely candidate is the AMD FX6100 3.3GHz 6-core processor.

Anyway, I thought of asking my readers what desktop processor they are using now. It’s been a while since we did a poll here at YugaTech.

Do chime in via the comments section and tell me what desktop CPU you are using right now and what do you use it for?

Dell XPS 13 is Dell’s new Ultrabook

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:22:37 +0000

Dell’s new ultrabook is this superthin Dell XPS 13 which uses an edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass display (frameless!). The Macbook Air look-alike is 6mm thin at its thinnest base and weighs only 2.99lbs.

Dell XPS 13 specs:
Intel Core i5 2467M or i7 2637M
4GB 1333 MHz DDR3
128GB SSD
Intel HD Graphics 3000
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1
Gigabit LAN
USB 3.0 port
mini-Display port
SD card reader
6-cell Li-Ion battery
Windows 7

Dell promises close to 9 hours of battery life at optimum settings. Not bad right? (Reminds me of the battery life on the Zenbook UX31 that also reached 9 hours but at very low settings)

Suggested retail price for the Dell XPS 13 starts at $999.

HP Folio 13 Ultrabook out, priced at Php56k

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:29:48 +0000

HP’s own ultrabook, the HP Folio 13, has actually landed in local stores and selling for just under Php56,000 (although, strictly speaking, its 17mm frame does not qualify it as an ultrabook if you asked Intel).

The Folio 13 weighs about 3.3lbs making it one of the heaviest ultrabook in the market (where all other units are under 3lbs).

13.3″ LED display @ 1366×768 pixels
1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-2467M
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
128GB SSD
Intel HD Graphics 3000
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1
Gigabit LAN
HDMI port
USB 3.0 port
SD card reader
6-cell Li-Ion battery
Altec Lansing Dolby Advanced Audio
Windows 7 Home Premium

There’s no optical drive here though and no idea on how long that battery life is. And, at the suggested retail price of Php55,990, it’s already within the range of the Asus Zenbook UX31 and the Macbook Air 13.

Lenovo K800 packs an Intel Atom and Android

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:39:45 +0000

Android 2.3 Gingerbread running on an Intel Atom processor — that’s what the Lenovo K800 is all about. Definitely a first for a smartphone and Intel must be smiling big and wide.

This 4.5-inch Android smartphone is still a prototype but it’s likely that we will see more handsets running Intel’s Atom processor (specifically, the Intel Atom Z2460 “Medfield”) that used to be produced just for netbooks.

The Lenovo K800 packs some impressive specs — a 4.5-inch 720p HD screen, 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460, 8MP camera, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, HSPA+, NFC, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS. This handset is still running Android 2.3 though and no word if it can be readily upgraded to Android 4.0 ICS.

Of course, if you compare that to the mobile processors from Qualcomm and Nvidia, Intel seems to be a bit behind (a single core CPU versus dual-core and quad-core processors). However, early benchmark results showed the Medfield processor doing pretty good results.

The Lenovo K800 will be released in China first by 2nd quarter of 2012.

Photo credit via.

Razer showcases Project Fiona PC Gaming Tablet

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:24:08 +0000

Razer highlights its new tablet designed specifically for PC Gaming. This tablet concept, runninf an Intel Core i7 processor, should be ready for Diablo 3 or Starcraft 2 once it becomes available.

A few months ago, Razer also showed its design of what a true gaming laptop should look like. This time around, it’s a PC gaming tablet.

Imagine if they can put the same hardware configuration for this gaming tablet (Core i7, 8GB RAM, SSD storage, NVidia GT-555M with 2GB GDDR5, etc.). It’s also possible this tablet will run on Windows 8.

Razer estimates the price of this PC gaming tablet to be in the vicinity of $1,000.

New Globe Tattoo Superstick goes up to 21Mbps

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:52:13 +0000

Looks like Globe has upgraded the speed of their Tattoo Superstick 4G to 21Mbps. Saw this ad last Monday on the newspaper for a new add-on or upgradable plan with the Tattoo 4G.

The promo goes like this:

When you get a regular Globe Tattoo Postpaid Plan 999, you pay a monthly service fee of Php999 a month. The promised speed here is up to 7.2Mbps.

You then get a free subscription to the online versions of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Yes!, Cosmo or FHM.

You now have the option to upgrade the Tattoo Stick to a Tattoo Superstick (the MyFi) for an additional Php150/month for 24 months. This allows you to share your WiFi to 5 devices at the same time. You still get up to 7.2Mbps here.

If you want to upgrade your speed to 12Mbps, just add Php100/month.

If you want to upgrade your speed to 15Mbps, just add Php150/month.

If you want to upgrade your speed to 21Mbps, just add Php200/month.

So, when you pick all the upgrades (i.e. Php999 for Stick + Php150 for Superstick upgrade + Php200 for 21Mbps upgrade), you’ll end up with a monthly service fee of Php1,349.

Not bad for a MyFi device with speeds of up to 21Mbps, right? Yes, it’s tempting.

Note though that Globe’s 4G label refers to their HSPA+ network so you’ll have to be within range of those towers in order to get the optimum speeds.

Also take note the lock-in period for this plan is 24 months.

USB 3.0 coming to Tablets and Smartphones

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:20:02 +0000

In a fast-paced world that we’re in, speed plays a key role in the marketability of any gadget. 2011 was a year filled with major technological advancements that is geared towards getting the job done is shorter span of time.

But of all these improvements made, I think what was missing was an upgrade to the USB. The integration of USB port to cellphones goes way back 2007 and ever since then there has been little upgrades on this aspect. This led me to think that a USB 3.0 port may be a great addition to the smartphone/tablet’s arsenal.

Here are some of the things it brings to the table:

No physical difference on the port. USB 3.0 on computers bares no difference from its predecessors’ port. If this holds true for smaller gadgets like smartphones and tabs then it should still be able to keep the slim form factor that they have even after upgrading the port. Only difference is that the latter uses a thicker cable. In addition to this, USB 3.0 is backwards compatible. So you can still connect the device to any peripheral that has USB 2.0.

It offers a much faster data transfer rate compared to USB 2.0. USB 2.0’s transmission rate is at 60Mb/s while USB 3.0 rated at a whopping 596Mb/s and some sources even claims that it can go up to 600-700 Mb/s. In a nut shell, a file transfer that typically takes 20 minutes to finish on a USB 2.0 will just be more or less 5 Minutes on a USB 3.0 connection. This will come in handy especially now that USB 3.0 is becoming a standard for mid-range to high-end computers.

Note: Transfer speed will still vary from device’s specification.

It consumes less power. The technology that USB 3.0 uses allows devices to use reduced amount of energy for connections. While this may not be as useful for smartphones and tabs yet, (since when we connect our devices through USB it is charged automatically) it will definitely open more windows of possibility for these devices. The one I currently have in mind is that smartphones and tabs will then be able to connect to an external HDD (using the same principle as the USB On-The-Go) and transfer files.

Not only that it consumes lesser power, it also makes charging significantly faster. Due to its higher power output, devices with USB 3.0 can supply more power to devices. Hence if a smartphone or a tablet has a USB 3.0, it should be fully-charged at a much shorter time compared to being charged on a USB 2.0 port.

Even with these capabilities mentioned, there has been no rumor of a USB 3.0 on a smartphone or tablet. I’m thinking that this is may be due to the hardware limitation and the cost it may entail to do the upgrade. But this also may be attributed to the fact that Tech giants are wracking their brains out on getting rid of wires. And although going wireless is good, (less entanglement and allows more portability) in my opinion NOTHING BEATS A GOOD SOLID CONNECTION that wire has to offer.

I personally think that this innovation is not a long shot. In addition, given all the right circumstances, we might even see this on smartphones/ tablets this year or early next year. How about you, what do you think about integrating USB 3.0 on your smartphone/tablet?

Editor’s Note: This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor for YugaTech. He used to work as Manager at one of the top BPOs in the country. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

BlackBerry Curve 9380, Bold 9790 launched, priced

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:06:32 +0000

Research in Motion today launched 5 new BlackBerry handsets in the Philippines — the BlackBerry Curve 9380, Bold 9790, Torch 9810, Torch 9860, and a white Bold 9900.

The BlackBerry Torch 9810 and 9860 were announced back in December while the Bold 9900 is already available for many months in black so this one is already a white variant.

What’s really new in the local market is the Bold 9790 which has a touchscreen display (see our full review here) and the first full-touch BlackBerry Curve 9380.

Here’s the complete retail price:

BB Curve 9380 – Php16,990
BB Bold 9790 – Php22,890
BB Torch 9860 – Php24,690
BB Torch 9810 – Php28,590
BB Bold 9900 White – Php31,690

The handsets will be available in retail stores nationwide starting January 13, 2012. The new SRPs should also prompt the previous models to drop a bit, especially the popular Curve 9360.

Nokia Lumia 900 comes with LTE, exclusive to AT&T

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:27:09 +0000

So Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 strategy is finally bearing some sweet deals. Nokia and AT&T teamed up for the LTE-packing Nokia Lumia 900.

Nokia Lumia 900 specs:
4.3-inch AMOLED display @ 480×800 pixels
Nokia ClearBlack display
Qualcomm Scorpion 1.4GHz processor
512MB RAM
16GB internal storage
HSDPA 21Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
LTE 50Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
8MP autofocus camera, Carl Zeiss optics and dual-LED flash
720p video recording
1MP front-facing camera
GPS w/ aGPS support
Li-Ion battery 1800mAh
Windows Phone 7.5 Mango

Since it’s exclusive to AT&T, we might not get to see it released in the Philippines (unless of course they launch an international version without the LTE and with HSPA+ only).

Sony Xperia S is first non-SE smartphone

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:04:35 +0000

The split-up of Sony and Ericsson has left Sony to carry the Xperia line on its own. First up on the podium is the Sony Xperia S (formerly referred to as Nozomi).

Before this Sony-Ericsson did not have any dual-core processor in its handset line-up. The Sony Xperia S will get a dual-core 1.5GHz chip just to impress.

Sony Xperia S specs:
4.3-inch Reality Display @ 720p (1280×720 pixels)
Snapdragon S3 1.5GHz dual-core processor
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA
Bluetooth 2.1
NFC support
HGPS w/ aGPS support
12MP Exmor R rear camera
1080p video recording
1.3MP front facing camera
Android 2.3 Gingerbread

The Sony Xperia S will also be Playstation certified, just like the SE Xperia Play. Sony also announced an Xperia Ion but that’s in partnership with AT&T and sports an LTE chip and bigger 4.6-inch screen. The Xperia S is expected to be released by 2nd quarter of 2012.

55-inch OLED TV from LG is 4mm thin!

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:34:12 +0000

First time I ever saw an OLED TV was back in March 2010 when we did a tour of LG factories in South Korea. That was just a 15-inch prototype though but this one that is being shown by LG at CES 2012 is 55-inch big.

LG 55EM9600 OLED TV

That’s what 10 months of engineering R&D can do to TV displays. And we’re talking about OLEDs here.

The most impressive part is that this giant OLED TV is only 4mm thin — less than half the thickness of the iPhone 4S.

Took this picture above of the 15-inch OLED TV in LG Korea (t’was selling for $2,700+ a piece in Europe then). That’s how 4mm thin it looks like.

Of course, this OLED TVs won’t really see wide commercial release anytime soon (although a limited release of these units is said to be sold at $10,000 a pop). OLEDs are still very expensive so maybe it’ll take the next 5 to 10 years for it to become mainstream?

Liquipel can practically waterproof your device

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:11:11 +0000

I could not believe this when I first saw it but Liquipel promises to make your device practically waterproof by treating it with a nano coating.

So, basically, you just send in your phone (limited devices for now but includes iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and 4S) to them and they will do the treatment and send it back to you.

The treatment costs $59 for a device and they send you back your unit in a couple of days.

The Liquipel coating looks pretty impressive if you base it on this video.

Of course, Liquipel does not guarantee that your iPhone won’t get wet anymore (or convince you to take underwater photography with your iPhone 4S). What it does is help prevent accidental spills or exposures from damaging your device. Not a bad deal actually and for high-priced devices, it could be a good protective insurance to get.

Smart’s Unli BB Plan 549 to compete with Globe BB Max

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:46:51 +0000

According to a source that talked to a Smart CS, the carrier is about to introduce a new Smart Unli BB Plan 549 that will directly compete with Globe’s BlackBerry Max 599.

The Smart Unli BB Plan 549 isn’t up yet on the Smart website but it is now being offered as retention plan to subscribers.

The current BlackBerry Unlimited Data Plan on Smart is set at Php1,200 per month. The Unli BB Plan 549 will definitely undercut the Php599 pricing with Globe BlackBerry Max package.

If you’re on the Smart All-In Plan, the Unli BB Plan 549 can be included in the package with the remaining balance as consumable credits.

Updated: We got a copy of the new Smart All-In Plans BlackBerry Edition. Here’s the chart I created for the new plans:

Here are some of the restrictions and fine print:

- Unlimited BlackBerry services (“Unli BB”) include local mobile browsing thru BlackBerry.net (BB APN), email thru BlackBerry.net, Social Networking sites for BlackBerry, and BlackBerry Messenger. Unli BB covers activities on BlackBerry.net (BB APN) only. Browsing charge of P10 per 30 minutes will apply if the Subscriber uses SMART and SMART Internet APNs.

- Access to Wifi is not allowed. Limited to phone browser’s APN only.

- The Plan is fully consumable. Subscribers of these Plans can register to additional services listed below via SMS registration. Fees for these services will be deducted from the remaining available consumable. Any amount on top of the remaining available consumable fee shall be paid by the Subscriber.

Hat tip to Bon Karis Etabag via Twitter.

Toshiba Excite X10 is the new thinnest tablet

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:41:26 +0000

Toshiba’s first Thrive tablet may not be the sexiest one in the market but this upcoming one named the Excite X10 sure gets the “thinnest” title so far.

To go on display at the floors of CES 2012, the Toshiba Excite X10 measures just 7.7mm thin (even thinner than the Galaxy S2 and the Galaxy Note).

Toshiba Excite X10 specs:
10.1″ IPS display @ 1280×800 pixel
TI OMAP 4430 1.2GHz dual-core CPU
Gorilla Glass display
1GB RAM
16GB and 32GB internal storage
5MP rear camera
2MP front-facing camera
Bluetooth 2.1
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
micro-USB port
micro-HDMI port
micro-SD card slot
Android 4.0 ICS

The tablet weighs just under 1.2lbs making it the lightest in it’s size category as well. Really cool feat considering the body is made up of magnesium-alloy.

The 16GB variant will be priced at $529 while the 32GB variant is going to cost $599.

Toshiba promises the Excite X10 will be out by end of Fenruary but we don’t know when that till land in the Philippines. And considering the Toshiba Thrive was just launched several months ago here in the Philippines, we reckon it might take a bit while for the Excite to follow. {via}

Globe cuts off service on Black Nazarene due to security

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:50:21 +0000

If you are wondering why there’s no cellular signal around Quiapo and neighboring areas from Globe and other telcos today, it’s because they’ve cut off signal for security reasons as we celebrate the Black Nazarene.

Globe has been sending out notices via Twitter/FB (and just now, via SMS) that this is in accordance to government requests.

The President has earlier made an announcement that terror threats have been raised to coincide with the feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo.

The request to cut off cell signal in those areas could be a precautionary measure (probably to hinder remotely-triggered bombs).

Other telcos were also asked by the government to suspende services in the areas where the procession will happen. We haven’t gotten any SMS alert from Smart or Sun Cellular yet as of this time.

Lenovo K91 is 1st Android 4.0 ICS Smart TV

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:11:08 +0000

Lenovo is joining the Smart TV market and surprised us by announcing the very first Android 4.0 ICS powered LED TV at CES 2012 — the Lenovo K91.

The Lenovo K91 will be powered by a Qualcomm 8060 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storages, 2GB of SD card running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The high-end model will be at 55-inches while a 42-inch variant will also be available.

Lenovo says it will initially release the Android TV in China with no work as to when it will ship it to the rest of the world.

Along with the K91, Lenovo also announced its 2nd-generation IdeaTab S2 with 20 hours of battery life.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 Review

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 07:53:47 +0000

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 was first released in Asia (Indonesia to be precise) to send the message that Research in Motion is serious about the region. The device will be officially launched in the Philippines this Tuesday. Check out our full review of the Bold 9790 touch and type after the break.

If you’re familiar with the BlackBerry Bold line-up, you will notice that RIM has already two handset variants in this category — the Bold 99xx series which is normally the flagship variant, and the Bold 97xx which has now become some sort of the smaller and more affordable variant.

For reference, we recommend you reading our Bold 9900 review and our Curve 9360 review. The two will give you a better perspective on how the Bold 9790 is positioned in terms of design, configuration and marketing.

When I asked executives from RIM about the difference between the variants of the BB Bold series, they explained that the Bold 9900 represents their top-tier, premium handset while the Bold 9790 was designed to be more affordable and perfectly fits the smaller, Asian hands.

In my opinion, the split is an attempt to fill the gap between the BlackBerry Curve series and the BlackBerry Bold series. Previously, the Bold series cost almost twice that of the Curve series. The Bold 97xx is now 50% closer to the Curve as it is to the Bold 99xx. This price positioning makes sense if you want to expand choice within the brand.

The Bold 9790, in some ways, has inherited the design of the popular Curve 9360. In fact, if you just based it from the exterior make-up the Bold 9790 is much closer to the Curve 9360 than to the Bold 9900.

If you look at the two from afar, you’d hardly recognize one from the other (the Bold 9790 is on the left while the Curve 9360 is on the right).

The hardware configuration is what makes them different though — slightly faster CPU (> 200MHz), a little bit more RAM (> 254MB), bigger storage (> 7.5GB) and little more battery capacity (> 230MHz).

The other main difference is that the Bold 9790 also has a touch-screen display, just like the Bold 9900. However, because the screen is a bit small, the touch navigation could be a cumbersome at times especially if you have large fingers.

The solid yet light construction is typical of the BlackBerry line-up. It’s got a polished, piano-black finish mostly made of durable polymer, fits right on the hands, very handy and pocketable.

The 2.45-inch capacitive display is typical of full-qwerty handsets like the Bold but the 360×480 pixel resolution gives it a good pixel density of 245ppi. Nevertheless, you get a really nice, crisp display with good contrast that offers clear images and readable text.

The silver accent on the side is a signature Bold design and the brown, rubber-like back panel features the large RIM logo at the back. Beside that is the 5-megapixel camera with the LED flash.

The full qwerty keyboard is somewhat ergonomic, relatively soft, easy to type on and the keys are chiseled in such a way that it fits very well with both your opposing thumbs. No individual keys are alike as they are shaped and fitted to the contours of a curved layout. The individuals keys are a little smaller compared to the Bold 9900 and feels a bit cramped especially when you have big thumbs.

The camera performance on the Bold 9790 ranges from decent to fairly good. Stills photos are well-focused most of the time, the shutter captures images fast enough to get a good shot at this large truck running on the highway, and doesn’t get too noisy even on low-light conditions as shown on the shots of the food below.

Video recording isn’t very good, not as good as the HD videos on the Bold 9900, but it’s fairly decent and usable even at VGA (640×480 pixels) resolution.

There’s a dedicated camera button on the right side of the handset beside the volume controls.

As for the sound quality, the speaker at the back is good but the volume isn’t as loud as I expected it. I guess these multimedia features is what will separate the Bold 9900 from the Bold 9790.

Call quality and reception is really good though, something we’ve all been familiar with in any BlackBerry handset.

Notice the embedded lock button on the forehead of the Bold 9790 (like the one in the Curve 9360).

The Bold 9790 is among the new breed of BlackBerries that comes with latest BB 7 OS. Complete hardware specifications are as follows.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 specs:
• 2.45″ capacitive touch screen display @ 360×480
• QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad
• 1.0 GHz processor
• 768 MB RAM
• 8GB on-board memory
• microSD slot supporting up to 32GB
• NFC technology
• 5MP camera w/ VGA video recording
• GPS with aGPS support
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• 1230 mAh Li-Ion battery
• BlackBerry 7 OS

There’s no secondary front-facing camera here so doing video calls is still not possible and though there’s NFC capability, there’s not much practical use for now.

The combination of a 1.0GHz Marvel Tavor MG1 processor the generous 768MB RAM provided the Bold 9790 good over-all performance on BB 7 OS. The over-all experience is almost indistinguishable between this handset and the Bold 9900.

Access to tens of thousands of apps is available in the BlackBerry App World with most of the more common apps are readily available to download and install for free (like Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, WhatsApp and YouTube).

And since the Bold 9790 features a touchscreen display, you can also play games such as Fruits and Ninja. Of course, you’ll have to just deal with the really small screen here.

Battery life is decent on the Bold 9790. It might last a whole day if you’re always connected but could stretch that to two days if you’re mostly doing calls or SMS. Expect to have something very close to the Bold 9900 and the Curve 9360 on normal use.

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 was launched in Indonesia back in November 25, 2011 with a suggested retail price of Php22,995 so we’re expecting something really similar or close to it (we will update on Tuesday once the device is also launched here in the Philippines).

Disclosure: This review unit was given to us, along with hundreds of media and VIP attendees, during the BlackBerry Asia Launch in Jakarta, Indonesia last November 2011.

Anti-Bill Shock scheme from Globe & Smart

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:30:44 +0000

Sun Cellular started it all back in October of last year with their anti-bill shock Plan 350. Earlier this week, both Smart and Globe also introduced the anti-bill shock feature.

For Globe, once you reach or exceed your volume or charge cap, they will switch you to Plan 999 with unlimited data (applies to any Postpaid Powersurf plans).

For Smart, any overage charges that exceeds the Php1,200 amount will cap you at that price for the current billing cycle. Smart Data Lite Plans 500, 800 and 1,000 and iPhone Plans 999 and 2499 will enjoy the worry-free data charge cap without the need to enrol or sign up for a separate package unlike those offered by the competition (Smart could be referring to Sun’s Plan 350).

Great move for both telcos to include this feature in their postpaid plans.

Review: Android Ice Cream Sandwich on Google Nexus S

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:09:20 +0000

This year, the new flavor of Google’s mobile OS will be Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0 ICS) and majority, if not all, of the flagship handsets that will be launched this year will have it pre-installed so we thought it’s best to give you a comprehensive walkthrough on what to expect from ICS.

Our new special features contributor (say welcome to Ronnie everyone) dives deep into Ice Cream Sandwich.

Google Nexus S with Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS (4.0.3)

Google announced back in December 16 that they will be rolling out an OS update (ICS 4.0.3) for Google Nexus S in the next coming days or early part of next year. I have been reading about the OS and its new features and got so excited to experience the ICS first hand with my Google Nexus S. I have been going through blogs and sites and I read something about manually upgrading the phone’s OS.

I was hesitant at first especially after reading the instructions required for the upgrade (Rooting your phone). But yesterday, I read an article about an easier way of manually updating the OS of my Google Nexus. After reading through the article and with the help of a tutorial video from YouTube, I was convinced to give it a shot since the steps are relatively easy and the instructions are pretty straight-forward. (More in to the instructions on upgrading the Google Nexus S from Gingerbread to ICS) So with fingers-crossed, I tried to manually upgrading the OS of my phone and after less than 10 minutes (which was way shorter than what I had expected) the upgrade was done and gave me an option to reboot my system. After that it gives a little tour of Android ICS and its cool new features.

Android ICS in a different hue.

Say hello to Android’s new color theme: Blue. That’s right. Gone are the green-filled days as ICS takes on a fresh new form. From linings, to the icons, to the bump stop (the thingy that lights up when there is no more to scroll to) ICS has transformed into a simple yet smart thing of beauty. Android ICS also integrate the use of “tabs” that is very useful in navigating and makes the screen accessible and less confusing.

The status icon/s color of native apps (those that are on the top left corner of the screen that shows app notifications) has now been standardized as it now used only inverted gray on black theme. The system Icons is now blue. The icon for the network signal and internet connectivity is also different from before.

Clock UI made simpler. The clock is not that crowded with unnecessary shortcuts as it was previously.

The Icons of the native phone apps (Calendar, Settings, Gallery, etc.) was given a face lift. Aside from the change in the icon the “Contacts” is now called “People” that follows the same theme as ICS and houses new features. The home screen also houses a redesigned Favorites tray on the bottom. By default the shortcuts there are Dialer, People/Contacts, All Apps (that shows all of the apps on the phone) Messaging, and Browser.

In the All Apps screen scrolling from top to bottom is now left to right and vice versa. Unlike before, users can now change the shortcuts that are on there and can also group apps in a folder (Social Networking, Messengers, Media Player and References as seen below) simply by dragging an icon towards another icon and also have an option to name it. The only appearance change that I didn’t like was that the Google Search bar up top. Though it isn’t that large as it was before, there is no option to remove it from the settings and it is present on all of the five home screens.

There is also the Widget tab that shows only installed widgets that users can place on the home screen.

The Dialer previously had 4 Tabs/Icon above (Phone, Call Log, Contacts and Favorites) that are labeled accordingly which is replaced by three icons Dialer, History/Call Log and Favorites that also follows the ICS theme.

Create, Modify, Manage.

Android ICS gives the user more control on the appearance and performance of the phone. It also expanded the capabilities of its users to add more “personal feel”, not only on the phone itself but also on the things that the phone does. Here are some examples of these innovations:

Screenshot! Ever wondered how I got these clear and crisp screenshots I have in this article? It is through this new feature of Android ICS. By Holding on the power button and the Volume down Button, users can take a snapshot of their current screen and the phone automatically saves it. This feature saves the screenshot as a .png file and can be viewed on a separate folder inside Gallery.

Instead of icons, the menu button only shows word selections.

ICS makes managing calls without unlocking your phone even better by adding a reply to caller through text option on the lock screen. In addition to this the picture of the caller is now bigger compared to before. The lock screen also houses a Music App widget that replaces the time and date when the user is playing a song and the screen locks. This lets the user to have control over the music player even the screen is locked. The widget’s back ground is the current song’s album art and has three controls (Previous, Play and Forward).

Revamped browser that is faster, smarter and more user-customizable with added features such as offline reading, setting preferences (can be different for each tab) and more readability options just to name a few.

Resizable Widgets such as email, music, social networking sites lets the user to maximize the available home screens and makes it easier to check updates from FB and Twitter without going to the app itself. In my opinion resembles the Dell Stage only resizable. ☺

More manageability over apps through the new App/task manager (can be accessed by long-pressing the Home Button) that lets users view currently running apps (with cool thumbnails), easily switch from one app to the other and dismiss/kill running app by swiping left or right.

Camera App also got updated, for better and for worse. A new option for Panorama shooting is now available. Face warp feature called “Live Effects” which transforms boring videos into a funny and odd-looking clips (Unfortunately this feature is only available for videos). The bad part is that users now has lesser camera settings (Scene Modes which was originally has ten options to choose from has been reduced to half) and some settings have totally disappeared (Picture Quality and Color Effects). The UI also got a face-lift. The virtual capture button is color coded according to what mode the user is in. Blue for Photo, Red for Video and Green for Panorama. A shortcut in the screen makes it easier to switch from front and back cameras and another shortcut to switch from Photo Video and Panorama Mode.

Control over network usage through an additional option inside “Settings” (which BTW has a new ICS look which makes access to commonly used options a lot easier). This Data Usage setting gives the user an idea on how much mobile data is being used, what app was using it and how much that app has used in certain span of time (can be preset). Users are given a breakdown of how much data was used in data measurement (Gb, Mb and Kb), what was it used for (Foreground or background), and options to view app settings or restrict background data. Users also have an option to have a limit for data usage. This feature is specifically useful for those people who have limited internet subscription with their service providers and for those people who doesn’t want a certain app to use data.

Email UI is also changed following the over-all feel of ICS. What was the gray over black interface of Gingerbread, was replaced with gray over white of ICS with some new added features and shortcuts that adds to the manageability of emails and ease of access to commonly used options such as reply, reply to all and forward.

Redesigned Music App UI and a Music App Widget (Not resizable though). The Music App goes along with the over-all Android ICS theme with its simplicity, color and navigation (use of tabs). Users will also get a different screen when the phone is tilted horizontally (which for me is kinda like an IPod/IPhone feel). Apart from this there is also a “like” and “dislike” option in the Now Playing section (haven’t personally tried it yet).

For more information and other features visit this website: http://support.google.com/ics/nexus

Wrap Up.

Over the course of this review, the words “control” and “manageability” has come up several times and I think that that’s what the Android ICS is all about. Getting users to where they wanted to be in fewer touches and in less confusing manner. There is still room for improvements especially on the camera app part. But for the most part I think Google did a great job on creating an OS that is versatile, intuitive and fast. Let’s also not forget the fact that the appearance a got a big face-lift which I believe complements the added features that are in there. I’m not sure if there will be any difference between the Over-The-Air update and the manual update, but this is definitely a must have upgrade.

Editor’s Note: This ICS review was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor for YugaTech. He used to work as Manager at one of the top BPOs in the country. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

Nikon D4 makes official announcement

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:03:36 +0000

Nikon’s latest flagship dSLR is the Nikon D4. The 16MP camera replaces the popular yet expensive Nikon D3S and adds a couple of video recording/multimedia improvements and a really fast frame rate.

The Nikon D4 uses the new QXD memory card format which is closer to the SD card in size than the CF card. The D4 is also the first camera to be able to use this format which boasts of speeds north of 125MB/sec.

Nikon D4 specifications:

16.2 effective megapixel, full-frame sensor (16.6MP total)
10fps shooting with AF and AE, 11fps with focus and exposure locked, 24fps 2.5MP grabs
91,000 pixel sensor for metering, white balance, flash exposure, face detection and active d-lighting
ISO Range 100-12,800 (extendable from 50 – 204,800)
MultiCAM 3500FX Autofocus sensor works in lower light and with smaller apertures
Two sub-selector joystick/buttons for shooting orientation
1080p 30fps HD video at up to 24Mbps with uncompressed video output
New EN-EL18 battery (21.6Wh capacity, CIPA-rated at 2600 shots)
Twin card slots (one for Compact Flash and one XQD

Of course, since QXD cards are still a bit rare and expensive, the D4 has another slot for the more common CF card.

The Nikon D4 will be available next month with a suggested retail price of $5,999.95 (body only) or an equivalent of about Php260,000. Not sure though when it will arrive here in the Philippines.

Apple’s Red Friday Sale skips the Philippines

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:04:20 +0000

Contrary to earlier reports, Apple Philippines is not included in the Red Friday Sale that Apple is holding across most of South-East Asia’s online stores today.

Over the past days, numerous reports that Apple Philippines will host a Red Friday Sale today seems untrue.

However, the sales did happen in other Asian neighbors, including Hong Kong and Singapore with many of the Apple products slashed off their regular prices.

The biggest discount seems to be HK$770 or SG$120 applied on all Macbooks and iMacs (equivalent of around Php4,000).

Non-Apple products are also up for discounts with a Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air getting a SG$300 discount.

The more obvious question is why is the Philippines not included in the sale? Is the Philippines not Chinese enough to celebrate the Year of the Dragon and get the same discounts?

In any case, the discounts aren’t that great anyway.

Wi-Tribe doubles Plan 1998 speed to 4Mbps

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:48:45 +0000

Wi-Tribe has recently (not sure exactly when) upgraded all the speed limtes of all of their broadband plans, including the top Plan 1998 from 2Mbps to 4Mbps. Not bad considering my PLDT DSL plan is charging the same rate but only pulls down 1Mbps (supposed to be 2Mbps or 3Mbps).

These Wi-Tribe plans come in both the 4G USB sticks or the WiFi modem for fixed-wireless kit (I’m more interested in the fixed-wireless like that of Smart Bro).

Anyway, since this is still a wireless broadband connection, the speeds you’ll get won’t be consistent and will depend your location and surrounding buildings.

Take note also the lowest plan which is only Php598 a month for a 1Mbps connection.

Also, Wi-Tribe claims the plans have unlimited bandwidth as long as it’s within their Fair Usage Policy (which states one or 2 movie downloads a week is fair enough).

Why mandatory unlocked phones ain’t happening here?

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:21:20 +0000

The recent report of Chile implementing the mandatory unlocking of all phones that are sold in the country this month got me thinking if this is possible in the Philippines. Of course it’s possible but I doubt it will be happening anytime soon.

The current norm is that all mobile phones and most mobile devices (the iPad 2 3G isn’t locked with Globe) being sold and provided by local telcos are given out to subscribers locked for the entire contract period.

In other countries, like Hong Kong or Singapore, handsets sold by telcos are required to be unlocked. Despite that, you wil still see gadget stores in Mongkok, HK selling locked phones although at a much cheaper price than the international versions.

The rationale behind locked phones is that since the carrier is the one subsidizing the price of the handset, they wanted their subscribers to use the device on their network and recoup the amount from usage of the plan or credits. The same is true to prepaid kit plans.

But in a country like the Philippines where prepaid users outnumber postpaid users 5 to 1, Filipinos tend to get their phones elsewhere and just buy a Php40 SIM card in the nearest sari-sari store. That means only 20% or less of the handsets are locked to their respective networks.

In some instances, having a handset locked ot a network is often used as a marketing tool. This is a huge deal especially when specific handsets are very popular — like the iPhone 3G or Galaxy S on Globe or the Nokia N9 or the Galaxy Note on Smart. In the early years of the iPhone in the Philippines, every time you see someone using an iPhone 3G, you’d definitely think they are Globe subscribers. These folks are like walking billboards — free advertising.

If and when mandatory unlocked phones be implemented in the Philippines, we might see those postpaid plans and prepaid kits to end up much more expensive than what they are right now. That’s the most likely scenario.

However, I believe that once your contract has expired with your carrier (normally after 24 months), you can now demand that your handset be unlocked (although I don’t think a lot of people know about this). This is why carriers often provide additional incentives to renew contracts or offer retention plans. (Update: Just got off the phone with one of the reps from a local telco and they explained the unlocking is not done on their end but on the manufacturers side.)

What I think is a more important move is the number portability scheme which allows a subscriber to bring their number to any carrier when they switch or move between telcos.

Update: After talking to both reps of Smart and Globe, both clarified that the devices shipped to the by the manufacturers are already locked to their network. It’s up to the individual subscriber if they want the device unlocked on their own accord, whether or not the contract has expired or not. Unlocking will need to be done by the manufacturer or by 3rd party.

Scott Thompson: Yahoo’s new CEO is the Paypal chief

abeolandres@gmail.com (Abe Olandres) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:41:20 +0000

Looks like Yahoo! is not selling after all. The portal/media company has just announced they’ve chosen a new CEO to lead Yahoo!. The new guy, Scott Thompson, was the president of Paypal (an eBay company).

From Yahoo’s press release, Thompson will assume the responsibility as Yahoo! Chief on January 9.

“Thompson served most recently as President of PayPal, a division of eBay, where he continued his established track record of growing businesses by driving customer engagement built on strong technology platforms. Under his leadership, PayPal solidified its lead as the global online payment service, expanding its user base from 50 million to more than 104 million active users in 190 countries worldwide, increasing the number of merchant partners to more than 8 million globally, and growing revenues from $1.8 billion to $4+ billion in 2011.”

This is the first time I have heard of Thompson (been a heavy Paypal user but never got to know who heads it) and by his track record, he looks like a nice pick. A bit of low-key, knows a lot about finance and a performer.

Of course, Yahoo! is a different kind of environment altogether compared to Paypal.