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Good Luck Microsoft, Long Live Nokia!

2014-04-28T19:30:00.000+08:00

And the time had finally come, the complete turn-over of the substantial part Nokia Devices and Services division to the biggest technology company in the world, Microsoft, capping the 8 months hiatus from its initial announcement. This historic event culminated after passing all the obstacles that came along the way and getting the approval by Nokia shareholders and government regulators.

But not everyone was happy about it. I for one had a mixed reactions over the buyout, sadness in one part because I cannot anymore see my most trusted brand name in any of my future devices, on the other hand, excitement because of what’s up ahead with the fusion of brilliant minds from two powerful and innovative tech companies. Annoyed as well, with how the company was mishandled, and terrified most specially, with accusations of Trojan power plays that occurred along the way. But anyhow, past is past and it’s time to move forward, Microsoft has still a lot of things to prove and they need to gear up for the battle that is upfront. As for Nokia, well, no matter how other people would want to portray it, they will still be a vital part of the smartphone universe with their long list of patents and services. Every smartphone company pays to Nokia for the use of its patents and they will definitely here to stay.

For everyone who have been following my blog, your biggest question would probably be, if I will now sway my love and support to Microsoft who now owns Nokia’s devices department, well, it’s not just about the notion that everything remains the same being that nothing had really change other than the brand logo and name, but the head management is different now comprising different sets of people with distinct visions, I’m still not sure what their plans are or which business model will they follow in approaching the mobilephone hardware and software market.

It’s also about character; Nokia is a brand name that is analogous to quality and value conscious products, almost indestructible design and construction, excellent services, unwavering after sales support, among others, while Microsoft is only known as a successful software company. Will Microsoft adopt Nokia's built and service orientated character, enhance it perhaps, or will they create another system? If proven enough by Microsoft, then why not!

It’s definitely not a smooth sail ahead for Microsoft being an infant in the hardware business and surrounded by fierce competitors. They still need to prove a lot of things most especially to Nokia’s legions of enthusiasts. They will surely prevail, I believe, because they have the right tools and talents (Nokia’s world class hardware designers and workers), all they need to do now is to introduce more cutting edge software innovations with distinguishable features and brilliant marketing strategy.

Good luck then to Microsoft and long live Nokia!

Nokia 225 Announced, To Hit The Shelves This Month With PhP2,180 SRP

2014-04-14T19:30:00.000+08:00

Nokia continues to augment its entry level mobilephone segment announcing the Nokia 225, their slimmest affordable internet device yet. To cost only within 39 Euro (PhP2,180 official SRP in the Philippines) before tax and subsidies, the candybar phone brings internet connectivity much closer to the mass market promising affordable and fast online experience with Nokia Xpress Browser that helps keep browsing data costs at bay by optimizing website data before it reach the device, a pre-loaded Facebook and Twitter apps available direct on homescreen for easy social network connectivity, among others.

The Nokia 225 heralds the same critically acclaimed design structure like the rest of the recently release phones from the Finnish giant, the stylish design, bold colors, and unibody structure, a definite standout in the mobilephone crowd. Its available in five colors; red, yellow, green, black and white which may be offered variably per country.

Among its prominent features is the 2.8 inch screen display, 2MP camera, Bluetooth 3.0 with SLAM, microSD card support of up to 32GB, 103 phon Donau speaker, single and dual sim support, Bing Search, 5 preloaded games (Block Breaker 3, Asphalt 6, Assassins Creed 3, The Avengers and Real Football 2012) , FM Radio with RDS, MP3 Player, 1200mAh battery promising a full 36 days standby battery life for single sim and 27 days for dual sim.

Its about to be release in a week or two in the Philippines and among other select markets.

Nokia Lumia 630 Dual Sim Gets A PhP7,800 SRP In The Philippines, Coming Very Soon!

2014-04-13T08:30:00.000+08:00

In less than 2 weeks since its announcement at the Microsoft's Build 2014 in San Francisco, the first Dual-Sim Windows Phone from Nokia will soon see the light of day in the Philippines as it is about to be release within the PhP7,800 price range, an unparalleled bargain given its modern specifications and build.

The Nokia Lumia 630 Dual Sim heralds a Snapdragon 400 Quad core processor abaft promising a faster and smoother user interface, 4.5" IPS LCD with ClearBlack screen, scratch resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3, 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, expandable memory of up to 128GB, Bluetooth 4.0, 5MP camera, among others.

It will run Windows Phone 8.1, the latest iteration of the critically acclaimed operating system that introduces tons of improvements and new features. Among the prominent changes includes a more details at-a-glance through Live Tiles, one easy swipe to important notifications with Action Center, faster ways to connect and type with Word Flow and, starting in the US, a personal and proactive virtual assistant called Cortana. In addition, the Windows Phone 8.1 enterprise pack means existing Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices will become better business phones.

Accompanying the Windows Phone 8.1 over-the-air update will be new unique experiences for Nokia Lumia smartphones, the Lumia Cyan brings further advancements to Nokia exclusive apps and services. This includes enhancements to the camera roll and Creative Studio, as well as an improved Nokia Storyteller app, for sharing stories as a video slideshow on social networks, Nokia Mix Radio, among the rest.

Watch this space for the release updates.

Nokia Announces The Lumia 930, Lumia 635 and Lumia 630 Single/Dual Sim, Sporting WP 8.1

2014-04-06T21:30:00.000+08:00

Nokia announced three Lumia smartphones based on Windows Phone 8.1 at the recently concluded Microsoft's Build 2014, the first dual-sim Windows Phone, the Nokia Lumia 630; its elder mono 4G sibling, the Nokia Lumia 635 and the new flagship, the Nokia Lumia 930.

People get closer to everything they love with Windows Phone 8.1 on Lumia

Starting this summer, Windows Phone 8.1 is set to roll out to existing Lumia Windows Phone 8 owners along with exclusive Lumia experiences as an over-the-air update called Lumia Cyan. Windows Phone 8.1 introduces more details at-a-glance through Live Tiles, one easy swipe to important notifications with Action Center, faster ways to connect and type with Word Flow and, starting in the US, a personal and proactive virtual assistant called Cortana. In addition, the Windows Phone 8.1 enterprise pack means existing Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices will become better business phones.

Accompanying the Windows Phone 8.1 over-the-air update will be new unique experiences for Lumia that further enhance Nokia's leadership in imaging. This includes enhancements to the camera roll and Creative Studio, as well as an improved Nokia Storyteller app, for sharing stories as a video slideshow on social networks.

New Lumia smartphones integrate the best of Microsoft and Lumia

The Nokia Lumia 930 is the flagship embodiment of Windows Phone 8.1, and features:
- A 20 megapixel PureView camera with ZEISS optics and advanced Rich Recording, delivering a flawless video and imaging experience with new Living Images innovation.
- A stunning design combining elegant metal and vibrant polycarbonate with a 5-inch ClearBlack screen for unmatched viewing of Vyclone, Netflix and Xbox Video, even in bright daylight.
- A Powerful 2.2GHz Snapdragon quad-core processor delivering more from content like apps, games, the Internet and integrated Microsoft services like OneDrive and Microsoft Office.

The Nokia Lumia 930 is expected to roll out globally in June starting with Europe, Asia, Middle East and India, available from USD 599 (PhP28,000 more or less) before taxes and subsidies.

The Nokia Lumia 630 and Nokia Lumia 635 provide an uncompromised Windows Phone 8.1 experience at an affordable price, and deliver:
- A Snapdragon quad core processor providing a faster social experience with Word Flow and social apps like WhatsApp and WeChat.
- A unique colorful design with changeable shells and 4.5" ClearBlack screen delivering a great entertainment experience with apps and games including Asphalt 8 and Vimeo.
- More choice with three variants, including the Lumia 630 in 3G single SIM and the first Lumia with 3G Dual SIM; plus the speedy Lumia 635 in 4G/LTE.

Nokia Lumia 635- The same experiences as high-end Lumia smartphones including SensorCore with Bing Health and Fitness, Microsoft Office, Nokia Camera, free Nokia MixRadio streaming, and free Global maps and navigation from HERE, which save time and money.

The Nokia Lumia 630 is expected to roll out in May, beginning with Asia, India/Middle East, South America and Europe, at USD 15 9 (PhP7,500.00 more or less) for the single-sim variant, and USD 169 (PhP8,500 more or less) for the dual-sim variant before taxes and subsidies. The Nokia Lumia 635 is expected to be broadly available, including in the US starting in this summer, from USD 189 before taxes and subsidies.

Nokia XL Gets An April Release Date In The Philippines

2014-03-16T20:15:00.000+08:00

It seems like Filipino's will again be given another front seat row in getting one more of Nokia's recently announced Android running smartphone trio's as the Nokia XL is about to be release in about 2-3 weeks.

The Nokia XL is considered the flagship smartphone among the three carrying with it a bigger screen of 5 inches as compared to the 4 inch screen of the recently released Nokia X, and a 768MB of RAM as against the 512MB of the latter. The Nokia XL also enjoys a higher camera specifications of 5MP as compared to the 3MP of Nokia X and a bigger battery storage of 2000mAh unlike the 1500mAh of the latter. The rest of the software and applications features remains the same. (Click Here for Nokia X's Specs and Software Features)

No word as to the official local retail price yet but it is expected to be cost at around PhP800-1000 more than Nokia X base on the published international retail price rate. Standard retail price of the Nokia X is PhP5,990.00.

Its customary for Nokia not to release all of the announced color variants for their phones per country so expect at least two to four of the following; bright green, orange, cyan, yellow, black and white.

Nokia X Gets A PhP5990 Price Tag In The Philippines, To Launch In March 11th

2014-03-06T20:00:00.000+08:00

The hottest and the most talk about Nokia Android mobilephone in the recently concluded Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona , Spain, the Nokia X, will plunge full throttle in one of Nokia's stronghold in Asia Pacific, the islands Philippines.

Its currently being listed in one of the leading online stores in the country for PhP5,990.00, its official introductory retail price with a full Nokia 1 year warranty. Expect a little bump in the price in Nokia flagship stores and far less in Grey markets.

The Nokia X is one of the first three device from the company that runs Android Open Source Project operating system with a Nokia X software platform 1.0 user interface that is a combination of Microsoft's Windows Phone Tile UI and the Asha Touch UI's Fastlane feature. It will also carry Microsoft's leading services and features like One Drive cloud storage and one month Skype Unlimited World Subscription, and Nokia's unbeatable navigation tools like the offline HERE maps and HERE drive, as well as Nokia Mix Radio offering free online music streaming and offline playlist download among the rest of Nokia's exclusive services.

Hardware specs includes a 4" IPS WVGA (800 x480) (233ppi) capacitive touch, 3MP camera fixed focus, 520MB RAM and 4GB eMMC, 1GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon dual core processor, 1500mAh Battery, Dual SIM and Dual Standby, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0+ HS and more.

Watch this space for updates on the upcoming event.

Alcatel dominates Firefox OS market with a share of 65%, GeeksPhone insignificant

2014-02-27T19:30:00.000+08:00

Long-term followers of the mobile market tend to see Alcatel as a company which is all talk, but tends to ship relatively little. In Firefox OS, this can not be farther from the truth – an analysis of user behavior shows that the Chinese company accounts for more than 65% of users.

Tamoggemon Holding k.s. offers an immensely powerful scientific calculator which provides Firefox OS users features not seen in any other product. This is achieved via a client-server infrastructure which connects the cell phones to a group of Raspberry Pi computers.

In specific, the data obtained from analyzing usership looks as following:

Alcatel OneTouch 4012 - 67,86%
ZTE Open - 22,11%
LG D300 - 10,01%

It is clear that ZTE's policy of intentionally limiting the amount of ZTE Open sales has backfired on the vendor. LG has a market share of 10% - it remains but a question of time when the platform will be discontinued.

More interestingly, GeeksPhone handsets have failed to amount to a significant level of traffic. This clearly shows that most developers don’t use their Firefox OS handset as primary phone.

About TouchCalc

TouchCalc is a scientific calculator for Windows Phone 7 and 8. Unlike most of its competitors, Tamoggemon Holding k.s. offers the product to its users at no cost. In addition to the here-mentioned client for Firefox OS, the product is also available for Windows Phone, webOS, Symbian and bada OS. Further information on TouchCalc can be found via www.tamoggemon.com. The Firefox OS client can be downloaded at https://marketplace.firefox.com/app/touchcalc-web.

2 Affordable Phones For The Mobile First Generation, The Nokia Asha 230 and The Nokia 220

2014-02-26T19:30:00.000+08:00

Mobile first would mean the earliest mobilephone users and Nokia wants to make sure that they are treated with the best initial experience to the tech world with the launch of two affordable yet powerful devies, the Nokia Asha 230 and the Nokia 220.

The Nokia Asha 230 is the ideal introduction to full-touch mobile phones. The Nokia Asha 230 includes all the benefits of the Nokia Asha Software Platform, including Fastlane and access to popular social apps like Line, WeChat and WhatsApp. One swipe up from the lockscreen activates the Nokia Asha 230's camera, and one touch enables people to share images to their favourite social network. With a forthcoming software update, the Nokia Asha 230 will introduce 7GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive, and the option to automatically back up photos to the cloud.

Priced at just EUR 45 or around PhP2760, the Nokia Asha 230 is the most affordable Asha touch device ever. Available in single and Dual SIM variants, it will start rolling out immediately across Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

The Nokia 220 is the lowest-priced, data-enabled phone which makes mobile Internet accessible to more people around the world. With its beautiful design, 2.4" colour screen and dust-and-splash-proof keypad, the Nokia 220 is a well-crafted choice for people experiencing mobility and the Internet for the first time, with Facebook and Twitter pre-loaded and Bing as the default search engine in the pre-loaded Nokia Xpress browser.

Retail prices for the Nokia 220 start at EUR 29 or around PhP1760. It will also be available for sale immediately in single and Dual SIM variants and rolling-out in Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Nokia Launch 3 Android Devices Amidst Microsoft Buy Out

2014-02-24T21:00:00.000+08:00

Its finally official, the year round rumor was finally announce today at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. But its not just one device, Nokia surprises the mobilephone world with three, the Nokia X, Nokia X+ and the Nokia XL, creating the loudest salvo yet in worlds biggest technology fair.

Most probably, the people who were the most excited with this announcements are Android developers because it would allow them to tap into the millions of Nokia supporters and enthusiasts; Android converts who were previously Symbian supporters wanting an Android running Nokia hardware; and the mass market as whole giving them more options to buy quality products at an affordable prize. The least happy, Google most definitely because they cant earn anything from it being forked without their income generating apps and services and Microsoft since it will be a direct competitor to their affordable Lumia devices like the Nokia Lumia 520.

The Nokia trio runs an Android 4.4 Kitkat beneath, had Nokia's world renowned attractive design and quality construction, a tile based user interface like that of Windows Phone, the infamous Fastlane of the Asha's, offline HERE maps and navigation suite, Nokia Mix Radio offering free online music streaming and offline playlist download, One Drive cloud storage, one month Skype Unlimited World Subscription among other Nokia and Microsoft's exclusive apps and services.

Nokia X

The phones hardware specs includes a 4" IPS WVGA (800 x480) (233ppi) capacitive touch, 3MP camera fixed focus, 520MB RAM and 4GB eMMC, 1GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon dual core processor, 1500mAh Battery, Dual SIM and Dual Standby, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0+ HS and more.

Color variants: Bright green, Bright red, Cyan, Yellow, Black and White

Price: 89 Euro or PhP5,450.00 more or less, rolling-out in Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa immediately.

Nokia X+

The phone had identical hardware specs to that of Nokia X except that it has a bigger RAM of 768MB.

Color variants: Bright green, Bright red, Cyan, Yellow, Black and White

Price: 99 Euro or PhP6,060.00 more or less, rolling out in Q2 2014

Nokia XL

Phone hardware specs includes 5" IPS WVGA (800 x480) (187ppi) capacitive touch, 5MP camera auto focus, 2MP front facing camera, 768MB RAM,vand 4GB eMMC, 1GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon dual core processor, 2000mAh Battery, Dual SIM and Dual Standby, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0+ HS and more.

Color variants: Bright green, Orange, Cyan, Yellow, Black and White

Price: 109 Euro or PhP6,680.00 more or less, rolling out in Q2

The Nokia Lumia 1020 Chronicle: Cameraphone Royalty Part 1 - First Impression

2014-02-23T19:30:00.000+08:00

In my prelude article, I wrote about the accounts of my historic Nokia Lumia 1020 purchase. It was unexpected but cannot be turn aside due to circumstances that were nevertheless euphoric and overwhelming. Read the full prelude article here.

07:25 +8GMT, February 9, 2014

I meet with Sir Dan at the Davao Ecoland Bus Terminal, the very person that I was referring to in my Prelude article who sold his Nokia Lumia 1020 for almost half the price.

Very anxious, yes, I was that time because it might be that everything was just a set up and that he was only making fun of me being dead desperate, but Sir Dan came with his wife and 2 kids. They were a decent family actually, kinda well-off financially and obviously techy in some ways. But of course, I was more interested on "the phone" which he freely showed to me for checking.

My first impression, typical Lumia, attractive, bold, compact, well built, but compared to Nokia Lumia 925, its a bit bulky and heavy to my liking and less the premium metal feel. I think Nokia had overplayed with the uni-body polycarbonate design already that their is less of the "wow factor" anymore unlike when they introduced it with the Nokia N9 back in 2011. To be honest, I like the Nokia Lumia 925 more design-wise being refreshing and unique in metal than the Lumia 1020.

I then played with the phone for awhile to ascertain its genuineness and if everything was working. I also looked into the unused accessories and tried them to examine any defects. After the thorough run-through with the phone, I then chat with the family to know them better. Interestingly, I found out that they were really a Lumia enthusiasts. The wife was using a Nokia Lumia 625, the son, a Lumia 720, and the daughter who was about 10 years old, had a yellow Lumia 520. I told them that its a wise choice having Lumia devices for unique differentiation from bunch of Androids, at the same time beneficial since Windows Phone as a system focused on family and people that matters. With it they can easily maintain a strong bond among themselves personally and socially.

And speaking about Windows Phone, the phone interface-wise, as I expected it to be, was buttery smooth beaming beneath the lively and vibrant screen display. The ClearBlack display and the PureMotion HD+ technology of Nokia worked their way best on the phone making it very pleasurable to gaze. The phone was already running the Windows Phone Black update but I have not notice any remarkable changes that comes with it just yet since I did not snoop further on the phones settings being very tired from a grueling 13 hours of sleepless overnight trip and that the seller still had files and information's on the phone being not resetted.

I then handed the money to Sir Dan and close the deal outright. They were even gracious enough to offer me a tour around the city but I modestly refuse since I need to travel back home for another 13 nonstop hours.

I then tact the phone back to its box and planned to reset it only when I get back home. It would be safer and wise to have a full WiFi access in doing so to prevent huge data upload in accessing and activating existing Microsoft accounts.

08:00 +8GMT, February 9, 2014

I was already in the bus on my way home, very excited and fulfilled. It felt like I just did one of the most important decision in my life. Happiness and contentment lingered in my thoughts for the rest of that day. Never in my wildest dream, did I expect to own a Nokia Lumia 1020 being far beyond my financial reached. Somehow destiny had works it way in my favor.

Hot Video: Nokia Green (Android?) Ducks On The Move!

2014-02-20T18:35:00.000+08:00

5 Days to go before Mobile World Congress 2014 and green ducks from Nokia will invade, as depicted in their latest teaser video.

I don't know what Nokia wants to imply here, but I'm 1110% sure now that the company is not going to announce an Android device because green doesn't signify the operating system and much more, ducks, which made me remember by the way of a Danish children literary fairy tale with an Ugly in the title.

This might just be an environment related announcement or a call for world peace! :D

What do you think? Lets all find out then.

The Nokia Asha 210, Efficient and Stunning

2014-02-17T19:30:00.000+08:00

Nokia sees to it that they got all the grounds covered specially in the entry level market, defying the norm, borne the Nokia Asha 210, the company's very first Wi-Fi Dual Sim and Dual Standby QWERTY phone. I call it a desire phone having a no less, my ideal form factor aside from being equipped with the best hardware and specs in its market segment.

A bold claim I know, but reasons defy logic, read on.

Design and Construction

As the famous saying goes, "beauty is not caused, it is", and the Nokia Asha 210 is as it is, design-wise the best looking QWERTY phone in the entry level market to date. In cyan, the phone looks refreshing and vibrant, as an effect of the colored frame fusing effectively to the deep black rims of the screens, emitting the Lumia synergy.

The phones built quality bespeaks a sturdy architecture even with its plastic frame, no wobbles or creaking whatsoever, no loose ends, just a compact and well built construction to last careless abuses.

Its a handy phone as well with its narrow-ish dimension of 4.39 x 2.36 x 0.46 inch that it fits perfectly in the hand but as much as I like the handiness, the width made the QWERTY keypad a bit cramped making it a little bothersome to use. Other than these keypad is excellent with its good tactile feedback and rubberized-like polycarbonate matte.

Screen and Display

The phone had 2.4 inch screen size, quite ideal enough for a QWERTY phone but the screen resolution was a little disturbing having only a 65thousand color resolution and a 167 ppi pixel density that it looks a bit flush at a glance. It could be fixed though by downloading wallpapers or themes withe deep black color.

Other Hardware Features

The rest of the hardware features includes the dedicated button for Facebook, VGA camera at the back, 3.5mm audio jack, the luad speaker at eh back and the microUSB port for pc connection. The phone is not supported by the Nokia PC Suite.

The Asha Operating System

One of the best feature of the phone is its operating system being very basic and easy to use, yet modern and socially adept. Moving forward to modern mobilephone technology, Nokia made it sure that it will retain its navigable system interface prowess concentrating more on natural human behavior making the user experience satisfying and engaging to use.

The operating system also heralds reliability and stability. The system is fast and responsive even though it only run basic processors, and users seldom experience hangs and freezes. The phone is working smoothly and amiably.

When it comes apps, the system never miss important widely used ones like Whatsup, Facebook, Twitter, email clients such as Gmail, YahooMail, Nokia Mail among others. Its also had quite a lot of productivity apps on board with thousands more on Nokia Store.

Dual SIM

Nokia further improve the Dual SIM mechanism on the phone compared to its predecessors. The system combines the contacts, logs and messaging of individual SIM’s into one making it easier for users to access, but sadly, it doesn't clearly mark the messages and contacts from each SIM showing only SIM numbers on the right side of the screen. It would have been better if there were highlighted markers, or it not, an option to segregate messages from both SIMS. Just like the previous versions, the Dual SIM mechanism still works perfectly well, no signal problems, no drop calls or unsent SMS.

Calendar and Contacts

Symbian 40 calendar is pretty much basic were the screen is divided vertically between the month view and the calendar entries. You can add entries such as reminders, birthdays, meetings, anniversary among others. Contacts on the other hand was minimalist, you can add a lot of data on it such as internet details, multimedia files such as tones and images and personal information such as postal address, birthday, note, formal name or nickname. Contacts can either be viewed by name, name with image or name with number. Nothing extraordinary in here except a few tweaks on entry of information’s.

Web and Email

Not typical among affordable entry level phones but Nokia made it sure that its stronghold, the mass market, can enjoy all the modern services that the world has to offer.

The Nokia Browser on the Asha 210 brings rich web browsing that’s fairly capable. Nokia uses a cloud compression technology to reduce data usage up to 90% resulting to quicker web page download. Well, it does fasten the download process compared to the previous but the compression mechanism resulted to a poor webpage visual but nonetheless, the page can be zoom in or out with a little log and it reduces the data cost per web page.

Nokia eMail on the other hand gives users an easy access to e-mail anywhere and anytime. Users can view, respond, forward, compose and delete e-mails and manage e-mail inbox, outbox, drafts and sent folders. Downloading emails is also economical since it implements data compression similar to that of the browser.

Nokia Social

Since the dawn of social networking, the need to connect to social sites like Facebook and Twitter became a necessity rather than a privilege. Mobilephone consumers were now looking beyond the norm, high end or not, and so the Nokia Social was created not only to address the inevitable but gave users the best social network experience in low end devices. The app combines Twitter and Facebook were users can access both even opening there individual apps. Quite typical but for entry level phones, its the easiest and the most affordable social connectivity app in the market at the moment.

Nokia Store

Perhaps the biggest addition to S40 device, the Nokia store is an application that lets users find or buy contents, wallpapers, themes or application for the phone all in one place. I can still remember the days when I need to scroll around several web pages to customize my phone, now all it takes is a single intuitive app. The phone uses mobile data to download contents but for users to reduce possible cost incurred, you can connect the phone to a WIFI connected pc; download, install and open the Nokia Suite; go to the Nokia Store webpage and download directly from there. The pc downloaded contents will be installed directly to the phone.

Music and Radio

Music Player is also modest enough giving user’s easy way to navigate music files. A smallish album cover can be found on the right portion of the player, title of the tract were on the right side while the music grid (forward, play and rewind) on the bottom. Media options includes; Play in background – option were you can leave the music player page without turning the player off and do other stuffs on the phone; Shuffle songs; Repeat and Add to Playlist. Equalizer or bass booster is not supported as well as playlist synchronization over Nokia Suite. This would mean that you have to manually create your playlist. Music Player supports MP3, WMA, WAV and AAC+ files.

The FM radio was very typical, it can only be played with a headset inserted, tuning is both automatic and manual and users can save unlimited number of radio stations.

Video Playback

The Video player supports WMV, H.264, H.263 and MP4 files, but due to its limited processor, playing videos on the phone is not that smooth but still watchable enough.

Camera and Camcorder

The phone sports a 2MP camera capable of taking ordinary images in good lighting condition. It’s also capable of recording videos of up to 10fps. Very basic imaging feature here creating lightweight file size but very much ideal for the phone since it only rely on EDGE for web connectivity. Posting images or videos on Facebook or Twitter won’t be too costly.

Wrap up

The Asha 210 is the second attempt of Nokia to bring the QWERTY form factor to low end market, this time around though, bringing a sense of style and alluring statement. The phone combines attractive design, value for money and an excellent software, befitting mass market consumers. As always, the device edge all other competing devices in its category.

The Nokia Lumia 1020 Chronicle: Cameraphone Royalty Prelude

2014-02-16T19:30:00.000+08:00

This is not just any of my ordinary device chronicle ladies and gentlemen, besides that fact that the phone is extraordinary being a cameraphone royalty, it will also serve as my smartphone and the blog's official camera for the next few years, so expect a never ending features and biz-a-bits about it in full scale.

Being a preliminary article, I'm going to share with you the story behind this very important device purchase. For those who follow my blog posts, I had always assert my unwillingness to switch to Windows Phone being incomplete for the time being and not yet worthy to replace Symbian, but a call of urgency and opportunity came giving me no choice.

About two months ago, the blog's official cameraphone for almost 5 years, the Nokia N8, need to be sent for repair due to a damage Sim card slot. I inserted a micro-cut Sim to it with a loss SIM adapter. Somehow, the adapter snarled some pins beneath that it no longer read inserted Sim cards.

I had my regular Sim cut to micro SIM that time because I had a Nokia Lumia 925 trial device with me. I was supposed to have it fixed to a Nokia Care facility but unfortunately, Nokia Cagayan De Oro doesn't accept old devices anymore other than Lumia's, Asha's and some newly released featured phones. I suspect this has something to do with the Microsoft's take over of Nokia's device division. Anyways, they told me that I have to send the phone to Manila because their is now a single authorized facility who will handle it. Since I don't really have extra phones on hand, I went instead to a local repair shop to have it fixed so I could use it right away. The said repair shop did fixed it within an hour but unfortunately, after a month of used, the screen went black that I have to sent it back again for repair to the same shop.

This time though, they told me to seek the help to an authorized Nokia Care facility since they don't know how to fixed it. I then decided to have to sent to Greystone Nokia Manila. I also asked the help of Bryan Lee of Nokia Philippines to have it checked, the least I can be assured that its safe and well taken cared of. After four days, a technician called me up informing me that the motherboard got damage because the repair shop that I had it fixed previously used a non-prescribed glue or something that melted causing irreparable damage. Devastated, I then tweeted about the incident and desperately called to everyone who wants to sell second hand Nokia Lumia 920, 925 or 1020. Why second hand? Simply because I cant really afford to buy brand new, one of the perks of being poor. I even asked Bryan if theirs anyone from Nokia Philippines who wants to sell one, but unfortunately, nobody could or would want to, they must have love their Lumia's much. Nevertheless, a shout-out to Sir Byran for the assistance. :D

A week after the tweet and to my surprised, I received an email from someone in Davao City offering his Nokia Lumia 1020 for almost half the price to the original. He told me that he was an avid reader of the blog and understand my desperate plea for help! Just imagine a PhP35,000 phone to be sold only for PhP20,000 in an almost pristine condition with all unused accessories intact, a huge saving on my part and far better than buying a brand new Nokia Lumia 920 that currently costs PhP21,000 or the Lumia 925 that is prized at about PhP25,000. I then replied to his email and in a matter of hours, we were already negotiating as to the meet up place and all.

He told me that he is selling it because he realized that he doesn't like the white version and wanted to buy the black one instead, and that he wanted also to help me buy my dream phone. I was like, wow, at least somebody cared, and the rest is history. Anyways, Sir Dan, your an angel, THANK YOU! :D

An extraordinary event leading to an extraordinary blog features, expect a Nokia Lumia 1020 coverage like no other with no holds barred. I wont feature a review article anymore because I don't want to limit myself to phone specifications and featured apps, my chronicle will offer real world experiences that everyone can relate to most specially articles that could help you decide if the phone suites you or not.

Anyhow, hit the comments section below if you want me to cover a specific aspect of the phone. I'll be very glad to post an article about it. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more...

Cutty Sark: Come on board

2014-02-12T19:30:00.000+08:00

Time again for the Travel and Places feature my dear friends, this time around, Cutty Sark in Greenwich, UK.

What is this Cutty Sark all about and how it became one of the tourist attraction in Greenwich. Find out more by watching the video below.

The Chain Of Not Good

2014-02-08T19:30:00.000+08:00

Interesting clip here ladies and gents about doing something and making a difference to the world, or at least thats how they want us to believe.

Okay.... anyways, watch the video below to find out more.

Sexy Sound Served on a Plate

2014-02-07T19:30:00.000+08:00

Slim, stylish, considerate of your needs, full-bodied... its not talking about your ideal woman; its talking about LG's latest product, SoundPlate (LAP340).

LG Electronics is proud to introduce you to the LG SoundPlate, a slim base-type speaker system that enhances the TV viewing experience with immersive audio.

Watch the video below to find our more.

Get your Nokia Lumia 1320 FREE from Globe Telecom

2014-02-06T19:30:00.000+08:00

One of the first two Nokia Windows Phone phablet, the Nokia Lumia 1320, finds its home with Globe Telecom, the Philippines largest postpaid carrier. Its currently being offered FREE for new line and re-contracting application of Personal and Business mySuperPlan 1299 with a 24 months lock-in period.

The phone is being marketed by the network as an ultimate mid-range gaming device, perfectly suited I would say having a large 6-inch 720p IPS LCD 1280x720 (~245 ppi pixel density) display with ClearBlack Technology, 1.7GHz Dual Core Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 GPU, Xbox Games and Xbox Live, offering top-notched gaming experience.

But the Nokia Lumia 1320 is not just for gaming, it also have some of the latest smartphone software innovations and specifications on par with the current high end smartphones like Windows Phone Black software, LTE connectivity, Corning Gorilla 3 Glass with Super Sensitive Multi-touch for nail and glove usage, WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0, Dolby enhanced sound, 5MP Camera with LED flash, and the rest of Nokia and Windows Phone's exclusive apps like the full Office Mobile suite; Nokia Camera that integrates the most popular imaging modes, Pro, Smart, and video into one seamless and fast picture taking experience; Nokia Storyteller that automatically integrates images with HERE location information into a new way to relive images on a map; Nokia Music that allows unlimited music streaming for free without ads or sign on; free global HERE Maps with LiveSight augmented reality view; Papyrus to take handwritten notes in a natural and easy way; Nokia Beamer for sharing ideas easily and instantly with friends by projecting the phone screen to any HTML5 enabled screen; among others.

Under mySuperPlan 1299, postpaid subscribers could enjoy a consumable peso value equivalent to PhP2,300 that could be use for a call, text or surfing combos. Their suggested combo is unlimited LTE surfing + 500 texts + 25 minutes calls to all networks, quite decent enough for moderate users.

You can apply for this offer online or to the nearest Globe Store in your area. Just submit a valid identification (ID), proof of billing address and proof of income.

HTC and Samsung's Windows Phones account for less than 5% of total sales

2014-02-05T19:30:00.000+08:00

HTC and Samsung's Windows Phones account for less than 5% of total sales Microsoft's buy-up of Nokia raised quite a few heads in the industry. Pundits expected both Samsung and HTC to be ire by this announcement. This can not be father from the truth – their Windows Phones simply don't sell in meaningful numbers.

This shocking statement can be obtained by analyzing the user statistics of Tamoggemon Holding's scientific calculator TouchCalc. Over the Christmas period, new users showed up with the following handsets:

Lumia 520 - 33.4%
Lumia 710 - 8%
Lumia 505 - 6.2%
Lumia 610 - 6%
Lumia 620 - 5.5%
Lumia 625 - 5.1%
Lumia 720 - 5%
Lumia 920 - 4.6%
Lumia 521 - 4%
Lumia 800 - 3.5%
Rest - 18.7%

Sadly, the line designated as "rest“ is largely made up of smaller Nokia devices. The most successful Non-Nokia device is the ATIV S; which managed a user share of barely 1.35%. These numbers lend credence to the rumor that Microsoft invests millions of dollars into keeping HTC and Samsung on the Windows Phone track.

From now on, expect frequent updates with data from Firefox OS, Windows Phone and other platforms. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Tamoggemon Holding at any time. Tam Hanna, CEO and Founder, has followed the industry since the days of the Palm IIIc and would love to provide you with in-depth comments.

About TouchCalc

TouchCalc is a scientific calculator for Windows Phone 7 and 8. Unlike most of its competitors, Tamoggemon Holding k.s. offers the product to its users at no cost. In addition to the here-tested client for Windows Phone, the product is also available for Firefox OS, webOS, Symbian and bada OS. Further information on TouchCalc can be found via www.tamoggemon.com. The Windows Phone client can be downloaded at http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/touchcalc/e0f06f7a-4691-47cd-964a-dfa989a1c17b.

Making sense of the Nokia Normandy

2014-02-04T19:30:00.000+08:00

When rumor came out about Nokia coming up with an Android running handset, everyone was poking about it like its a statement made during April Fools Day for the reason that the company is tied up exclusively to Microsoft, but when Microsoft confirmed it themselves giving huge credence to the incident as one of the main reason why they bought Nokia's business device division, the poking stopped, and all Nokia Android hopefuls were devastated since it would only mean the said plan is far from fruition, not until lately when leaks came out about Nokia Normandy (Nokia X), a fully running Android handset forked to the taste of Metro UI which I saw as a compromised to get Microsoft's blessing.

Lets try to make sense with this strategy of Nokia and Microsoft:

First and foremost, they must have read the famous saying that "If you can't beat them, join them!" but with a trojan twist, like what Microsoft deed with Nokia when they throw Elop to the picture resulting to the latter's demise, according to conspiracy theorists that is. The trojan trick behind Nokia Normandy is that it is designed to prevent Google from earning revenues out of their offered services with Microsoft's full software being tagged instead. Smart move I would say, beating Google in their home front, but the question now is, how long will Google allow it and up to what extent?

Secondly, Nokia had already close their application store to developers affecting their Asha line up. Without the Nokia store, Asha is as good as dead, and for Microsoft and Nokia to compete in entry level market, they need an operating system with vast collection of apps. In this regards, Android is their only option.

Third, cheap, they need to offer a device that could compete against emerging Chinese manufacturers who re-brand phones, and in what operating can Nokia and Microsoft keep the price dirt cheap, again, Android with the system being free to EOM's. With this system, Nokia could go down to as much as $50.00 per phone, well enough to compensate the hardware cost, like what this aforementioned manufaturers are doing.

And finally, because Windows Phone is not ready to power entry level handset just yet, the bulk of the phone market, that is, currently being gobbled up by competitors. This market is used to be Nokia's stronghold few years back, now its slowly slipping away, drained to small competitors who were willing to offer practicality other than quality.

Since their is no stopping the Normandy from being released to the world, I could presumed that I'm more likely be able to own an Android device first than Windows Phone because I can easily afford it being cheap, and that still, I find the Microsoft operating system incomplete. Now don't get me wrong here, I like Windows Phone more than Android, its just that the system is not worthy to replaced my well loved Symbian just yet. I'll be buying the Normandy to have access to my favorite apps like access to full Viber features, SWYPE, Flipboard and more; not to be left out to the world for cool new ones since Nokia Store is being shelve; and that it will be made by a trusted brand, nothing more. I will even use it only as a back up reloader phone with Nokia E6 as my primary.

But Microsoft should not feel complacent about it, I might grew fond of Android in the process and rather go with it all the way. They must act fast to heed the calls of every Symbian enthusiasts who were running out road to take. Listen, develop, execute... Its now or never!

Images by @evleaks

Smart Telecom To Launch A New Home-Base Broadband System Dubbed Volterra

2014-01-30T19:30:00.000+08:00

Telecom news ladies and gentlemen, hot on the heels, Smart is up to introduce an upgrade to their existing Smart Bro system which promises faster internet data connection for home broadband! Its codenamed Volterra for time being, a pretty catchy name which actually relates to a complex mathematical algorithm with a wide range of applications.

In the digital world, this system is enhanced as a Digital Pre-Distortion Solution for Wideband RF Power Amplifier Linearization. The adaptive digital pre-distortion solution it presents extends the linear range of power amplifiers, and in combination with crest factor reduction, enables RF power amplifiers to be driven harder and more efficiently while meeting transmit spectral efficiency and modulation accuracy requirements. I know these words were horrifying being too technical, but in simple terms, it's just a mere tweak to the existing 3G and CDMA signal technology of Smart to make them perform faster than ever before.

Faster connectivity results to, yes, you got it right, higher price and so Smart will introduce a new price bundles with it to compensate. Fret not my budget restricted friends, the current packages will not be scrapped, Volterra is just an add-on to the existing offers, targeted to data hungry and can-afford consumers.

No words yet from the company as to how fast this new system is, the price of its packages, the covered areas, nor the official launch date. But one thing is for sure, Smart will take the Broadband war to the next level and I salute them for doing so.

Interesting events up ahead ladies and gents, braise yourself.

Nokia Lumia 525, Now Available In The Philippines!

2014-01-27T19:30:00.000+08:00

The grey market always had a way to import products earlier than the official company release, this time the Nokia Lumia 525 is now being posted online for PhP7,780.00, a fair price being within the range of the worldwide announced figure.

The Nokia Lumia 525 is the heritor of Windows Phone's most popular device, the Nokia Lumia 520, that sports a larger RAM and the latest Windows Phone Black software. The design structure and rest of the physical specs remains the same with the former like the a sleek and stylish award-winning unibody architecture; 4.0" super sensitive touchscreen; 5.0MP autofocus camera; 1 GHz Dual Core Snapdragon processor; WiFi, Bluetooth; 8GB of internal memory; 1430 mAh battery; among others.

Also included are Nokia’s exclusive apps; the Nokia digital camera lenses including Cinemagraph, Smart Shoot and Glam Me; HERE suite of applications, including HERE Maps, HERE Drive and HERE Transit; Nokia Music among others.

Please be reminded though that being an unofficial release device, it doesn't have a Nokia warranty which means that when parts are broken or otherwise had malfunctioned resulting from misuse, software modification, tampering, failure to follow instructions in the manual, exposure to dust or dirt, water dropping, electric shock among the rest of incidents beyond the sellers service capacity, owners will need to pay for the repairs when indorsed to official Nokia Service Centers.

No official word from Nokia Philippines yet as to the phones official release, that if it will be, so this is the best offer you've got.

2014, Announcements, Burning Platform, And Moving Forward

2014-01-26T19:30:00.000+08:00

Another year to conquer for this smallish blog site but rather the most challenging and exciting one since I'm about to announced something that will change this blog forever. Gone were the days of solitude, the right time had come, this is it..

RETROSPECT

The blog had performed fairly well in 2013, breaking records as to the number of page views and unique visits, stretch to the limits of sobriety and backed by a strong following, but for those who religiously follow it, compared to the previous years, I hardly published stories anymore due to circumstances I cannot avoid.

First and foremost, time, I hardly have the luxury of it anymore because of my hectic schedule. Just imagine joggling two jobs a day together with my business tryst and law school, I hardly even have enough for myself, how much more for the blog. I am now on my third year in Law school and it certainly demands so much attention. The dreaded BAR exam is also not too far away (October 2015) and our professors were already encouraging us to prepare as early as now. BAR exam is not just any other exam out there, its the most difficult and prestigious of all. Where in the world can you find an exam where people manage to kill themselves or go crazy in a yearly basis?

Second, health, I believe being in front of a computer all the time affects your eyes, weight and sleeping patterns. Several studies had already been published about it, and its futile to argue because I myself would blame it for my massive weight increase 4 years back and my degrading eyesight. Maximum allowed time in front of a computer according to experts, two hours the most, and I'm already exposed to computer for about 8 at the office.

Third, social, I've notice that my addiction to the internet decreases my ability to interact with people in a natural way. Somehow it decreased my ability to respond to situations instantaneously, critical most specially that the career that I'm pursuing needs quick thinking and analysis. I've notice a huge difference from the way I interact with people and situations before and now. My friends always joke about my being lost in the circle for quite sometime, that I have stretched the boundary of my heartache to abnormal desolation.

And finally, my being lost in transition, from my well loved burning platform to nowhere! Sad to say their is nothing among the current software platforms yet that captured my interest and attention, worthy to replaced my old and burning Symbian.

So close is Android but not to my standard, Windows Phone is incomplete, iOS is too restricted and Blackberry is good as dead. Remember that I started this blog because I was soo inspired with my Nokia N82, now, I lost that synergy and inspiration. Maybe their will come a time that one of this platforms evolved to my fullest liking, a platform that can rekindle my interest back to smartphone technology. In a few months perhaps, years or decades, who knows?

FORTHCOMING

With all this reasons, I've decided to take this blog to the next level by opening it up to the entire tech world. Being open means that everyone can now submit personal stories and experiences related to technology; the camera that you loved; the wearable gadget that you've recently purchased; the smartphone that you cant lived without or the apps that makes your day complete. The blog will now be entirely about you!

You can submit your original stories via this email account, gregg003@ovi.com and I will publish it on the blog with your name as the author. Anonymous post will also be respected as well as the option to restrict comments from readers.

I will still be writing posts if I have time and this subdued moments is definitely temporary. Soon, when everything falls down to perspective, I will return in my full geek self and make technology world as rowdy as ever. For the mean time, I rest my case!

2014 Image from http://www.volkerballueder.com

Wandering With The Nokia Lumia 925, Part 7 - The Last Stand

2014-01-05T21:45:00.000+08:00

Well, kinda like X-Men - The Last Stand, since its a day that I need to lived against all odds. My body aches is getting worse and I felt like I still need to cover a lot of things and visit few more places. I'm also running out of funds so I need to take drastic moves.

07:30 +8GMT, November 10, 2013

Arrived at the pension house from my relatives bonding stints in Bacoor, Cavite. I need to start my day early because I have to packed my things up. My return flight was 5AM the next day and I was planning to spend my last night at the airport so I could save an overnight rent (the drastic move I'm referring to), wont missed my early flight (lame excuse) and that its a safety precaution as well since I might get robbed whanging around the Metro at 3AM (another lame excuse). Its better to be safe than sorry. ;)

It was an exhausting morning, I felt like I already spend all my energy that I just want to stay static for the rest of the day but I have no choice but to push myself to the limits, my check-out by 12 noon. I also need to juice up my Nokia Lumia 925 and power bank because its going to be a long day and night for the phone. I might not be able to charged it again until I arrived home the next day.

Though the phone had a Battery Saver app that would help conserved battery life by turning off running background apps when the battery reached a certain level but I doubt if it will help with my techy and socially connected lifestyle. Automatic brightness setting of the phone screen could also help but it will make the phone display dull. Anyhow, I have no choice but to do both so the phone could last overnight.

12:30 +8GMT, November 10, 2013

Left the pension house and went to SM Mall of Asia. They have this baggage counter for travelers where you can leave all your backpacks and trolleys safely for free and it closed at around 12 midnight so its very convenient. I then went to another favorite place of mine to visit when I'm in the Metro, Divisoria, another shopping hub. I haven't find a Nokia Asha 501 yet so I tried my luck.

14:00 +8GMT, November 10, 2013

Arrived in Divisoria in a demure pace with the body ache thing going on. The place was ideal for shopping but the traffic going their is terrible. How I wish the City government could find a solution for this long due problem, its not fun to be stuck in an hour of noontime traffic inside a jeepney with all those fumes and foul smell around.

I then went directly to Tutuban Town Center, one of the most prominent malls in the area to find mobilephone stalls selling second hand phones. It was again a spin-off, it took me several turns around confusing hallway blocks to find the only shop selling a Nokia Asha 501. All my efforts finding the phone for the past 2 days though was rewarded because it only cost me PhP2,800 for a unit with charger. Definitely a huge steal since the brand new price of the phone is PhP4,500 saving me PhP1,700!

I also was able to find my dream phone, the Nokia 808 PureView, on display sold for PhP10,000 only but I don't have enough money to buy it. The phone would probably remain in my dreams forever since only God knows when will I be back and it would probably be sold already when that time comes.

I also find several Lumia phones on display, even the Lumia 925 being sold only for PhP13,000 unit alone and PhP14,000 with complete set. The brand new price of the phone is still somewhere around PhP21,000, I would have save a huge PhP7,000 for it. Anyhow, if only I have enough cash, I would have bought them all!

17:00 +8GMT, November 10, 2013

Drop by Recto avenue to look for 2nd hand Law books. Yes, second hand again, no frills! But really, when your studying law, 2nd hand or brand new won't matter since laws doesn't changed much and new books only offer new case annotations. Believe it or not, I found four books that save me PhP8,000 compared to buying new ones.

FYI: Did you know that this place is well known for replicating just about anything? You can buy an almost genuine copies of school Diploma's with all the stamps and seals; Transcript of Records where you get to decide the grades; ID's of all schools, institutions and government agencies, etc., at the right price! Just name it, they have it!

Meanwhile, one thing I've notice about the phone being subjected to a ruckus environment was that I usually missed several text messages. I don't know if it was just me, but really, I find the message alert system of the phone too quite. This is also a problem with the Windows Phones that I've trialed so far, I find the notification system silent to my liking. Maybe its because of the message alert tones, that most of the built-in tones were too soft to bare and that users cannot add tones in the existing lists; or perhaps due to the phone's speaker, but in either way, I hate it, text messaging is still one of my main toll in communication, I cannot afford to compromised it. Microsoft needs to fixed this problem fast before I get tempted to buy an iPhone or any of the Androids!

18:30 +8GMT, November 10, 2013

My last pit stop for the rest of my wandering before hitting my last stand, Rizal Park, Manila. They have a new attraction that is always featured on television, the dancing fountain. I thought it could be a perfect opportunity to test the video capability of the Nokia Lumia 925 that's why I included it in my itinerary.

Well, to my surprised, there were lots of people watching the light show. What's even more interesting was that I was liking it, I thought it was only a kids show but I was wrong, adults will also find it entertaining. Got a few snap shots of the fountain using the phone, video sample will be featured in a separate article, watch out for it.

Battery checked after all the picture and image ordeal, 40%. Well, I haven't really used much of the phone early on that's why it lasts me that long. Usually, in this time of the day, I'm already almost drained.

22:00 +8GMT, November 10, 2013

Arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 safe and sound. It wasn't the first time that I slept overnight in this airport, I always do this every time I have early flights the next day. It even had a memorable experience the last time because I got struck by an Amoebiasis early morning from the Siomai that I brought the day before from a street vendor outside the Department of Health Manila, ironic. It was my worsts experience ever, I got a throbbing stomach ache every 30 seconds and I have to defecate every 20 minutes. I was dehydrated like hell! Well, those were the days!

Anyways, after arriving at the airport, I went directly to my favorite area to spend the rest of the night, a corner in the second floor near the food court, just lying on the floor pavement. I was actually able to use my Nokia Lumia 925 for an hour of surfing via a free public WiFi before it drained. I then call over for the day and took a nap amidst fellow traveling bystanders eating and chatting.

2:30 +8GMT, November 12, 2013

Woke up to checked-in. Luckily, their was an available wall socket at the boarding area that's why I was able to charged the phone for awhile. Hopefully, their will come a day when people don't have to worry about battery life or care about charging phones manually via a wall socket, and that phones will just recharged on their own harnessing available natural energy around.

05:00 +8GMT, November 12, 2013

Boarded the plane and slept my way through the whole ordeal. Two hours after I was already back home and yes, you guess it right, slept the rest of the day to regain my senses.

...And their goes my Nokia Lumia 925 wandering and adventures ladies and gents. It was quite a brawl in a fun and techy way. 6 days was surely not enough, hopefully I could stay longer the next time around, or travel somewhere else, with lots of cash on hand and using a Nokia 808 Pureview, Nokia Lumia 925 or Nokia Lumia 1020 of my own. :D Quite impossible but who knows?

Wandering With The Nokia Lumia 925, Part 1
Wandering With The Nokia Lumia 925, Part 2
Wandering With The Nokia Lumia 925, Part 3
Wandering With The Nokia Lumia 925, Part 4 - Camera and Sunset
Wandering With The Nokia Lumia 925, Part 5 - Two Days More And Counting!
Wandering With The Nokia Lumia 925, Part 6 - Camera And Night Shots

Nokia Asha 500, Now Available In The Philippines

2014-01-01T19:30:00.000+08:00

If your looking for a trendy, stylish, solid, all around, yet affordable device, then the Nokia Asha 500 is the perfect device you need and its is now up for grabs in select stores across the Philippine archipelago.

The Nokia Asha 500 comes in single and dual SIM variant and features a new crystal-clear encasement design which is a fusion of ice-like transparency and bold inner color making it elegant at the same time more durable. It has 2.8-inch 256K capacitive touchscreen with 240 x 320 pixels and ~143 ppi pixel density, WiFi, Bluetooth, 2MP camera, Stereo FM, MP3 and AAC music player, MP4 and H.263 video player, accelerometer and proximity sensors, and so much more.

The device sports the latest Asha Software Platform 1.1.1 thats adds a lot of enhancements to the simple and already capable Asha interface making it even more intuitive. It enables faster and easier sharing of images on social networks, with one easy swipe to access the camera and one touch to post; quick access to frequently used apps and deeper integration with their favorite social networks via Fastlane, among others.

The Nokia Asha 500 is currently being sold at around PhP3,500 - PhP3,800 in retails stores and is available in Bright Red, Bright Green, Cyan, Yellow, White and Black. Celebrate the new year with your brand new Nokia Asha 500 phone and have a trendy and productive year ahead.

Nokia Lumia 1520, Now Available In The Philippines

2013-12-23T19:30:00.000+08:00

Nokia's very first phone tablet, the Lumia 1520, arrives in the Philippines just in time for the holidays! Its currently being sold for PhP29,400 in select retail stores, thats about PhP2,000 less than the Nokia Lumia 1020.

The 6 inch powerhouse sports a 1080p full HD display with 367 ppi pixel density - the brightest, sharpest and clearest in the market by far; a 20MP PureView camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) as well as oversampling and zooming technology similar to the Lumia 1020; Windows Phone Black, the latest software iteration bringing lots of updates and improvements; new and exclusive Nokia apps like Nokia Camera and Nokia Storyteller applications; unparalleled audio capture via Nokia Rich Recording; built in business and productivity apps like Microsoft Office for editing and sharing documents easily for maximum productivity and so much more.

I'm more interested to see the HD display of the device, most of the tech websites had already crowned it the best to date. As I've wrote in my previous blog articles, I'm very particular on the display that I did not pursue buying a particular device out of it. Well, this might also be a big factor that would make me want to buy the phone instead of the Lumia 1020. Who knows?

Anyways, if you haven't bought a shinny new device for Christmas yet, then add the Nokia Lumia 1520 to your shopping lists, its the hottest gadget in the planet at the moment with rave reviews from almost all tech sites.