If you’re wanting to have a personal assistant like Siri on your Windows Phone then you might consider it’s installing Ziggy which works similarly like Siri on the 4S. The cool thing about Ziggy in your Windows Phone is that it’s free and can be installed through Windows App Store. Unlike Siri which is only exclusive to the iPhone 4S, Ziggy can be installed in any Windows Phone.

You can check out the video demonstration which I got from youtube and see for yourself if it’s impressive or not. It’s not perfect yet and is very limited to web queries so if you’re going to assign for tasks like scheduling a meeting, setting an alarm clock, sending a mail won’t work. What is surprising about this one is that it’s made by a single developer yet it’s impressive in it’s own ways answering casual questions from users.

For the first time android owners who got a taste of their Galaxy Y then it’s definitely an enjoyable experience buying apps and smudging out the panels of their phone. Should be the reason why Samsung put out the Galaxy Ace Plus in case those Galaxy Y owners decided to upgrade their phone to a much bigger and faster one. My imagination could be wild but that’s the first thing that comes to my mind when the Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus was introduced in the market.

To tell you the specs is pretty similar to an iPhone 3GS, of course there are some differences but that’s one good comparison from another non-android device. If you haven’t own a smartphone yet and you got big thumbs then I’ll recommend this one to you but the Samsung Galaxy Y is also a cool choice if you’re not particular with the screen size. If you own a Galaxy Ace then I won’t recommend this for an upgrade, Yet I’ll pick the S2 if you still want an Android Powered device. The unit will be available this January or perhaps next Month in Asia.

Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus Specs

If I remember I posted a roadmap of LG’s plan on rolling out ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) update to it’s phones and if I remember it correctly it’s going to be this January of 2012. If that’s the case and you’re expecting updates really soon then you’ll be fretting this time since they have it moved to Q2 of 2012 and only a select batch of phones will be getting it.

Notably the lucky phones that will be getting the first batch of updates are the LG Optimus LTE, LG Prada, LG Optimus 2x, LG Optimus Sol,  LG My Touch Q and the LG Eclipse. These first set of batch will all be receiving the ICS updates in the Q2 of 2012, from this group the only phone that I remember that was released in the Philippines is the Optimus 2x.

Anyway if you’re one of the LG Optimus Black and LG Optimus 3D owners then you have to wail until Q3 of 2012. This could be really frustrating for some of the owners here in the Philippines because they still have to wait for a couple of months to get the much better OS from Google. If they’re not patient enough then the only way for them to get it boosted to jailbrake it, on this case cyanogen mod will be a big help.

It was expected that the PS Vita will be available in the Philippines this year around mid January or in the first week of  February. But it appears that the next generation handheld device from Sony is now available to some stores locally. And some of the fans and eager customers already have the units on their hands.

I’ve checked some of the Pinoy online communities and reports suggests that the PS Vita is selling at a range of of 20K – 23K which comes in bundle to stores available locally (Datablitz anyone?). It’s kinda overpriced since at $250 (Wifi) and 300$ (3G + Wifi) it goes in the range of 10,000 Php – 13, 000 Php. Of course this is expected which is similar to how unofficial releases of smartphones are priced in the grey market. If you’re willing to wait for just a few days now then you might have the PS Vita at a lower price. Also It’s rumored that the PSVita (3g) will be available from globe and is purchasable through it’s data plans maybe.

This means that HP Folio won’t remain too long as HP’s flagship ultrabook if my assumption is correct. The HP Spectre  definitely looks gorgeous as it teased everyone with it’s superbly thin panels in it’s uniquely distinguishable rounded sides. I still remember the shape of the dm1z just looking at the video and this just reminds me to stay put on what HP is planning to unveil in the later days to come.

We’re not really sure if this is another ultrabook or  something similar to the ASUS Transformer Prime. I’m excited to see on what HP is up to and if it will be something that will rival the Prime or another device that will challenge the Macbook Air and the rest of the ultrabooks. These are just signs that the netbooks will slowly die this 2012 and of course a good sign who wants to own a lappy since they’ll definitely sell at a lower price point.

The only downer of GMate as per Yuga is that it’s not working if your iPod touch is not jailbroken since you need to install the App. So the application will not work if you’re running the official OS directly from Apple. But depending on the situation this might changed if they can provide firmware updates.  I’ve seen the GMate device selling in sulit stores at the range of 3000 – 4000 Php. Good pricing IMHO since it’s very unique and useful if you want the iPhone “feel”.

I’ve searched for other alternatives like the “Apple Peel” and seen some good positive feedbacks of the device. They say that it’s really useful and they never experienced any crashing of some sort. Reports of loudspeaker not working well are noted, they’ve experienced low volume but that might be the case of the data being transferred via bluetooth. Could be much better if we hear reviews of the call quality but we’ll just update you if we heard from the community.

We all know the buzz about the iPhone 4s right now, Most of the Critics still believe it’s still the best high end premium phone right now so despite how disappointing it is for loyal Apple customers on not redesigning the look, Many are still attracted to get an iPhone 4S. Due to this fact, I believe that Globe made a bold move by offering loyal Globe iPhone customers for a trade-in of iPhone 4S in exchange of your iPhone 4, iPhone 3Gs or iPhone 3G.

Depending on the condition of the phone, you’ll be getting a special pricing. If you’re one of the previous iPhone customers from Globe whether you get it from a postpaid or prepaid transaction then better grab this opportunity. The trade-in will last until December 31 this year, for that reason I suggest better go to a Globe Store now and check if they offer the iPhone 4s trade in.

I guess loyal iPhone Customers from Globe will be very happy this Christmas but it will be interesting to follow this up if the special trade-in price is justified. I might get a couple of feedbacks from the community and see what they’re impressions are with regards to the pricing. Anyway I hope you guys are having a good time this holiday season, I’ll be going back to the province and I might do some changes here in my blog.

I didn’t know really that the HTC Radar is fully available for purchase locally, good thing that I spotted some stores selling the handset for 19,000 Php. It was surprising from the start that they coated it in white since I’m used to see HTC handsets in darker shades. And it’s not just that, it’s one of the few Windows Phone 7 handsets preloaded Microsoft’s Mango OS.

If you’re planning to get the Windows Phone Experience I suggest that you buy this one. I can see that HTC Radar is put to replace the Mozart as they mostly have the same form and specs. The only real advantage on getting the Radar is the beefed up battery life which is 1520 mAh. The 5.0 megapixel camera might dissapoint you but it’s designed to get better looking pictures in low light. The HTC Radar will be one good handset guys it’s not that special but I can say that it will make your first smartphone experience really good.

HTC Radar Specs

We all know that the Lumia 800 and the New Nokia Series carrying the Windows Phone 7 has just been released. Even though there’s no specific date yet for Philippine release it’s very likely that the Nokia Handsets will ship here knowing how strong Nokia user base here in the Philippines. Following this up with the Windows Store Preview which was presented by the Vice President of Windows Web Services, I think Microsoft is getting pumped up to their future plans next year.

I can’t deny that I’m a fan of Windows Metro UI, It’s truly intuitive and attractive to the eyes. This of course is adapted to Windows Store which is set to launch in February next year. Anyway I won’t be detailing how the Windows Store will look like if you want the specifics you can jump here directly.

I haven’t posted my review yet on Windows Phone 7.5 Mango but I’m telling you that it’s one of the coolest that I’ll recommend if you want an experienced that is close to iOS. Inline to Windows Store News, they’re baiting Developers to supply apps on their Platform (Windows Store) as they’ll be taking less which is 80% revenue sales when  app sales  reach $25k. I think this is very timely as I’m planning to develop my apps in Android and since I know how crowded Android is then it might be a good idea to try Windows Phone on this case. ^^

The trend goes up for the Ultrabooks and the proof is here, another Ultrabook launched locally carrying the IdeaPad lineup from Lenovo but this time it’s here to compete with the likes of Asus UX21, Macbook Air, HP Folio and Acer’s S3. Might as well get a list of currently available Ultrabooks locally as it seems to be very helpful to consolidate my post to help my fellow readers decide which one to buy.

As usual the rounded smooth design of Lenovo is seen on Ideapad U300 the only difference that you’ll see is that it’s more modern and has a much fresher look. Sadly the IdeaPad U300s only have the 13-incher but sports a 0.6 inch thickness for the comfort of carrying it around. A single charge of the U300s promises of up to 8 hours of battery life yet still needs to be tested for comparison to other Ultrabooks. The specs are pretty much the standard to Ultrabooks but with more slots for the USB Connectors. Anyway, if you’re planning to buy the IdeaPad U300s this Christmas then that won’t be possible since it will not be available for purchase until January Next year and is priced at 56,000 Php.

Lenovo U300s Specs

2nd Generation Intel Core i7 Processor
2.0 RapidDrive SSD Technology up to (256gb)
4GB DDR3 RAM
802.11 n Wi-Fi
16:9 widescreen HD Display
USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 Connectors