September high end smartphone buyers guide

There has not been much movement in the market insofar as officially released locally available high end smartphones are available. A high end smartphone these days is powered by a dual-core processor allowing you to run the latest near PC grade 3D games available, a 8MP or better camera which can capture high definition 1080p video and a high resolution display (480 x 800) or better. How much will all this goodness cost you?  Php24,000, or more.


If gaming and 1080p video capture is not important to you, check out the phones in this link.

Buying a high end phone means getting top of the class performance as well as future proofing so that it remains a viable platform for the next two years or so.

There are only three officially released high end phones in the Philippine market, and all of them are Google Android phones, Apple's next iPhone not yet having been released.

HTC's Sensation, LG's Optimus 2X and Samsung's i9100 Galaxy S. The Samsung is the best and most expensive among the three, while the LG Optimus 2X is the least expensive purchase option, with the HTC Sensation occupying a uncomfortable position between the two.

LG Optimus 2X P990. The LG Optimus 2X has 4-inch 480 x 800 Gorilla Glass protected screen, with 512MB of RAM and a dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, ULP GeForce GPU, Tegra 2 AP20H chipset. Photography and video is done via a 8MP primary camera and 1.3MP front camera. For storage it has 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded via a MicroSD card to 40GB.

It is the only Tegra 2 handset among the three, which is something to consider since it would probably perform best for Nvidia Tegra 2 optimize games. 

It can be found in the market for as low as Php24,000, with an official warranty. If you want this phone you will have to buy it open line as it is not being offered by any of the carriers subsidized under a contract.

HTC Sensation. Going up the food chain, you have the HTC Sensation which can be purchased as low as Php26,700, with an official warranty. What does the addition 2.7K get you?

The HTC Sensation has a larger 4.3-inch screen with a higher qHD 540 x 960 resolution. It has 768MB of RAM, which is 50% more than the LG Optimus 2X. The Sensation is nicely built with a aluminum case and what in my opinion is the best Android user interface, HTC's Sense, and the accompanying HTC proprietary applications and widgets like FriendStream.

But it is not all uphill, while the 1.2 GHz dual-core processor runs 200MHz faster than the processor of the LG Optimus 2X is does not necessarily do better where it counts most, in gaming. Also, while the Optimus 2X has 8GB of internal memory expandable to 40GB, the Sensation has a scant 1GB of internal memory. While a 8GB MicroSD card is provided with the Sensation, it does mean that storage is only expandable to 33GB.

Is the Sensation worth the money? In my opinion yes, but that revolves around the HTC Sense user interface. Being a HTC user myself, I love HTC Sense and do not see myself using an Android without it. 

Another good reason to get the HTC Sensation, for those looking at a plan is that it is available subsidized from a carrier. The HTC Sensation is offered free by SMART Communications under a 2-year contract at Data Plan 3000 or Consumable Plan 2500. Data Plan 3000 gives you 300 minutes of calls and 240 SMS to all networks, and is coupled with a unlimited data plan. A smartphone is not really all that useful without some kind of data plan.

Basically, you have a Php60,000 or Php72,000 commitment spread over two years and have a carrier locked phone. But if you use that many minutes, SMS and data, you do get the phone for free.

Samsung i9100 Galaxy S II.  At the top of the food chain is the Samsung Galaxy S II. Available for as low as Php28,000 with an official warranty, it is priced just 1.3K over the HTC Sensation and 4K over the LG Optimus 2X. 

Is the price differential worth it? As against the Optimus 2X you do get a larger 4.3-inch display, and that Galaxy S II's screen is the best in the Android world Super AMOLED display. You get double the RAM (1GB) and double the internal storage (16GB). Instead of the 10.8 mm thickness of the Optimus 2X the Galaxy S II comes wrapped in a super-slim 8.5 mm thick case. It is well worth the 4K price premium.

Making the Galaxy S II an even more tempting choice is that it is being offered by Globe Telecom under a two year contract for just Php2,499 a month on a consumable plan.

As against the HTC Sensation, you loose the higher resolution 540 x 960 display and the HTC Sense UI. But you go get more RAM, more internal storage and ultimately, what every high end smartphone buyer is looking for, with the dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset you get the fastest smartphone currently in production. All this is packed in a 8.5 mm thin case that makes the 11.3 mm case of the Sensation look fat.

If you are looking for the best Smartphone in the market, this is it.

Looking for a Dropbox compatible file manager for Android? Try OI File Manager.

For the past few months I have been using the Speed Software's free (and ad free) Explorer as my file manager. It is a nice powerful, non-frills file manager. Given that it is the sibling of Speed Software's powerful paid app, Root Explorer it has good genes. 

I use drop box on my phone to view files that I keep on my Dropbox account, which keeps my files on my two computers and smartphone in sync. I have had no problem uploading pictures and audio files to Dropbox, but when I tried to upload a Word document today, I realized that Dropbox needed different file manager as the Dropbox application for Android did not recognize Explorer.

After searching online, I decided to try OpenIntents OI File Manager. This app is free (and ad free) and will allow you to upload any file to Dropbox from your Android device. 

Profile of Philippine mobile phone users

In the Philippines there are approximately 91 million subscribers to cellular phone services.

Number of subscribers per network as of June 2011 (Source):

SMART Communications - 47.84 million

Globe Telecom - 28.42 Million

Sun Cellular - 15 million

Only about 2.6 million are post paid subscribers locked into contracts. Many subscribe to all three networks to be able to take advantage of the latest calls,  text and data promotions. 

 

Around the Web: Faster internet

PCWorld explains why your internet is faster today. "If you notice faster delivery of Web content today, consider yourself more than just lucky. In fact, you may well be a beneficiary of the Global Internet Speedup, a new, Google-backed effort to speed up the Web around the world."

Thanks Google & Co. :)

It got me thinking how fast Internet has gotten today, especially mobile internet. In 2006, I got a Globe Visibility internet connection from Globe Telecom, which has a maximum theoretical speed of 1.8 Mbps, and would hit 1.4 Mbps.

Globe Visibility Speed test from February 2007, from a Huawei modem on a laptop

Today, I can get those speeds from my mobile phone.

Smart 3G Speed test from August 2011, from a HTC Desire HD

The fastest mobile internet products available today is many time faster than that. SMART Communications has its prepaid only SMART Rocket which promises as mush as 12 Mbps. The SMART Rocket kit, which include a modem and a sim will cost you Php3,995. Use will cost you Php10 per thirty minutes. According to Yugatech, default charging will revert to Php200 per 180MB after September 30, 2011. You can also subscribe to Smart Always On Plans on the Rocket. It is still not clear if you can subscribe to Smart Communications Unlimited plans. Given the plans this would be more suitable for a dedicated mobile connection.

SMART Rocket - 4G HSPA+

Coverage is still limited, and since it is wireless technology, actually speeds may be reduced by obstructions between your device and the 4G tower. A list of the covered areas at this time can be found here.

Globe Tatoo Tonino Lamborghini - 10 Mbps 4G HSPA+

Globe Telecommunications offers its Globe's 10 Mbps Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini. Globe high speed package is a postpaid only plan. You get the sim and modem free for a monthly of Php2,199 under a two year contract. Since the plan is unlimited, I suspect many users may use this as their mobile and home connection. I am not sure if that is a good thing. Five years ago, some Globe Visibility were being used to power internet cafes causing network slowdown. But Globe Telecom has been down this road before so I think they know what they are doing. Mobile Internet from Globe Telecom across all plans tends to cost a bit less than mobile internet from SMART Communications.

How long can you resist before getting a 10 Mbps or faster mobile connection? Pick your own poison, but either way, the faster net is here. 

HTC VIgor Specification + leaked images

The HTC Vigor that was previously leaked through benchmark scores has surfaced again and this time through a decent pair of pictures, showing the entire front and rear side.

From the looks of it the phone does look a bit similar to the HTC Incredible S, particularly from the back. Then again, all HTC phones look similar these days. On the front is a large touchscreen rumored to be 4.3-inch in size and having a resolution of 1280 x 720, if the benchmark results that leaked last time are to be believed. There is also a front video call camera on the top right and on the top left is what looks like it could be the Verizon logo, blurred out. The touch sensitive buttons below the display don’t seem like they rotate the way they do on the Incredible S.
On the back sits the camera lens of what could most likely be an 8 megapixel sensor with dual LED flash, surrounded by the tell-tale Verizon red ring. You can see the Vigor name clearly written on the sticker below but as with the first image it seems the DROID name has been edited out again. You can see the loudspeaker slot below along with a sign that says that the phone will have the HTC Sense UI.
On the hardware front the Vigor is expected to have a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with Adreno 220 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory and running on Android 2.3.4. It is also said to have the Beats Audio, the result of the recent alliance between HTC and the Beats by Dre brand.
All the signs suggest this is another one of the phones from Verizon’s DROID family but there could also be a GSM version, the Incredible HD, if you will. This is all we know for now though. More as it is discovered.
Source

HTC VIgor Specification + leaked images

The HTC Vigor that was previously leaked through benchmark scores has surfaced again and this time through a decent pair of pictures, showing the entire front and rear side.

From the looks of it the phone does look a bit similar to the HTC Incredible S, particularly from the back. Then again, all HTC phones look similar these days. On the front is a large touchscreen rumored to be 4.3-inch in size and having a resolution of 1280 x 720, if the benchmark results that leaked last time are to be believed. There is also a front video call camera on the top right and on the top left is what looks like it could be the Verizon logo, blurred out. The touch sensitive buttons below the display don’t seem like they rotate the way they do on the Incredible S.
On the back sits the camera lens of what could most likely be an 8 megapixel sensor with dual LED flash, surrounded by the tell-tale Verizon red ring. You can see the Vigor name clearly written on the sticker below but as with the first image it seems the DROID name has been edited out again. You can see the loudspeaker slot below along with a sign that says that the phone will have the HTC Sense UI.
On the hardware front the Vigor is expected to have a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with Adreno 220 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory and running on Android 2.3.4. It is also said to have the Beats Audio, the result of the recent alliance between HTC and the Beats by Dre brand.
All the signs suggest this is another one of the phones from Verizon’s DROID family but there could also be a GSM version, the Incredible HD, if you will. This is all we know for now though. More as it is discovered.
Source

The hidden cost of Apple ownership & AppleCare

Yugatech recently wrote an article about how he damaged the LCD of his newly acquired 2011 MacBook Air. Yuga wrote:

The adaptor of my MBA slipped from my hands and dropped around 7 or 8 inches from the keyboard (near the area where the power button is). Hit the F11 and F12 keys and bounced to the lower right corner of the screen. 

One reader commented:

That’s one disadvantage of getting a Mac. Premium parts and services.

In sum, the MacBook Air's 11.6-inch LCD screen needs to be replaced. Now, this kind of damage can happen to any laptop and warranty's do not cover damage caused by accidents and physical damage so the damaged laptop is not a point against Apple.

 

But the cost of replacement is. Yuga writes that the LCD replacement will cost between Php25,000 to Php30,000. A friend of mine with a damaged MacBook Pro was quoted a similar price for the damaged screen of his MacBook Pro.

Basically, replacement parts for Apple products cost 2-3x more than their competitors. One way to avoid the high cost of parts is to avail of an AppleCare extended warranty, and AppleCare warranty's are very popular because long time Apple buyers know that repairing their Apple will cost a lot. AppleCare packs will extend your warranty coverage to two years (iPad and IPod) three years (Mac's and displays), and will even cover the wear and tear on the battery once it goes below 50%.

AppleCare coverage is not cheap. Getting one for your Php49,900 11-inch MacBook Air will cost you Php13,490 (adds two years to the warranty). Getting a similar coverage for a Php23,990 iPad to will cost you Php4,190.

AppleCare still wont cover accidental damage, and I doubt whether iPhone owners can wait for their battery to go down to 50%. The high cost of replacement iPhone batteries is what makes external batteries for Apple iPhone so popular. But it does convert your nice slim iPhone into a rather Jurassic looking fat and heavy device. Given the high acquisition cost of an iPhone how much batteries cost these days, it would be nice if Apple offered lower prices on replacement batteries at least.

HTC Sensation @SMART

HTC Sensation. The HTC Desire S is a high end Google Android phone released by HTC in Q2 of this year. With a 4.3-inch 540 x 960 qHD resolution screen, dual core 1.2 GHz processor, Adreno 220 graphics, 768MB of RAM, 1GB of internal memory, a 8MP auto focus read primary camera with a dual-LED flash, 1080p video recording, a VGA front camera and full support for Adobe Flash. The phone was used as the launchad for the new HTC Sense UI 3.0, which I think is the best manufacturer designed user interface for Android, supported by several proprietary HTC apps, it promised to be the best Android phone for Q2 2011. 

Sensation v. Samsung i9100 Galaxy S II - Galaxy S II wins on a contract free purchase. The primary competition for the HTC Sensation is the Galaxy S II, and in this battle the Galaxy S II wins hand down. The HTC Sensation is actually a bit cheaper being sold about Php1.5k less than Galaxy S II, but that price difference is not enough to make up for the Galaxy S II's hardware advantages. The Galaxy S II's Super AMOLED display is the better of the two. The 1GB of RAM and Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset makes the Galaxy S II the faster of the two handsets. While the Sensation comes with 1GB of internal memory with a 8GB Micro SD card, the Galaxy S II comes with 16GB of internal memory. This means the Galaxy S II's memory can be expanded all the way to 48GB.

The Sensation is a better deal on a data plan. The Galaxy S II is currently available from Globe Telecom at Plan 2499 on a two year contract (a limited time promo if you apply online), which makes it the best deal postpaid also, well at least if you don't plan to use the phones 3G connection too much. Globe Telecom's Plan 2499 can be bundled with 21 hours of free mobile data, but that really wont let you use a modern Android phone to its full potential. A modern smartphone is really not all that useful without a data plan, so if you plan to invest in one of these phones, you might as well factor in the fact that you will be spending on wireless data. If you want a device to drag around from WiFi hotspot to WiFi hotspot, we would recommend a tablet instead.

With unlimited data added on, the Galaxy S II from Globe Telecom you would now be paying Php3,498 a month. The other option would be to bundle the Globe locked Galaxy S II with 1GB of data a month which would give you a total monthly fee of Php2,998.

With SMART's Data Plan 3000 you can get the HTC Sensation free on a two year contract. Data Plan 3000 gives you 300 minutes of calls and 240 SMS to all networks, and you get unlimited data usage (subject to some restrictions). So while the Samsung Galaxy S II is the clear winner for the cash buyer looking to buy an open line phone, on a carrier subsidized handset, the HTC Sensation could be a better deal.

LG Optimus One P500 gets updated to Gingerbread

 LG Optimus One P500.  LG is rolling out the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) now rolling out for its popular LG Optimus One P500 smartphone. The LG Optimus One has been the best budget phone in the market since its release in November 2010 released at a suggested retail price of Php12,990. Today the Optimus One is being sold for as low as Php9,800. With a 3.2 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display, a 320 x 480 pixel resolution, a 600MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 170MB of internal storage, and 3.2MP auto focus camera, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1, a microUSB port and a built-in GPS transceiver with A-GPS support it is still the best budget Android nine months after release.  

Sony Tablet S Price in India, Dual Core Android Tablet Review, Feature and Specifications

Sony Tablet S Price in India. The Sony is going to launch the latest SONY Tablet S after the announcement of Sony tablet P. This has 9.4 inches of Touchscreen display ( with 1280 x 768 of resolution )and runs on Nvidia Tegra Processor (Dual Core) which is powered with the Google Android v3.1 Operating System. It has easy connectivity to play station and gives awesome support to gaming era.

Sony Tablet S comes with 5 Mega Pixels of rear main camera to capture great moments and 3.0 mega pixels of back camera for video calling. Its integrated IR blaster gives the power of all in one remote control for just choose and use. It comes into two variants of internal memory (16GB/32GB). Other features like GPS, Bluetooth, miniUSB and external memory card support gives awesome power to tablet. 

Sony Tablet S Review, Feature and Specifications

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Sony Tablet P Price in India, Dual touchscreen display Android Tablet review, Feature and Specifications

Sony Tablet P Price in India. Sony unveils the upcoming tablet that has a DUAL display. Sony Tablet P tablet has 5.5 inches of dual foldable display that is fully touch screen and runs on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. The tablet is powered with the operating system of Android Honeycomb.

Sony Tablet P has only 0.3MP front camera that provides the freedom of video conferencing/calling. The tablet has a 512 MB of RAM with 4 GB internal memory and support external memory card of microSD. Company is giving 2GB memory card for Free. Tablet supports Wireless LAN connectivity for faster browsing. 

Sony Tablet P review, Feature and Specifications

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V Price in India, Android Gingerbread Phone Review, Feature and Specifications

Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V Price in India. The company released the press note for the launch of latest mobile phone Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V this is another great phone launched into the Xperia series. The phone runs on the 1 GHz of Processor and is powered with the latest Operating system of Google Android OS, v2.3 Gingerbread. The phone supports the GSM and 3G connectivity on different frequencies.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V has 3.7 inches of display screen size that provides the 480 x 854 pixels of resolution with Multi-touch input method. It has 5.0 mega pixels of camera that click awesome moments with its supporting features like auto Focus, LED flash Light and 16x digital zoom. Enjoy the video calling with its front VGA camera. Other features like Bluetooth, USB v2.0 microUSB, Wi-Fi and Browser HTML are awesome.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V Review, Feature and Specifications

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Reliance LG Plum Price in India, Touchscreen phone Review, Feature and Specifications

Reliance LG Plum Price in India. After the announcement of Reliance 3G tab the company has launched the Reliance LG Plum mobile handset. This phone has great features that make it outstanding as its 2.0 mega pixels of camera and its 3G connectivity to browse the internet on lighting speed. The phone has a connectivity to wireless LAN Wi-Fi to enjoy the faster internet connectivity.

Reliance LG Plum is fully touch screen mobile with 2.8 inches of display screen. This gadget supports the multi formats for audio and video and also records the video into MP4 format. If you are exchanging data with friends frequently then use USB and Bluetooth connectivity easily. Phone supports different frequencies on GSM network like Quad-band 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900 MHz. Other features like FM radio with recording and Games gives entertaining moments.

Reliance LG Plum Review, Feature and Specifications

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Motorola Fire XT316 Price in India, QWERTY Android Phone review, Feature and Specifications

Motorola Fire XT316 Price in India. The company has announced the new Android mobile phone which has QWERTY along with full touch screen display named as Motorola Fire XT316. The phone has 2.8 inches of display and loaded with many more exciting features like 3G HSDPA, touch & type. Phone has Navigation support with the help of GPS/aGPS and also included the E-compass that is a great feature.

Motorola Fire XT316 runs on 600 MHz ARM 11 processor that is powers with the latest Google Android v2.3 operating system. Phone is powered with the 1420 mAh battery to provide the talk time of 8 hours. Phone has a 3.0 mega pixels of camera to click awesome moments of your life. To providing power to its processor phone has inbuilt memeory of 256 MB RAM with 512 MB ROM and its memory can be expanded with the 32 GB of microSD card slot.

Motorola Fire XT316 review, Feature and Specifications

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Spice Blueberry Blade Price in India, Dual SIM QWERTY phone review, Feature and Specifications

Spice Blueberry Blade Price in India, Spice is rolling out great products day by day so here is a new mobile Spice BlueBerry Blade that is a QWERTY phone and supports the Dual SIM on GSM band. The Phone has 2.4 inches of display screen and 2.0 mega pixels of camera. The phone is meant for social networking and it comes with various social sites integrated. Its metallic body gives a shining looks and its external memory card slot that supports up to 8 GB is also awesome. Play audio and video with multi format support any time anywhere.

Spice Blueberry Blade review, Feature and Specifications

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HTC Desire S @SMART

HTC Desire S. The HTC Desire S is a high end Google Android phone released by HTC in Q2 of this year. With mid-sized form factor sporting a 3.7-inch 480 x 800 resolution screen, 1GHz processor, 768MB of RAM, 1.1GB of internal memory, a 5MP auto focus read primary camera with a LED flash, a VGA front camera and full support for Adobe Flash, it HTC's closest direct competitor to the Apple iPhone 4. 

The phone uses HTC Sense UI, which I think is the best manufacturer designed user interface for Android, supported by several proprietary HTC apps. The Sense UI is so popular, it had "copied" by other developers and offered in the Android Market.

The only downer in the package has been the price.

Desire S v. Optimus Black - Optimus Black wins on a contract free purchase. The HTC Desire was regarded by many as the best smartphone of 2010. When the HTC Desire S arrived in the market on the second quarter of this year, it was priced lower than the original price of the original Desire.  But this was not low enough as it was priced 15% higher than other models like the LG Optimus Black P970. The Optimus Black has a larger 4-inch screen, as against the 3.7-inch screen of the Desire S. The screen of the Optimus Black, a 700-nit IPS display is brighter than the S-LCD screen of the Desire S.  The slimmer 9.2 mm thickness of the Optimus Black makes the 11.6mm Desire S feel chunky. The Optimus Black, with 2GB of internal storage has almost twice the storage of the Desire S. The only specification where the Desire S is clearly ahead is in RAM, where it has 768MB versus the 512MB of the Optimus Black.

The lowest price we have found for the Desire S is Php20,400 which is still substantially higher than the LG Optimus Black with an official warranty is Php17,000.

The Desire S is a great deal on a Smart Unlimited Data Plan. The LG Optimus Black is not offered by any local carrier at the present time. SMART Communications offers the HTC Desire S free on a two year contract under SMART's Data Plan 2000. Under this plan, the Desire S is the best deal in the market at this price point. 

A modern smartphone is really not all that useful without a data plan, so if you plan to invest in one of these phones, you might as well factor in the fact that you will be spending on wireless data. If you want a device to drag around from WiFi hotspot to WiFi hotspot, we would recommend a tablet instead.

Data Plan 2000. With SMART's Data Plan 2000 you get 150 minutes of calls and 200 SMS to all networks, and you get unlimited data usage (subject to some restrictions - I recommend you discussed in detail with your SMART Communications agent when applying for the plan). If you look at the comparable phones in the market, the Google Nexus S from Globe Telecom, but that is at Plan 2499 bundled with 21 hours of data.

I use this plan use it to get my email and sync my calendar and contacts using the pre-installed Google apps. I do messaging mainly through the pre-installed GTalk and eBuddy (for Yahoo! Messenger and Facebook Chat) downloaded from the market  ( For social networking I use HTC's proprietary Friend Stream and Peep applications to keep me connected to Twitter and Facebook (it also has support for LinkedIn, Flicker and Plurk). I get weather updates through a HTC app and news through the pre-installed Android app. I get traffic updates using the the locally built Metro Traffic Navigator. Occasionally I surf the web on the browser, and yes make calls and send SMS too. All-in-all not bad for my Php2,000 per month.

Best deal on the Samsung i9100 Galaxy S II?

 Samsung's I9100 Galaxy S II is the best smartphone money can buy these days. Powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, Mali-400MP graphics processing unit on the Exynos chipset, it is the fastest smartphone in production. The 4.3-inch 480 x 800 Super AMOLED display combined with a thin 8.5 mm frame combines a large vibrant display with a case the is easy to carry on the hand. With 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, it does not fall short in those department either. 

With a suggested retail price of Php29,900, and available for about 2K less on cash, it is about 15% cheaper than what you would expect to pay for a top of the line handset last year. Still 30K for a phone is a fair amount of cash.

Globe Telecom is offering the Samsung Galaxy S II on a postpaid plan with a two year contract at Plan 3799. That is the same plan that Globe Telecom offers the iPhone 4 for free too. But if you apply for your Globe Telecom line online, the Galaxy S II is available at Plan 2499 on a two year contract.

HTC ChaCha

The HTC ChaCha is a Google Android phone which ships Android 2.3 out of the box. It is a QWERTY messenger phone which combines a physical keyboard with a touchscreen. The display is a small 2.6-inch which has a high 480 x 320 resolution for a screen of this size, so fonts and images on the screen appear very sharp. 

QWERTY messenger form factor. If you are considering this type of phone, that is really the first issue you must resolve. Are you willing to give up screen real estate for a physical QWERT keyboard. Having shifted from a phone with a physical QWERTY keyboard six months ago, I have pretty much concluded that I will never be able to type as fast on a pure touchscreen phone as against one with a good old physical QWERTY keyboard. 

If your main purpose for a phone is calls, SMS, email, instant and social networking, this may be the best choice for you. If web browsing, ebook and document reading, photo editing and playing games is a main concern you are probably better off with a pure touchscreen phone with a larger (at least 3.2 inch) screen. Put simply, Angry Birds wont be as much fun on a 2.6-inch screen.

Hardware. The HTC ChaCha is nicely built with a metal bofy. The phone has a Arm v6 800MHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM. The phone comes with a 2GB MicroSD card, and storage is expandable to 32GB. The hardware is more than sufficient for those who want a phone for voice calls, email and messaging and social networking. Arm v6, means it has limited rather than full flash support in the browser, and as we said earlier it is not really a good gaming platform. "Power users" would be better off looking elsewhere.

The phone has a 5MP auto focus primary camera with a LED flash and secondary VGA camera for voice chat and the like. The camera is decent but nothing to get excited about. Other phone with 5MP cameras, like the Samsung Galaxy Ace and the HTC Wildfire S snap better pictures.

Facebook button. The HTC ChaCha has plenty of character with the trademark Android chin distinguishing from the typical QWERTY phone and a dedicated Facebook button to launch the phone Facebook app on the chin. This is a nice phone from the standpoint of build quality, but no matter what you do, the first thing people will notice if the blue "F" on the body. It tells a lot about the user.

Similar phones. The HTC ChaCha can be found at a price of Php13,500 which puts it in the same price range as other  QWERTY messenger phones like the BlackBerry Curve 3G and is substantially cheaper than Nokia E6. Among these three options the HTC ChaCha is a much better choice than the E6. Hardware wise, it is a better choice than the Curve 3G. The Curve 3G would only be a better choice if you plan to avail of BlackBerry Internet, Messaging or Social Services.

Samsung also has its Galaxy Pro B7510 with similar specifications to the ChaCha and can be found at about 2K lower. The Galaxy Pro B7510 has a lower resolution screen, and its plastic case is less impressive than the HTC ChaCha. Basically, the Galaxy Pro B7510 is cheaper, but the HTC ChaCha is the better build phone. The Facebook button is just another "plus".

If you do want a QWERTY messenger phone, I think this would be the best choice for most users.

Acquisition options. Despite being a nicely build phone the HTC ChaCha is probably going to be a hard sell at its Php13,500. It is not the phone itself, it is QWERTY messengers in general. Most buyers will find the 3.2-inch pure touchscreen form factor of the HTC Wildfire or the 3.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Ace more appealing at this price range.

The HTC ChaCha becomes a really good deal on a postpaid line. SMART Communications is offering this phone free at Data Plan 1000, which gives you 100MB of data, 40 minutes and 100 SMS to all networks. The Wildfire S is offered at Unlimited Data Plan 1500 while the Galaxy Ace is offered by two carries at Plan 1800.

If SMART's Data Plan 1000 fits your need, this becomes a very inexpensive and stylish option for keeping connection to your social networks.

Laptop buying advice: Keyboard selection

 LaptopMag posted an Article entitled "5 Things to Look For in Your Next Notebook Keyboard." Most important is the importance of a good palm rest, where LaptopMag noted "Make sure that both of your wrists fit comfortably on the palm rest. If your hands hang off the edge, your shoulder muscles have to lift the entire weight of your arms as you type, possibly resulting in shoulder pain and injury." Of my two laptops, it looks like one fails in this regard. This is something most of us do not think about when selecting a new laptop, and looks like it is something we  should consider. Ironically, the newer HD 16:9 screen resolutions now almost universally adopted will make getting a a good keyboard harder.

What Apple needs to do with its iPhone 4

Apple iPhone 5 rumors have been running around for months, and the delay of the release of the new phone has only made the rumor mill run harder. I don't think Apple has to do all that much to make its next iPhone a success.

Bigger camera. A 5MP camera just does not cut it anymore these days. The Sony CEO stated several months back that Sony will be building its excellent camera for the next iPhone. Expect at least a 8MP unit.

Larger screen. The iPhone 3.5-inch screen is really starting to look small, but I do not expect Apple to follow the Android manufacturers lead with monster 4.3 to 4.5-inch phones. A nice incremental increase to 3.7 to 4inches would a good step for Apple, giving a larger screen and maintaining the handy size. If Apple built a monster screened iPhone, it would have to release its top of the line product in two sizes, one with a smaller screen. Not everyone finds handling a phone with a larger 4.3 to 4.5-inch comfortable.

Dual core processor. Putting in the same 1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU as the iPad 2 will be enough to keep user happy for the next two years. Putting this in a phone the size as the current iPhone will be an amazing technological feat on its own. No one has put a dual core processor in a phone as small as the iPhone.

LTE/4G. Most of the world does not need LTE or 4G yet, but if you are picking up a new phone to keep for two years, I think this in one feature many people will be looking for. If not, it will be deja vu. In 2007 when the iPhone launched without 3G.

SMART's Netphone

SMART Communications is about to release it's Netphone announced in Barcelona, Spains last February, and with it a new set of plans designed around the new phone.

The Netphone is a ZTE Blade, a Google Android 2.2 powered phone which has a 3.5-inch 480 x 800 screen resolution, a 600 MHz ARM 11 processor, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset and 512MB of RAM and a 3.2 MP auto-focus camera. 

It is being offered on SMART's regular postpaid plans, being offered free at Data Lite Plan 800 with a two year contract. Where the SMART Netphone package really shines is in the prepaid department.

First, the SMART Netphone is being offered for prepaid plans at a price of Php9,900. This pretty much makes it the value for money Smartphone being offered in the market today.

Second, the more interesting thing about the SMART Netphone are the new plans being offered with this phone. For Php999 you get unlimited access to your social networks via Social Stream and unlimited chat through Netphone Messenger and a chat service of your choosing (YM, FB Chat), 1GB of Data for surfing, and 200 minutes of calls and 3500 texts to SMART subscribers. Not bad at all for Php999.

 

They also offer similarly low priced daily plans for as low as Php10 per day (click on the image for details).

What we cannot say much about are the new services offered with the phone. The phone has its own proprietary messenger and social networking apps, with a global directory which stores your phonebook online under the SmartNet brand. SmartNet looks like SMART is creating a online community. There could be some privacy issues here, but we will have to wait and see.

While we are all interested in the new iPhone and Android Ice Cream phones to be released, the SMART Netphone looks like the most significant release for the Philippine market. A smartphone with an affordable service making it really smart.

You can learn more about the SMART Communications Netphone here.

Block computers in the same network open PPS

If there are 2 or more computers are sharing a modem or wireless router, if 1 of them open PPS, all other computer will suffer for internet slow speed. You can block pps by your wireless router, so none of computers can use pps, so your internet speed won't be slowed down. First, you need to have the router's login password.
Just block the following ports for both of TCP & UDP.
64430
17788
1900 *
8400
3478 *
8800 *
7201 *
7202 *
You can choose not block this ports above which have the sign of * because PPStream is more depends on port 17788, 8400 & 64430 only.


My router is Dlink Di-524, with an original firmware


PPS is buffering...


Block the PPS Servers' ports


Now try to watch another movie, makes it reconnects to the server


Now, PPS failed on connecting to its server!

Tested on 2 pcs, which installed of the latest of PPS and they failed to stream the movie now.

Note that new version of ppstream is using different ports, you need to check what ports are it using.

Reference : http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1261419

You might also like : How to fully exit PPS? | PPstream Slow Down Internet - Fixed

Last Updated on 27 August, 2011

How to fully exit PPS?

Do you realize that your internet is still slow after u close your PPS? It is because your PPS is still uploading and downloading the movie after you close PPS software, because you didn't close the PPS process yet. To close the process, follow the steps below :
1)press CTRL + ALT + Delete to open Task Manager,
2)click Process on top menu,
3)click Image Name to sort the name from A to Z (just for easy to find where is pps)
4)find PPSAP.exe then click it to select it,
5)click End Process.

---

If you feel it is inconvenient as you need to do the 5 steps above repeatedly everytime you want to off PPS. You can follow the step below to create a program :
1)open a notpad file,
2)type Taskkill /im ppsap.EXE /F onto the notpad,
3)press CTRL + S
4)change the field of Save as type: to All Files(*.*),
5)type offpps.bat on the field of File name:,
6)Choose location Desktop (To save the notepad file on your desktop).

If you want to close ppstream.exe, ppsap.exe and ppap.exe at the same time, you can modify step 2 above by typing :
taskkill /f /im ppstream.exe
taskkill /f /im ppsap.exe
taskkill /f /im ppap.exe

I have create 1 for myself, you can download it from http://2aek.com/inventory/offpps.bat.

Now everytime you want to off pps, you just need to double click the program that u have created. So convenient!

---

Many people misunderstand that after pressed “Stop” button to off the movie, then PPS will stop downloading, actually pps will still continue downloading and uploading!!!


To check whether or not your PPS is stop uploading and downloading, you can download a software from http://2aek.com/inventory/donshare.rar or from http://cache.ourdev.cn/bbs_upload568426/files_10/ourdev_395773.rar. Then install it, then open it. (Tip : after you download the file, you need to open the file with 7zip or winzip or winrar).

You might also like : PPstream Slow Down Internet - Fixed | Block computers in the same network open PPS

Around the Web: Happy 20th birthday Linux

Linux is now twenty years old. Time flies.

As Linux turns twenty, Linux Girl greats Linux happy 20th birthday in her Linux Insider Blog Safari. PC World, looks at how has Linux become indispensable to our world. OMG!Ubuntu joins in the birthday greetings by looking at where Linux started and how far it has gone. 

Nokia 701 price in India, Symbian Belle Smart Phone Review, Feature and Specifications

Nokia 701 price in India. As last day the Nokia has announced launch of latest new phone like Nokia 600, Nokia 100 and Nokia 101 they also announced the Nokia 701 that will be available in the market in upcoming third quarter. As in past month company has announced their latest operating system Symbian Belle this phone runs on this OS that is powered with the single core 1 GHz ARM 11 processor.

Nokia 701 has 3.5 inches of IPS LCD display that comes with a unique feature of ClearBlack technology and provides the resolution of 360 X 640 pixels of inside. Phone’s looks are more stylish and curvy then Nokia 700. The phone is loaded with 8.0 mega pixels of camera that gives you freedom to carry simple digital camera. The phone camera can easily records the HD videos into the 720p format. If you love to do video calling then please check features of the front video calling camera. This handset has a wide list of features including 3G, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi connectivity, micro USB 2.0 and FM radio.

Nokia 701 Review, Feature and Specifications

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Nokia 600 price in India, new Symbian Belle OS Phone review, feature and Specifications

Nokia 600 price in India. The company has announced the new mobile phone Nokia 600 but it will be launched in the market in the third quarter of this year. The phone is loaded with the latest Nokia’s operating system Symbian Belle. Phone runs on the 1 GHz processor and has 3.2 inches of fully HD touch screen and out puts a resolution of 640 X 360 pixels. Phone provides a better backup if we use it in normal conditions. 

Nokia 600 has 5.0 mega pixels of camera that gives outstanding results with its supporting features LED flash and 720p HD video recording. Phone is compatible with the 3G technology. The looks of handset are great as simple little touch of curvy shape give is a great design. This gadget has more supporting features to give a deal in one box as built-in NFC functionality, microSD card slot, pentaband radio, FM radio, A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, micro USB 2.0 and Wi-Fi b/g/n connectivity

Nokia 600 review, feature and Specifications

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Nokia 101 Price in India, Low Cost Dual Sim Mobile phone review, Feature and Specifications

Nokia 101 Price in India. Company has announced the low cost dual SIM mobile phone Nokia 101. This is the basic phone like Nokia 100 and also has the entertaining options of FM radio and MP3 Player. The phone has less internal memory but you have the power of expandable memory with its external memory card slot that supports up to 16 GB. As this is a simple basic phone but still its looks are great as candy bar with rounded edge.

Nokia 101 review, Feature and Specifications

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Nokia 100 Price in India, Cheapest Price Mobile Review, Feature and Specifications

Nokia 100 Price in India. The company has announced the Nokia 100 basic mobile phone at a very cheapest cost with FM radio. The phone gives me the remembrance of old Nokia phone that comes without entertaining. Noting is there to talk for this phone as this is a simple candbar phone with longer battery backup.

Nokia 100 Review, Feature and Specifications

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Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Price in India, Android Smartphone review, Feature and specifications

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Price in India. After the launch of Sony Ericsson W8 the company has announced the launch of their latest music dedicated Android Smartphone phone Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman. The phone runs on latest Android Gingerbread operating system powered with the 1GHz processor and has 3.2 inches of fully touch screen display.

The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman has a dual camera one main 5.0 mega pixels of camera in back with supporting features of Face detection , LED flash , HD video recording, auto-focus and second front VGA camera for video calling on 3G connectivity. The Phone has a decent list of features like Bluetooth with A2DP, DLNA Certified, and microUSB port, 3G HSPA +, Wireless LAN Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Hotspot and USB tethering. Phone is powered with the 1200mAH battery to provide a long backup.

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman review, Feature and specifications

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Micromax X450 price in India, Review, Feature and Specifications

Micromax X450 price in India. Micromax X450 is the latest mobile phone announced by the company that will come with Dockable Bluetooth Headset with self charging. The Bluetooth headset is docking on the backside of the phone that making it invisible. The lightweight feature of this phone makes it easy to carry in purse as well as in pockets. The phone comes with basic list of features to take care of your communication needs. 

Micromax X450 is a dual SIM with dual standby option and it operates on GSM 900/1800 MHz of frequency. There is 6.1cms QVGA, TFT / Screen display in the phone supporting with 262K Colors. The 2 MP Camera of the phone comes along with digital zoom so that you can capture distant objects with video recording. The phone features a connectivity options include GPRS, WAP Browser and USB. The phone comes packed with Li-ion 1000mAh battery that is capable of Talk Time Up to 4 hours and Standby Time Up to 13 days .Expandable Memory up to 8GB, FM radio and polyphonic & MP3 ringtones are the additional features of this mobile phone.

Micromax X450 Review, Feature and Specifications

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The perfect Tablet PC

Lenovo has made Tablet PC's for a long time, but their over Php100K prices and their weight made them expensive and a but heavy for something to be carried in hand. I remember when I first saw the X41 Tablet six years ago and have been wanting one ever since. From a practical standpoint it was hard to justify. The Lenovo Thinkpad X41 Tablet weighed in at 3.6 pounds, and with an extended battery that would go up to 4.3 pounds.

Five years later, the same problem still hounds the Tablet PC. The current model Lenovo X220 Tablet weighs in at 3.9 pounds, and that is with a four cell battery. While 3.9 pounds is fine for a laptop it is a bit ungainly for a tablet. Lenovo does have its new light Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet, with a detachable keyboard, but I really would prefer one that had a swivel to allow the screen to rotate and fold over the keyboard. I would also like it to have a larger keyboard than the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet.

Cut out some weight. Apple can build an 11.6-inch Intel Core i5 MacBook laptop and bring the weight down to 2.5 pounds. From Lenovo's Tablet PC's converting its ultraportables into a tablet adds about 0.6 pounds. It would seem feasible to built a 11.6-inch X220 Tablet type device at 3 pounds of less.

Starting with the 3.9 pound weight of the X220 Tablet, cutting its 12.5-inch screen to 11.6-inch should result in some reduction in weight. Inside, instead of an Core i5 processor which needs a design that can handle a thermal design point of 35W, I would be happy with AMD Fusion chip which only has a 9W TDP or even better, a dual core ARM processor which will only need a chassis designed to dissipate less than 4W of heat. Instead of a 500GB hard drive, 64GB of flash storage should be enough. What OS? Well if an AMD Fusion machine, than Windows or one of the Linux operating systems. If an ARM machine, Android or Linux. 

So how about it Lenovo? 

Symbian Belle

Symbian Belle, the latest updated to Nokia Symbian S^3 operating system will bring a pull-down notification shade, re-sizable widgets, a one-tap method to add them, a scrolling application list of icons and additional home screens, all in making Symbian OS decided Android looking. 

Copycat or not, it looks good, and one reason I chose Android was that it looks some elements I liked from the Windows Mobile and Symbian interfaces. Now I wonder whether Nokia needs Windows Phone 7 at all. They have brought Symbian to a level where its biggest problem is not the interface, but support since its end-of-life has been announced, and they also have a interesting MeeGo handset.

If Symbian Belle had been ready when the Nokia N8 had been release last year, I suspect things would be very different today.

Testing Smart 3G speeds

When I got my Unlimited Data plan for Smart Communications I was not expecting it to be too fast in general, since I had been using the time based service for several years. It was pretty fast in Makati CBD and The Fort in Taguig, but slower in other areas. I noticed it had become faster as of late, in areas where I am used to getting a average connection speed. So I started doing speed tests using Ookla's Speedtest.net for Mobile App and I am pretty impressed with the results.

August 23, 2011 at Starbuck's Aguirre, BF Paranaque:

The test was conducted at 9:05 P.M.

August 25, 2011 at Starbuck's Powerstation, Macapagal, Pasay City:

The test was conducted at 10:39 A.M.

August 25, 2011 at Red Ribbon's, Km. 16 Aguinaldo Highway, Bacoor, Cavite.

 

The test was conducted at 1:49 P.M.

Steve Jobs steps down as CEO of Apple

The big news today is not some new piece of mobile technology but the resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple. Mr. Jobs will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Apple.

Apple will go on without Mr. Jobs directing its day to day operations, but the reality is that people like Steve Jobs really cannot be replaced. I new he would be retiring soon, but I thought he would wait till the release of the iPhone 5. I don't want to speculate on this. Every person deserves their privacy.

The impact Mr. Jobs had on the industry cannot be understated. While I always felt that Apple did not cater to developing countries like the Philippines, and if Apple had their way our computers and smartphones would cost more, the innovations brought about by Apple, directly or indirectly, benefitted us all.

The past thirty years has been quite a ride, and it was magical watching you.

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Price in India, Review, Feature and Specifications

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro price in India. The latest smart phone loaded with QWERT keypad Samsung Galaxy Y Pro has been launched by the company. The phone runs on the 832MHz single-core application processor that powered its Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. The Phone has a 2.6 inches of QVGA display screen that provides the 320 X 240 Pixels of resolution. 

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro is loaded with the 2.0 mega pixel main camera which can clicks amazing pictures and you can store them on its internal memory of 160MB. But if you think memory is low than you can expand it with the help of expandable memory slot that supports up to 32GB. Enjoy the freebie of 2Gb memory card with phone. 

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Review, Feature and Specifications

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Samsung Galaxy Y price in India, review, Features and Specifications

Samsung Galaxy Y price in India. Samsung has announced the latest Android smart phone Samsung Galaxy Y. according to the Specifications the phone has updated version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread that provided the awesome power to its 832MHz single-core processor. As per specifications we can say it is a entry level smart phone that gives a great power in our hands

Samsung Galaxy Y has a 3.0 inches of fully touch screen QVGA display that produces the resolution of 320 X 240 pixels. The phone is powered with the 2.0 mega pixel main camera which can take pictures of 1600 × 1200 pixels of pixels and can do the Geo Tagging. The Phone has a 160MB internal memory that can easily expanded with the help of microSD card slot which supports up to 32 GB. Company is giving 2GB memory card free with the phone.

Samsung Galaxy Y Review, Features and Specifications

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Samsung Galaxy W Price in India, Review Feature and Specifications

Samsung Galaxy W Price in India. The Samsung is launching various smart phones line by line as today they have announced the launch of Samsung Galaxy W that runs on the 1.4GHz processor and is powered with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. The Phone has a 3.7 inches full touch screen display that produces the 480 X 800 Pixels of resolution. The is loaded with many other features like social networking integrated, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0,micro USB 2.0, Wi-Fi b/g/n connectivity and Android Market.

Samsung Galaxy W has 5.0 megapixel cameras to click and store various moment of your life with the help of supporting feature of LED flash. Enjoy the 3G video calling with its front VGA camera and always stay in the front of your near & dears. Phone comes with the 4GB Internal Memory that can easily expanded with the help of microSD card slot that supports up to 32GB.

Samsung Galaxy W Review, Feature and Specifications

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Samsung Galaxy M Pro Price in India, QWERTY smartphone Review, Feature and Specifications

Samsung Galaxy M Pro price in India. The Samsung has announced the launch of their latest Galaxy M Pro which has a full QWERTY keypad and runs on the single-core 1GHz processor that makes its operating system Android 2.3 Gingerbread smooth. The phone has 2.66-inches HVGA display that provides the resolution of 480 X 320 pixels.

Samsung Galaxy M Pro has 5.0 mega pixels main camera on the back which has some supporting features like LED flash and auto focus. The VGA webcam gives us the freedom of video calling on 3G network. The phone supports the HD video playback and 1GB internal memory storage that can be expanded up to 32 GB with microSD card slot. Company is giving a 2 GB memory card totally free. 

Samsung Galaxy M Pro Review, Feature and Specifications

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