YugaTech | Philippines, Tech Reviews Blog

Globe Galaxy S3 pre-order starts on May 23

yuga — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:22:57 +0000

Globe Telecom has just announced that it will start accepting pre-orders of the Samsung Galaxy S3 on May 23, 2012 and will offer it on various postpaid plans.

Globe Telecom announced that it is launching Samsung’s newest flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S3, under its suite of fully-customizable postpaid plans bundled with unlimited mobile internet.

Globe subscribers can avail of the Samsung Galaxy S3 under My Super Plan Unli Surf Combo, which comes with unlimited mobile browsing, bonus call and text services, and choice of unli boosters for the ultimate smartphone experience. With My Super Plan Unli Surf Combo, Globe provides users with unlimited surfing, their gadget of choice, and freebies all in one subscription. This plan also helps maximize the features of the Samsung Galaxy S3.

“As the first Philippine operator to bring Samsung Galaxy S1 and S2 to the Philippines, Globe is proud to be carrying the Samsung Galaxy S3 once again, powered by our portfolio of personalized and fully-customizable data plans and backed by a stronger and more reliable HSPA+ network which we continue to aggressively expand nationwide,” said Peter Bithos, Globe Senior Advisor for Consumer Business.

Globe did not indicate which plans it will come free but we estimate it will be under Unli Surf Combo 2499 and Unli Surf Combo 3799. For My Super Plan, it could be free on Plan 2499 and 3799. Unfortunately though, there is no word on a prepaid kit plan.

Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S3 will begin on May 23, 2012 via www.globe.com.ph/galaxys3. New subscribers can call the Globe Sales Hotline via toll-free number (02) 730-1010 or visit www.globe.com.ph/galaxys3 to place their orders. For Platinum subscribers, they can get in touch with their Relationship Managers for reservations.

House of Marley lands in the Philippines

Ronnie Bulaong — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:29:41 +0000

Yesterday marks the official launch of the House of Marley in the Philippines. Established by the late Bob Marley’s 6th son and professional football player Rohan Marley, The House of Marley aims to commemorate his father’s legacy and vision of a peaceful world united by one love.

Although to this date the our world is still far from what Bob had envisioned decades back, Rohan along with his kin remained vigilant and hopeful. In their relentless effort of continuing their life-long mission of spreading his father’s message of peace, the family decided to take a slightly different approach of getting the message across through products that shares the same principles.

House of Marley products are eco-friendly by design. These products are made with various sustainable and renewable materials. The idea is to make products that are not only durable but would also give back to the nature and the people in it. In the spirit of giving back to the people, 5% of the annual income of House of Marley will be given to the 1love.org. This organization supports various charities and foundations from across the world whose aim is to promote peace and prosperity for the people in their respective communities, especially children.

There were several audio peripherals (in-ear monitors, headphones and speakers) present during the launch but not all of it is already available in our country, even in other countries. I’ve spoken to one of the House of Marley’s ambassadors and she mentioned that the reason for this is that this is just the beginning of better things to come in the future. “We’re just testing the waters for now and see how the market responds to these wonderful products” according to her. I don’t know about the other guests at the event but if I’m going to describe my experience with their audio products, BLOWN AWAY! Here are some pictures of the sound peripherals which are there during the event.

But House of Marley isn’t only offering sound gears; they also make bags which are also made of recycled and renewable materials. Their bags come in different shapes and sizes and will be available in the last quarter of this year according to the distributor. Here are some pictures of those bags.

Of all the products showcased during the event, there are only 3 items currently being sold in our country through its exclusive distributor JERM Marketing. These items are available at S&R Membership shopping, Anson’s appliance, Reuse, PowerBooks, Select National Bookstore branches, Duty Free. The brand was an immediate hit as the first batch of items shipped earlier this year was sold out in a short period of time.

You can find out more about the brand behind these amazing products, their mission and how you can be part of the global movement to spread the message of hope, peace and love at www.thehouseofmarley.com. You can also contribute to charities and organizations by going to www.1love.org. It doesn’t have to be a monetary contribution; just by sharing it on your SNS you’re already doing the foundation and the people it supports a big favor. We can change the world in our own little ways, do your part now.

Lenovo announces ThinkPad X1 Carbon ultrabook

yuga — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:15:46 +0000

While most of the ultrabook manufacturers are opting for thin and light aluminum body, Lenovo tried a new approach with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon by employing a cabon fiber case.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a 14-inch display and sports the latest Intel Ivy Bridge processors.

Details of the models and respective configurations of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon are not complete but here’s the closest picture we can paint.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon specs:
14-inch LED display @ 1600×900 pixels
Intel Core i5, i7 Ivy Bridge processors
4GB DDR3 RAM
128GB SSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
1 x USB 2.0 port
1 x USB 3.0 port
miniDisplay port
Windows 7

We expect Lenovo to bring this ultrabook to the Philippine slater this year and hopefully price them competitively. Lenovo’s target market for the ThinkPad in the country is mostly the enterprise and Small & Medium Businesses (SMBs) so we don’t see these units in store shelves.

IP e-Games launches Diablo 3 in the Philippines

yuga — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:28:47 +0000

IP e-Games today formally launched Diablo 3 in the Philippines to members of the media, bloggers and cosplayers in a short ceremony around noon.

IP e-Games is the exclusive distributor of the boxed Diablo 3 installer in the Philippines (the digital downloads go straight to Blizzard).

e-Games also shared that there was high demand for Diablo 3 and over 5,000 pre-orders were made as of May 13 for the boxed copies.

Diablo 3 retails for Php3,150 and is now available in stores.

Disclosure: IP e-Games gave boxed copies of Diablo 3 to everyone who attended the event.

Contest Teaser: BlackBerry Social Plan 600

yuga — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:11:06 +0000

We just like to put out this short notice that we’re about to run another contest sponsored by Sun Cellular. They’ve got a new BlackBerry Plan 600 that comes with unlimited text, calls and/or internet.

In line with the introduction of this new plan, we’ll be giving away two (2) units of BlackBerry smartphones and ten (10) consolation prizes.

I’m still tweaking/finalizing the mechanics but it will involve some artistic skills as well as pure luck. We’ll also be using Rafflecopter to give away minor prizes.

In any case, do check out the Sun BlackBerry Plan 600 and learn more about the details so you are better prepared once we finally launch the contest later this week.

Watch out this page for further announcements.

Cherry Mobile W900 Review

Ronnie Bulaong — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:36:45 +0000

Cherry Mobile recently introduced yet another affordable Android smartphone they called the Dragon Phone. After more than a week’s time with it, we’re pretty sure what Cherry Mobile is gunning for with this new handset. Check out our full review of the Cherry Mobile W900 after the break.

The W900 comes in a slightly bigger box than the Magnum 2X. As with the latter, the box is also enclosed inside an outer carton box filled with some of the details about the phone.

The handset comes in with the usual accessories. There’s a USB cable, charger and a headset. The review unit given to us comes with a screen protector inside the box. We’re not sure if it’s going to be the same for retail units or it will be attached out of the box.

As we’ve mentioned on our first impression, the phone comes in two color variety, Black with Gold lining and White with Silver lining. The “Curvaceous” W900’s design looks like BlackBerry phones, especially the all touch version Storm. The top and the bottom part are tapered with a flat back panel. Unlike its dual-core counterpart, the W900’s innards are enclosed in an all glossy plastic frame that makes it prone to fingerprints. We suggest having a clean cloth handy when using the Dragon Phone particularly for those who have sweaty palms.

The front of the phone sports the 4” capacitive LCD screen along with the front facing VGA camera, earpiece and sensor. Unlike most Gingerbread phones that has 4 keys; the W900 only has three soft keys located directly below the screen. This may be an indication that Cherry Mobile has plans of an ICS upgrade for this device in the future.

The tapered top and bottom part of the Dragon phone are plain. No buttons, no ports and no holes. All that can be found on each sides of the device.

On its right side, the small power button that also doubles as sleep/wake button can be found along with the MicroUSB port which is covered with a removable plastic flap. The peculiar Eco-mode switch can also be found just below the power button if you’re holding the phone upright.

The left side of the phone sports the volume rocker which can also wake the phone and the 3.5mm audio port which is also covered with a removable plastic flap. Only time will tell how many removals it can withstand but so far, after a handful of attempts, the two flaps are still holding up quite nicely with no visible damage whatsoever.

Besides the 5MP camera, there’s not much going on either on the back of the W900. Much like the Magnum 2X, the Dragon phone also doesn’t have a built-in flash. Just in case you’re wondering, the term “Curvaceous” earlier didn’t come from us. It is actually engraved on the gold lining at the top-back part of the handset. Complementing the whole design of the phone, the back panel of the W900 is also made of plastic with glossy finish. All the more reason to keep a cleaning cloth handy, unless you want to go for rugged fingerprint filled look.

Underneath the glossy back cover is the 1350mAh battery. The SIM card slot and the MicroSD card slot can be found at the top of the batter compartment if the phone is upright. The SIM card can be put in without removing the battery as well as the MicroSD card. But if you plan to take out the SIM you’d have to remove the battery first.

The W900 generally looks decent enough for the most part. The all plastic body of the phone is not all that bad as it made the phone lightweight and therefore easy on the hands. On the business side of things, it made the cost of the phone cheaper as the materials used are inexpensive by nature. Some may find the glossy finish of the handset attractive and some may not. For me, the shiny appeal doesn’t really appeal to me that much. The flaps are also a great addition as it adds a little bit of protection to the phone from dirt and dusts. We think that with proper caution, those flaps will last for a long period of time. We also liked the gold accent on the black phone. It added a Mike Tyson feel to it. But the phone has one too many logos. I think that it would’ve been better if they dropped the engraved “Curvaceous” at the back and just went for a single logo.

Having a 4-inch screen, the W900 is the first of its kind on the Cherry Mobile lineup. But by having the same resolution as the Magnum 2X, the Dragon Phone’s screen has a slightly lower pixel density than its dual-core counterpart which is only 233ppi. This slight difference is not that noticeable though as the screen is still provide a decent viewing experience under certain conditions. We said this because the screen, just like the one on the Magnum 2X, doesn’t really deliver a great outdoor legibility. In comparison to the dual-core handset, the W900 was actually a bit worse when used outdoors while the sun is at its peak. But other than that, we think that Cherry Mobile has done a pretty good job on their first 4 incher.

Cherry Mobile has equipped the W900 with Dolby Digital Plus for sound software. The result was actually quite impressive for an affordable phone. We were pleased with the sound output of the Dragon phone through the 3.5mm port. Even the headset that came with handset was also pretty good.

Although the sound wasn’t eardrum-shattering loud, it’s still loud enough for a user to zone out and get lost with their favorite tracks. The loudspeaker is on the downside though, as the sound was too soft but still audible under some extent. We don’t suggest listening through the loudspeaker in a crowded area as it can be quite tricky to hear details of the s ong or understand a conversation in a film. In terms of voice call, the sound was crisp and audible. We didn’t find ourselves pressing the phone against our ears just to hear the person on the other line.

The name Dragon phone was actually derived from the handset’s Snapdragon S2 processor, and for a good reason. This 1GHz system-on-chip not only provides decent performance but also integrated multiple functionalities in one chip. By doing so, it has significantly reduced the manufacturing cost as companies like Cherry Mobile no longer has to purchase each components from different chip manufacturers, build the phone part by part and putting it all together. This in turn makes the price of the phone inexpensive. But Cherry Mobile still has a trick up its sleeves.

In case you’re wondering, the 1GHz mentioned above is not a typo. Although Qualcomm released a 1.2GHz version of the S2 which is the MSM8655, the W900 actually has the 45nm MSM8255 Snapdragon S2 processor which is the same processor used in the recently released HTC One V. Both are clocked at 1GHz and both can be traced back 2 years ago. The only difference with the W900 is that it comes overclocked to 1.2GHz out of the box while the latter was not. This definitely Cherry Mobile’s marketing strategy to reach their consumers. Cherry Mobile was able to cut down on the manufacturing cost a bit and in turn making the phone affordable by using a slightly older processor and overclocking it a bit rather than going for the 1.2GHz S2.

Marketing aside, the device didn’t actually score quite well in the benchmark tests that we’ve performed. We weren’t expecting this low of a benchmark score from the device. Not that we’re expecting a high score from the device. But considering that the W900’s processor was overclocked to 1.2GHz the HTC One V, which has exactly the same processor but not overclocked, still garnered better results than the former. This leaves us to think that the OS may have something to do about it.

Quadrant only scored the W900 with 1141 while the One V scored 1982. Things are a bit different on the AnTuTu benchmark as the Dragon phone triumphs over the chinned-up competitor by a hair with a score of 2673 while the latter scored 2544.

Graphics wise, NenaMark 2 only scored the W900 with 11fps while the HTC One V scored 28.8fps.

Though the handset didn’t really fare well on the benchmarks results, we were pretty pleased with our experience using the device. There’s nothing out of the ordinary with its performance but the W900 should give its users a pretty decent response on most tasks. Simple tasks and not too resources heavy apps run smoothly without lags. Apps that require sensors along with touch and swipe gestures are a bit laggy though. Because of this, it can be quite difficult to score that high playing Temple Run with this device. Another app that has noticeable lags is the native movie player app. Although it’s good that the phone has DIVX support out of the box, the viewing experience was not that smooth. We hope that a future ICS update, if ever there is one, will fix this little lags.

The W900 has Gingerbread (2.3.3) out of the box. Considering the competition this phone is up against, it would’ve been better if it had come with ICS. We’ve actually asked Cherry Mobile if they have plans of upgrading the OS in the future but we never really got a conclusive answer regarding the matter. For now, we just have to work with what the phone has to offer.

The UI of the W900 doesn’t have the same Gingerbread feel that we were so accustomed to. Cherry Mobile has decided to go for the unconventional UI for the Dragon phone. We don’t want to be subjective on this part, so we’ll leave it to you guys to decide if it suits you. Of course, you can always download third-party themes (which we did) if you don’t want what you see.

Placing the two Cherry Mobile flagship devices beside each other, one can already spot the difference between the UIs. First noticeable difference between the two is the 4 static icons on Favorites tray. It’s present even when inside the app drawer. The only thing we didn’t like about it was that the icons cannot be interchanged or replaced with a different one. Scrolling through the apps, which is display 4×4 because of the Favorites tray, is done sideways instead of vertically on other Gingerbread phones.

Pulling down the notification bar up top, will give you a Symbian Belle-like toggle buttons or switches for commonly used phone functionalities.

Just like in other Gingerbread phones, long pressing on blank portion of the home screen will give you an option to add Shortcut, Widget and Folder but you’d have to select one of the options first before seeing the list of options under that category. The Cherry Mobile’s custom UI took it a step further by giving us a list of all available options right from the get go. The options are categorized on each tab as shown in the screenshot here.

The multitasking UI remains pretty much the same as with other Gingerbread phones. Users still needs to long press the home key to reveal active apps. Taking it up a notch, what Cherry Mobile has done is they’ve integrated the built-in task killer of the handset to the multitasking screen making it easier to manage running apps.

Plugging a pair of supported headphones or earphones on the audio port will give users a set of installed apps that users can use with the accessory. We’ve tried a couple of headsets with the device and the phone was able to detect and give the same options for each one of it.

Another cool feature of the UI is the gestures. When using the phone’s default browser, users can assign a gesture to a specific browser task like “go to homepage”.

Once set, all the users have to do is press the W logo just below the screen, do the desired gesture and the browser should do the task that corresponds to the gesture that was done. We were actually pretty amazed with this feature and how responsive the app is to the gestures that we made. It would have been even cool if this feature is present on the phone’s other native apps, nevertheless kudos to Cherry Mobile for integrating this feature in the browser.

We’ve prepared a short video clip to demonstrate the aforementioned features of the W900’s UI including the Gesture.

Other than its looks, we generally enjoyed the custom UI of the W900. Although there’s nothing really surprising about the UI that we haven’t seen before, what Cherry Mobile did a great job on was that they were able to integrate top features from various devices and put it all together in one very intuitive UI. By doing so they were able to limit some of the steps required to perform certain tasks resulting to getting more things done in a shorter period of time.

Cherry Mobile has packed the W900 with numerous apps. Besides the usual Cherry Mobile apps which are also present on the Magnum 2X, there are also a handful apps that comes pre-installed with the phone. Most of which are helpful (Task Killer, ES File Explorer, Memos, Voice Recorder and Timer) while some are just shortcuts to some of the phone’s functionalities (Camcorder, D-Day, Alarms, Call Log and Bluetooth).

Apart from the additional apps, there’s also a bit of improvement on some of the native apps like Music, Phone and Calendar. But in our opinion the native app that significantly revamped is the Contacts app. With the SNS integration becoming an essential feature of a smartphones nowadays, Cherry Mobile doesn’t want their brainchild to be left behind. They’ve decided to also add this sought after feature to the Dragon Phone. This is integrated in the phone’s native Contacts App. Users can sync their FB and/or Twitter account to their Contacts app and they can check status update and post update directly from the app.

Just like the Magnum 2X, the W900 also has the TouchPal as the default keyboard. If you didn’t like how it works, you can always switch to Android keyboard. Both of the keyboards are responsive. Because of the slightly bigger screen the keys have more real estate. Thus typing is made a bit easier as compared to its dual-core counterpart.

Both of the Cherry Mobile flagship devices have 5MP camera. But even though both handsets has the same megapixel count, W900’s snapper captures slightly better images than the Magnum 2X. Images taken with the W900 appear to be brighter with warmer colors as compared to the images taken with the Magnum 2X.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of images taken using the W900 (Left) and Magnum 2X (right).

The W900 also slightly out-performed the Magnum 2X based on images taken in low-light conditions which is evident on the third picture. But just like its dual core counterpart, the W900 also doesn’t have a built-in flash. This proves to be a deal breaker for most consumers as it would aid the phone in taking pictures in a dim environment.

At times, the colors get a little too warm causing it to appear over saturated as the case on the second image. To fix this or to cope with the current lighting condition the W900 is equipped with a handful of camera modes. As added feature, the camera app also has a built-in photo editor so users can edit their stills right after capturing it. The app is also has a touch-to-focus feature which is great for close-up images. Images taken using the front-facing VGA camera was also quite decent. A bit of a letdown came when we tried Skype on the W900. Although we were able to install the app, video calling was not supported.

Here are other pictures taken with the W900.

The Dragon phone’s camera is also capable of recording decent clips @ 720p. Here’s a sample video taken using the W900.

A 1350mAh battery is what you’d get with the W900. On a light to moderate usage, with 3G connection, occasional text messaging, half an hour’s worth of voice calls, SNS and email running on the background and a couple of pictures, the battery lasted for 14 hours. The battery life was significantly better than as compared with the Magnum 2X’s battery.

We’ve also performed AnTuTu’s Battery Test on the device. While performing the test we’ve kept the hotspot on and set the display timeout to never. Considering it’s not so big battery capacity, the Dragon Phone impressively finished the test with still 18% on the battery bar.

Based on our short time with the Cherry Mobile W900, we’d say that the phone is pretty decent for its price. One of the things going for the Dragon Phone besides its price is its apps and added UI functionalities. The looks of the UI is quite disappointing but as we’ve said, users can always go for a third-party theme or launcher. But don’t be fooled by the UI’s big colorful and oddly designed icons as it’s quite intuitive and capable. This feature packed smartphone is good to go right out of the box unlike other smartphones that requires users to still download most of the necessary apps. This device kinda reminds us of Nokia’s past flagships devices where all essential and commonly used apps are already preinstalled with the phone.

Even though we’ve revealed that the W900’s processor by nature isn’t really clocked at 1.2GHz, we still think that there’s nothing with Cherry Mobile’s marketing strategy. Especially if the aim is to produce a decent phone that fits our fellow Pinoys budget who can’t go for expensive high end phones. For an average user, the 0.2GHz difference in the processor speed won’t really be a big deal. Yes it’s good on paper but technically speaking, the difference can’t really be felt for the most part especially for apps that are not so resource heavy.

Overall, apart from the occasional lags on some apps, the W900 should be able to deliver satisfactory performance, nothing really exceptional but just enough to handle most common tasks.

Cherry Mobile W900 specs:
4.0″ display @ 480×800
Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 1.2GHz
512MB RAM
up to 32GB via microSD (4GB included)
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, WiFi hotspot
Bluetooth 2.1
3G/HSDPA
5MP rear camera
1350mAh Li-Ion battery
Android 2.3 Gingerbread

The Cherry Mobile W900 retails for only Php9,999 and is available in Cherry Mobile Stores in malls nationwide.

Samsung Galaxy S3 price to hit no more than Php37k

yuga — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:13:08 +0000

Reports are coming in that Samsung Stores in Metro Manila are also accepting reservations for the Galaxy S3. These are unlocked/openline units but will be released later than the pre-orders for Smart and Globe (which will have a week or two of lead time).

According to sales rep in Samsung Stores, there’s no advise as to the suggested retail price but they estimated that it will be around Php36k or not more than Php37k when it comes out. It’s not sure if the quoted price is for the 16GB or the 64GB model.

Our original price estimated was Php29,990 for the 16GB, Php32,990 for the 32GB and Php35,990 for the 64GB.

If the final price tag is in the Php36k for the entry-level variant, it could be a deal breaker to a lot of expecting buyers. If that’s the case, and in this price range, we might also be right with our estimated postpaid plans under Smart (which will be accepting pre-orders on May 23).

Audio Technica ATH-M50 Review

Ronnie Bulaong — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:38:26 +0000

The Audio-Technica ATH M50 has been around for almost three years now. Since it was released, it has received countless positive feedbacks from audiophiles and casual listeners because of its superb sound reproduction for its price. Find out why these pair of monitors has gained the hearts of audioheads around the world in our full review after the jump.

I’ve been wanting to buy myself a decent pair of headphones for a long time now but never really got the chance to do it because of tight budget. We all know how expensive a professional monitor can be. But since my birthday is just around the corner, I gave in to my desire and decided to not go home without a pair of cans.

While I was at the MOA I went to AstroVision and MAC Center to try out few professional over the head monitors. I’ve narrowed down my list to two headphones; coincidentally both of them are of the same brand. I was tossed up between getting the ATH PRO700MK2 (Php12,000) at AstroVision and ATH M50 (Php8,999) at MAC Center. I’ve been eyeing the ATH M50 ever since but an additional Php3,001 wouldn’t hurt so much considering that the PRO700MK2 has a better sound reproduction when amped. But instead, I opted to go for the cheaper ATH M50 — because of one reason.

AstroVision only offers the ATH PRO700MK2 for 6 months installment while MAC Center offers the ATH M50 for up to 12 months. I could’ve went for the PRO700MK2, but it would be a bit difficult to squeeze in the Php2,000 every month for the credit card installment unlike for the M50 which would only cost me Php750 every month. This is the part where I wish I was a little bit wealthier, but life is still good as long as I have enough to sustain my needs and occasionally get a few wants along the way.

The ATH M50 comes in a fairly large box. Beside the circumaural headphones, the only thing can be found inside the box was a leather carrying pouch, 3.5mm to 6.35mm screw-on jack and user’s manual.

The ATH M50 originally comes in two color variety, Black and White. But in celebration of their 50th anniversary of providing exceptional audio equipment, they’ve released a limited edition Silver colored M50. Unlike the initial batch of A-T’s flagship headphone that has a coiled cable, the silver colored M50 has a straight cable.

Apart from that, everything is pretty much the same. The one that I got is the black version. Although the silver version of the M50 was also available at the time when I purchased mine, I still went for the black one. Maybe because I just can’t see myself walking around with silver cans around my head, I find it too flashy.

One of the strongest features of the ATH M50 is its design and construction. Audio-Technica did a very good job of keeping the design simple with the important parts (which are usually more prone to breaking) reinforced and keeping the whole thing lightweight for a comfortable wear even on extended periods of use (which is inevitable because of its superior sound quality).

There’s nothing really eye catching about the ATH M50’s design. The headphone doesn’t have any over-the-top accents on it besides the company’s brand printed on the headband and the silver ring on the cups. If anything, what will catch your attention though is its simple but sophisticated design. For those people who are not really in to flashy cans and prefer to walk around with a headphone without grabbing too much attention, the ATH M50 will be a perfect music companion.

Since the ATH M50 is intended for professional studio monitoring/mixing the headphone offers a wide range of adjustments for maximum comfort and wearablity. The brace that holds the cups can twist for up to a 180-degree. The large enough pleather-cushioned cups, which are made of synthetic leather, can also swivel up to the same angle as the brace.

The headband is padded quite nicely which is aimed at comfortable wearing even in long periods of use. It clamps on the head with just the right amount of force. Not too tight and not too loose. The firm clamp of the headband along with the pleather cups can provide a decent amount of noise isolation.

It can also be adjusted for users with a slightly bigger head. Adjusting it will reveal that the gap is reinforced with steel to more durability. Each side can be adjusted for up to 10 clicks which is roughly an inch and a half. That equates to a total of 3 inches adjustment.

The ATH M50 was able to achieve a lightweight body because most of it is made of plastic. But unlike other headphones made of the same material, this headphone will not give its users a cheap feel. The cans actually feel sturdy in the hands and won’t give users a fragile feel to it. As I mentioned a while ago, I liked how the parts that are usually the first to get broken are reinforced a bit.

Apart from the reinforced headband, the other little adjustments adds rigidity and protection to the headphone. This in turn gives a little peace of mind to its users that their not-so-cheap cans can withstand most of the usual wear and tear. Here are some photos of the added protection on the ATH M50.

The tip of the cable where it’s connected to the left cup is strengthened with an additional rubber protection. The other end reinforced with coiled aluminum that adds durability when bending. The actual tip of the coiled cable just before the 3.5mm gold-plate jack is also made of aluminum.

Usually, headphones only excel at just one part of the sound spectrum. Headphone makers only put emphasis on one aspect of the sound, which is typically the bass, and pay little or no attention to the other. As a result, the overall sound quality is often compromised as the other aspects are being overpowered by the can’s emphasized sound feature. This is where the ATH M50 smoked its competitions. By not being bias to a specific facet of the sound spectrum, this headphone was able to achieve a well-balanced sound reproduction.

The monitor can deliver deep and strong bass but not too strong that it muddies the overall sound quality which is typically the case for most bass-driven headphones. The highs are crisp and sparkly with a fairly low level of sibilance that is almost unheard unless a listener will really look for it. Mids are as well reproduced as the previous two sound category. Although it is a little bit withdrawn in comparison to the Highs and Lows, it doesn’t really affect the overall sound quality.

The soundstage is also pretty impressive. Although it’s not the best that I’ve heard from a professional monitor, the ATH M50 can provide a very decent sense of space and depth; which is a rare feat for a closed back headphones especially on the less than $200 price range.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the pleather padded cups and headband can provide a very decent sound isolation. But not only does it cancel most external noises, it also keep the sound in which is very evident on the headphone’s minimal sound leaks. The sound leak is so minimal that you’d have to get really close to the headphones in order to hear it.

Another good thing about this headphone is that it is relatively easy to drive. Unlike other professional headphones that sound horrible when not connected to a portable amp, the ATH M50 can still provide an above average listening experience even when unamped. Just plug in these pair of cans into a decent PMP (Portable Media Player) and it’s basically good to go. But to maximize the ATH M50’s outstanding sound quality and have an even more enjoyable listening experience, we strongly suggest investing on a good portable amp. I have mine paired up with a FiiO E11 and it sounds even more amazing.

It is also worth mentioning that the ATH M50, just like other headphones require a little bit warming up in order for it to reach its optimal performance. This is what we call burn-in period. It can range from 2-8 hours depending on the headphones. In most cases after 4-6 hours of music playback you’d start to notice that the sound is warmer and brighter. So don’t be surprised if you tried this headphone out for the first time and don’t get an exceptional result from the get go.

I buy headphones because of the sound quality it brings to the table, not because it looks good on me or it’s advertised by my favorite artist or band. Of course, the design and build is also an aspect that needs to be considered before buying a headphone. But a well-built headphones with decent design is nothing but a paperweight if the sound coming out of it bad. I personally believe that it takes more than a cool design to please an audiophile.

At some extent, some would even go for a weird looking headphone that delivers exquisite sound quality than an eye-candy monitor which has poor sound performance. Most of the time, cans are just either good looking or great sounding. But there are some headphones that have successfully combined these two critical features. In my opinion, the ATH M50 is a marriage of designing ingenuity and superb sound quality.

Audio-Technica has outfitted the ATH M50’s insides with the same amount of attention to details as its exterior. The result is a sleek-looking and lightweight headphone which is very comfortable to wear and capable of providing excellent listening experience. It may be a bit pricey here but if you look hard enough this pair of cans may only cost you $149.99 (Php6,390). But even at its regular SRP, the ATH M50 is certainly one of the best professional headphones in the below $200 price range. It’s certainly not bad for birthday present.

Sony Xperia Sola in the flesh, first impressions

yuga — Sun, 13 May 2012 07:43:47 +0000

Launched in the Philippines around the 3rd week of April along with the Xperia S, P and U, the Sony Xperia Sola deviated from the line-up and introduced some nifty features we’ve only seen on this smartphone.

The “Floating Touch” feature on the Xperia Sola allows you to hover your finger on the screen when using the browser (also acts as a cursor when you hover over links on a web page).

We’ve tried this feature and it works but really could not figure the importance or practical use until we discovered it will still work even if you’re using gloves or touching the screen with cloth.

Short of calling it magic, Sony promises to expand this feature to other apps in the future.

Since the Sola came with built-in NFC, there were NFC tags included in the box that allows you to customized commands when you touch it with the handset.

The handset design and construction closely resembles the Xperia S, P, U line-up but with some minor design changes.

It’s noticeably thinner with a more boxy figure and less curved back panel. The semi-translucent border at the bottom is gone.

The display panel is raised a few millimeters above the body leaving a small depressed surface at the bottom end.

The normal Gingerbread soft bottoms are situated at the bottom of the black bezel.

There’s also a dedicated camera button on the side, along with the volume rocker and the micro-USB port along the right side.

The hardware configuration of the Sola is pretty close to the Xperia U.

Sony Xperia Sola specs:
3.7-inch display @ 480×854 pixels, 265 ppi
NovaThor U8500 1.0GHz dual-core
512MB RAM
8GB internal storage (5GB usable)
up to 32GB via microSD card
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA< WIFI hotspot
Bluetooth 2.1 w/ EDR
NFC
5MP rear autofocus camera with LED flash
720p video recording
FM radio tuner
GPS with aGPS support
Android 2.3 Gingerbread
1320mAH Li-Ion battery
116 x 59 x 9.9mm
107 grams

What is sorely missing is the front-facing camera and though it's now on Gingerbread, Sony promises an ICS update later this year.

The Xperia Sola has a suggested retail price of Php16,990 but the unit we got from Widget City was selling for just Php15,800 (see here).

Watch out for our full review of the Sony Xperia Sola in a week or two.

Smart Galaxy S3 Pre-order starts on May 23

yuga — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:53:50 +0000

We got the word from Smart’s External Relations Manager for Public Affairs (Wo Rosete) that the telco will start accepting pre-orders of the Samsung Galaxy S3 on May 23, 2012. This is smack right in the middle of our original May 22-24 launch date we got from Samsung Philippines.

In an email sent to us this afternoon, the Galaxy S3 will be offered for free with postpaid plans from Smart:

The Samsung Galaxy S III will be available from Smart bundled with Unli Data Plans that all come with unlimited mobile Internet, plus free SMS and call minutes. The device will also be available under Smart’s All-In Plans. Pre-orders will be accepted starting May 23, 2012.

Though they did not specify which plans it will be free, we estimate it will be given away at these plans with no cash-out:

Smart Unli Data Plan 3000
Smart Unli Data Plan 4000
Smart All-In Plan 3500

No word on suggested retail price of the Samsung Galaxy S3 (and we don’t think Smart will sell them with a Prepaid Kit).

We attended the laucnhing of the Samsung Galaxy S3 in London last May 3. Check out our first impressions here.

Sky Cable buys Destiny Cable, SBC and UNI

yuga — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:46:45 +0000

Sky Cable has recently announced it is buying competing cable TV and internet provider Destiny Cable as well as Solid Broadband Company and UNI-Cable TV.

This makes Sky Cable and even bigger and more dominant player in the cable TV market. Sky Cable currently has around half a million subscribers in the Philippines. It’s unknown how many are internet subscribers.

All existing subscribers of Destiny Cable, SBC and Uni-Cable will continue using their existing subscriptions and channels as well as monthly fees. Sky Cable plans to roll out their service later on (probably once subs are up for their annual renewals). Destiny Cable is the 2nd largest direct-to-home cable TV provider.

The entire deal is estimated to cost Sky Cable a whooping Php3 billion.

Solid Broadband Corp. is part of the Solid Group that also owns MyDestiny and MyPhone.

How much storage do you have on your microSD card?

yuga — Sat, 12 May 2012 02:51:25 +0000

When reviewing handsets, a lot of times we focus on storage as a major deal breaker. To some extent it’s important and on occasion, it may have turned off a lot of people from actually buying a smartphone because of the lack of storage capacity.

Of course, there will be isolated cases. The 16GB iPhone is still the most popular variant of the iPhone line (it’s usually the first one to run out of stocks).

The same cannot be said of other handsets though — especially all the Windows Phone 7 smartphones that do not support external storage.

Based on observations though, I think the tolerable amount of internal storage for a handset would be in the vicinity of 8GB to 16GB. That’s assuming there’s absolutely no option to expand the internal memory.

I’d like to test this theory and do a little poll.

Can you folks check your smartphone and see what’s the capacity of the microSD card you are using with it?

Please let us know what’s the internal/built-in storage your phone has and what’s the size of the microSD card you used with it.

Here’s mine: Internal – 16GB; microSD – 8GB.

I’m just very curious if people really buy high-capacity microSD cards for their phones (like 16GB to 32GB). By the way, I was surprised to see that a 32GB KingMax microSD card (Class 4) sells for only Php1,880 at CDR-King.

Diablo 3 prompts gamers to re-evaluate their ISPs

yuga — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:40:26 +0000

On May 15, gamers from all over the country (and the rest of the world) will be glued to their PC screens for the grand opening of the Diablo 3 servers. Everyone is eager and so are we.

And yes, we know, everything’s been prepared — a newly upgraded PC, a brand new gaming mouse and keyboard, a large monitor, a headset or speakers and Red Bull.

Everyone’s pre-ordered a copy and installed it before hand. The checklist is all crossed-out — except one.

Will your ISP stand the test of time? During the trial run last April, a lot of people complained about how slow the their ISPs were. Sometimes it lags, sometimes it disconnects. Worse if it cuts you off completely during the heat of the battle.

This may have prompted a lot of gamers and enthusiasts to actually re-evaluate their current ISP subscriptions. Turns out that some type of connections are not good for online gaming such as Diablo 3. One of the most frequent mentions I read about is cable internet and I would not be surprised if fixed wireless and even WiMax suffers from the same fate (mostly, latency problems).

I’d like to throw out a quick survey and see if people out there who are waiting for Diablo 3 are satisfied with their ISP’s performance.

HTC One X Review

yuga — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:38:36 +0000

HTC was the first one to bring a quad-core processor handset in the Philippines with the One X, giving it the spotlight for some time and getting the credit as one of the most desirable (if not the most) flagship smartphone in the local market. Check out how HTC’s great design reputation and NVidia’s Tegra 3 chip stack up to make the HTC One X the handset to beat this season.

HTC has been criticized before for having recycled designs with their handsets in the last few years. Sometimes, it becomes boring already but this time we think they got it spot on with the HTC One X.

The review unit that we got here is the white colored One X and I thought it looked better than the one in gray.

Design and Construction.

The design signature of HTC is strong with the One X — simple, smooth lines, curved edges and a unibody form factor with a fluid structure. It’s very thin at 8.9mm and relatively light (130 grams) for its size. The unibody design certainly gives it a rigid and solid look.

The handset feels comfortable on the hands, smooth to the touch and has a good grip to it.

The minimalistic design gives the HTC One X a majestic look and certainly reminds us how we loved the ground-breaking HTC Desire from many years ago.

The top end is where the power button is located along with the 3.5mm audio jack. Just behind the power button is the pop-up cradle for the micro-SIM card. You will need a pin to pop it open (just like the way we’re used to with the iPhone) and prepare to get a new micro-SIM or cut up your existing SIM card to fit in.

At the bottom end are the soft buttons etched behind the glass display; they’re already designed for Ice Cream Sandwich (Back, Home, Recent Apps). At the bottom end is a pin hole for the microphone.

On the right side corner is a thin plastic strip for the volume rocker and the left side is where the microUSB port is found.

On the back side is the large 8MP camera protruding from the surface of the back and surrounded by a silver ring with the LED flash cutting thru the edge of the circle.

We’ve had issuess with previous HTC cameras that are positioned this way since it makes them more prone to accidental scratches and bumps.

The silver HTC logo is smack in the middle while the Beats Audio logo is flushed toward the bottom, just on top of the speaker grills. There are 5 contact pins on the bottom right corner which is reserved for the Media Dock and the Car Dock.

The surface has a smooth, matte finish both in front and at the back with a small strip around the edges that feels a bit polished or piano glossy.

The slightly curved shape of the body, the warm tones, the fluid design makes the HTC One X a stunning handset.

Display.

The HTC One X is a member of the big leagues with its massive 4.7-inch display. It’s not the first one from HTC to have this size (the Sensation XL and HTC Titan also had 4.7-inch screens).

The dark, hard glass that covers the display spills toward the edges, literally, giving you that impression that the entire front panel is the screen. There’s actually a thin bezel there that surrounds the screen but you can hardly see it when the display is turned off (or unless you come really close). It’s a pretty neat trick actually — like the way an infinity pool tricks the eye.

The smooth, curved shaped of the glass exterior follows the outer shape of the body of the handset. It gives it the impression of an almost perfectly fluid design — no hard corners, just free-flowing lines.

And once you turn on the screen, you will be confronted by the massive 4.7-inch display with a 720p HD resolution (that’s 1280×720 pixels). The pixel density of 312ppi is almost within the vicinity of the Retina Display of the iPhone 4/4S.

Images are crisp and bright, colors are warm and vivid, deep contrasts and superb viewing angles — all thanks to that Super LCD 2 display. However close you look into the screen, you can hardly see the pixels. I can’t remember any HTC handset having this good a display ever.

And it’s tough too. We’ve had a couple of incidents where we dropped the HTC One X face flat onto a ceramic tile floor, hard carpet and wooden table without a hint of scratch or bump.

Camera.

HTC is not known to incorporate great cameras with their handsets. They did good with the Sensation XL and the HTC Titan but they weren’t still at par as the best cameras we’ve seen on other flagship smartphones.

The HTC One X attempts to change that perception with an 8-megapixel shooter sporting a wide-angle lens (28mm) and a large f/2.0 aperture.

Photos are sharp and less blurry, especially under low-light conditions. The camera app boots up really quick and we are able to take photos in bursts or quick successions.

Some of the shots may degrade under low-light conditions though but that’s expected even if the camera has a wide aperture. Here are some sample photos taken with the HTC One X:

On some occasion, you will notice the camera somewhat over-saturates the color. Loved that dSLR-like sound when focusing on the subject.

One of the key features of the camera in the One X is the ability to shoot stills while taking videos.

Video recording at 1080p full HD is also really good although we notice the frame rates are only in the range of 24fps.

Here’s a number of video clips taken using the One X:

The camera UI needs a bit of getting used to because both the still and video buttons are active at the same time and once in a while you get confused between the two.

The camera app also integrated a lot of built-in filters which, I’m sure, Instagram users will certainly love. By far, this is the best camera tucked into any HTC smartphone ever.

Multimedia.

In the audio department, HTC continued to incorporate the Beats Audio technology with the One X. It has become a selling point with previous handsets and remains to do so.

The speaker grills are the back is clear and loud but not to our liking. It becomes muffled when you place it down on its back. The Beats Audio can only be activated when you plug in the earphones. HTC also added an enhancement called HTC Enhanced making the sound more crisp and whole but that feature is also limited.

Watching movies or playing games on the HTC One X is a joy. The display’s size and resolution scored points in this department. The Super LCD 2 also offered better viewing angles and less glare when used in the outdoors.

The OS, Apps and the UI.

HTC has been known for creating the popular HTC Sense UI and it has gone a long way to make it more intuitive, smoother and with all the added eye-candy and animations. This is overlaid on top of Android 4.0.3 ICS so you’ll really never see any semblance of the stock Android UI.

HTC banked heavily on the Sense UI to differentiate itself from other Android devices. As such, you get a slew of personalization options — from the HTC Scene, to the Skins, Lock Screen Style, up to the organization of the Home Screen with all the HTC goodies and widgets that come with it.

I managed to transfer all my contacts from my iPhone 4S to the One X without any problems. This makes moving to the new handset a lot easier. It ends there though so other files like music, photos and videos need to be transferred separately (there’s always DropBox).

The Lock Screen shortcuts allows you to jump from the locked screen to running frequently-used apps in one swipe. You can customize these but organizing the permanent navigation bar where the app launcher is.

The Recent Apps screen shows a deck of windows or running apps and you can actually close these apps by swiping the windows upwards.

The on-screen qwerty keyboard takes up the entire width of the bottom corner of the screen giving more space for each individual keys. The keys are spaced too close to each other and is a little mis-proportioned (key are very tall but thin).

One of the strongs suits of the Tegra3 chip is in gaming. With all that 4 CPU cores and 12 GPU cores, expect graphics-heavy games to play really, really well.

Performance and Benchmarks.

At the heart of the One X is the NVidia Tegra3 chip, a quad-core processor running at 1.5GHz in each core. The only other time we encountered this processor is with the Transformer Prime so we have a good idea of what it can do.

Our Quadrant Standard benchmark showed a high score of 4,595 while Antutu benchmark 11,367.

The Nenamark 2 benchmark focuses on the graphics and with a score of 47fps, this one is already impressive. Over-all, these are the highest marks we’ve seen on any synthetic benchmarks we’ve done on any handset we already reviewed.

Battery Life.

Battery life is still a tricky business and HTC’s got the reputation for having slightly poor to decent battery life on their handsets. The HTC One X got a minor bump to 1800mAh but that was not enough to last us for the whole day, especially if 3G is turned on.

With moderate use, we can get by and reach a day and a half of battery life.

Conclusion.

We seldom flag a new handset as a must-buy but we can certainly bet the HTC One X falls into this category. HTC combined great hardware and and great design into one solid handset. HTC’s got a winner with the One X.

It is by no means perfect but it’s one of the best handsets, if not the best, you can now get in the market. It’s one of the very few handsets I can say I’d use to retire my iPhone 4S.

As the first quad-core smartphone in the Philippines, the HTC One X is taking on huge expectations and we’re confident that it will not disappoint.

The HTC One X has a suggested retail price of Php32,990 and is available in stores nationwide (although you can find lower prices in online stores in the range of Php26-28k).

HTC One X specs:
4.7″ Super LCD 2 display, 720×1280 pixels @ 312ppi
1.5GHz quad-core NVidia Tegra 3 processor
1GB RAM
32GB internal storage (26GB usable)
HSPA+ 21Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
NFC
Bluetooth 4.0
8MP autofocus rear camera, 1080p
1.3MP front-facing camera, 720p
GPS w/ aGPS support
FM Radio Tuner
1800mAh Li-Polymer battery
Android 4.0.3 ICS
134.4 x 68.9 x 8.9mm
130 grams

What we liked about it.
● Sleek handset design
● Blazing Tegra 3 processor
● Brilliant HD screen
● Much-improved camera
● Tough! We dropped it several times!

What we did not like.
● So, so battery life
● Limited storage, no expandable memory slot

Globe & Smart to offer the Samsung Galaxy S3 this May

yuga — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:39:44 +0000

Based on the number of tweets from Globe Telecom and Smart Comm., it looks like both telcos will be offering the new Samsung Galaxy S3 this May.

The date has not yet been set but according to Samsung reps, it will be either May 22 or May 24. I am betting on May 24 though if this is going to be a huge launch between the two carriers.

Globe’s tweet was subtle but already contains the #globegalaxys3 hashtag:

Smart’s recent tweet was a bit bold and contains photos of the Galaxy S3 itself (#smartgalaxys3):

The last time we saw this kind of tweet-fight was during the launch of the iPhone 4S back in December. My guess is that the Galaxy S3 will get the same treatment, considering the popularity and sales of the Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Note in both networks.

We’ll just have to wait and see. That’s just two weeks to go.

Note: We covered the launching of the Samsung Galaxy S3 in London last May 3. Check out our first impressions here.

Samsung Galaxy Note gets Ice Cream Sandwich

yuga — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:28:31 +0000

Got the notification this afternoon on my Samsung Galaxy Note. It’s actually a firmware update that includes Android 4.0.3 ICS, a new S Note app, and new S Memo widget.

The whole update was about 319MB in size and took some half an hour to download and update on the Galaxy Note.

Aside from the usual added features from ICS, I could not recognize any differences in the UI. Samsung retained much of the TouchWiz UI on the ICS update so unless you really dig deeper into the handset, you won’t see the difference coming from Gingerbread.

The improvements with S Memo is really cool (now supports functions and equations) while the S Note widget enhancement is just minor.

Chime in at the comments section if your Galaxy Note also got the update.

Facebook to launch App Center

Louie Diangson — Thu, 10 May 2012 06:36:10 +0000

Facebook has just announced that it will be launching its own app store called the App Center, “a new place for people to find social apps,” as well as to give developers “an additional way to grow their apps and creates opportunities for more types of apps to be successful.”

This will showcase quality apps that use Facebook logins and will be available on the web, as well as in iOS and Android Facebook apps in the coming weeks.

The App Center, however, will not directly compete with app market leaders such as Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store but rather will work hand-in-hand with them. “From the mobile App Center, users can browse apps that are compatible with their device, and if a mobile app requires installation, they will be sent to download the app from the App Store or Google Play.” This will help you find cool social apps such as Draw Something a lot easier.

This direction will also help Facebook provide a win-win situation with developers by letting them offer paid apps. “This is a simple-to-implement payment feature that lets people pay a flat fee to use an app on Facebook.com.” Of course, the social media giant takes a cut from these fees.

In a nutshell, Facebook is gearing up to become a top distributor for developers and mobile web applications. Similar to what McDonald’s is doing for Coca Cola. With over 900 million Facebook users worldwide, this is definitely a big opportunity.

For more info, you can visit the Facebook Developer page here.

What do you guys think? Will you pay for Facebook apps? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

RIM outs cheaper BlackBerry Curve 9320

yuga — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:43:43 +0000

The BlackBerry Curve 9320 was probably made to address demand from emerging markets (they released the Curve 9220 in India some weeks back) which still cannot generally afford even the entry-level BB handset.

If you looked at the specs of the Curve 9320 below, you will notice that it’s not any better than the Curve 9360 that was launched many months back.

BlackBerry Curve 9320 specs:
2.44″ display @ 320×240 pixels
512MB ROM
512MB RAM
up to 32GB via microSD card
HSDPA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1
3.15MP rear camera with LED flash
FM Radio tuner
GPS w/ aGPS support
Li-Ion 1450mAh battery
BlackBerry OS 7.1

Perhaps, the only better aspect of the 9320 over the 9360 is the battery (1450mAh vs. 1000mAh).

So the only logical step for introducing this model is to offer it at a much lower price. Are we going to see a sub-Php10k BlackBerry soon? We’ll just have to wait and see once the Curve 9320 is released locally.

Smart revisits Always On plans with cheaper rates

yuga — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:14:47 +0000

Smart has revised their Alway On plans to offer more bucket options and drive prices down. The new plan starts at Php10 for 5MB of mobile internet usable in 24 hours.

Here are the bucket pricing from last year and when you compare that to the new table below, you will notice some of the plans were reduced while others remained the same (an indication that the move is to level with competition, otherwise it would have been across the board).

The 1GB bucket is now Php499 from Php750 last year (same with Globe PowerSurf 499) while the 250MB bucket is now Php199 from Php300. The 50MB for Php99 for 30days was also introduced (now exactly the same as Globe PowerSurf 99).

The revised Always On plans now make Smart’s offering better compared to Globe’s PowerSurf. However, the main difference between the two is that Smart’s Always On plans are available to SmartBro prepaid users and not postpaid subscribers. It’s also available to Smart Postpaid GSM subs as well.

HP unveils Envy Spectre XT ultrabook

yuga — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:04:22 +0000

We’re supposed to be in Shanghai this week to attend the launching of HP’s new line of ultrabooks. But alas, my busy schedule didn’t afford me to get the Journalist Visa from the Chinese Embassy in time. So this is the one I missed — the HP Envy Spectre XT.

I saw the first-generation HP Spectre last week while I was still in London but looks like this new one is a more improved version and hopefully, more affordable.

The new line-up of ultrabooks range from the typical 13.3″ display to 14.4″ and a large-screen 15.6″.

While HP did not provide complete details of the specs of the new SpectreXT, we might be looking at something similar to the first one.

That means a Core i5 and i7 Ivy Bridge processors, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD in a thin and light 13.3-inch body (1.39kg in weight and 14.5mm thin).

There’s also a 14.4-inch and 15.6-inch ultrabooks with options of using an AMD Fusion chip to make it more affordable (around the $600 range). The Spectre XT, on the other hand, will be available around middle of JUne with a starting price of $999.99.

Sony announces Xperia GX with 13MP camera

yuga — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:04:08 +0000

Sony just announced in Japan what could be the successor to the XPeria S, the 4.6-inch Sony XPeria GX packing a 13-megapixel shooter and running on ICS.

The body of the XPeria GX is thinner and closely resembles the curved shape of the Xperia Arc S.

Sony did not share full details of the hardware specifications but we can derive a better picture once we combine it with what we already know from the Xperia S.

Sony Xperia GX LT29i specs:
4.6-inch HD Reality Display @ 1280×720 pixels
Mobile Bravia Engine
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz dual-core processor
1GB RAM
1.5GB built-in storage
16GB external storage (non-removable)
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA
Bluetooth 2.1
NFC support
GPS w/ aGPS support
13MP rear camera w/ LED flash
1080p video recording
micro-HDMI out
Android 4.0 ICS

So the difference between the Xperia GX and the Xperia S is the bigger screen, higher MP camera and Android ICS. The only letdown is Sony placed a 16GB internal storage compared to the 32GB on the Xperia S. It’s possible though that they already put a microSD card slot in here.

Winners: Sony Live View, MW600 and Norton 360

yuga — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:31:23 +0000

We had 3 separate giveaways last week and we’re making the announcement all in this single entry. Check out the lucky winners after the jump.

Norton 360 winners: Paolo Concepcion, Jeneline de Guzman, Mike Tanael, Merlin Parducho

Sony Ericsson Live View Winner: Verlin Casunuran

Sony Ericsson MW600 Winner: Eric Trinidad

Congrats folks. Please email me with your complete name, shipping address and contact numbers so we can arrange the pick-up/delivery of your prizes.

Many thanks to Widget City and to Symantec for these prizes.

Viber for BlackBerry is here!

yuga — Wed, 09 May 2012 01:57:08 +0000

So here you go — starting yesterday, Viber for BlackBerry is now available in the App World. It took them some time but it’s finally here for BB users.

The version for the BB app still has limited features though:

Viber lets you send text and photo messages, anywhere in the world (Free calls coming soon as well). All you need is a 3G or WiFi connection, and friends who get Viber too.

I started using Viber on the iPhone and my Android phones last March when I was on a month-long trip to Europe. Been using it ever since especially when I am out of the country and lookign for alternatives to SMS and voice roaming.

You can grab it here.

Hat tip Ian Seballe.

Cherry Mobile Magnum 2X Review

Ronnie Bulaong — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:59:42 +0000

We know that this may be out-dated by all standards but we never really had the chance to do a full review of the dual-core smartphone from Cherry Mobile locally known as the Magnum 2X. Now that we have a review unit from the Philippine-based cellphone manufacturer, we thought to give it a fair airtime.

We’ve first featured the Magnum 2X October of last year, back in the days when Ice Cream Sandwich was just announced to be the OS of Google’s flagship device. The handset isn’t really a new phone not only because it was released last year, but also because it is a rebranded phone from the Chinese manufacturer K-Touch. The phone was not really initially designed to run on Android. When it was made available in China, it ran on an OS called Aliyun OS. Another handset company, who is based in India, also rebranded the K-Touch W700, and named it Micromax A85.

The Magnum 2X comes in a fairly sized box. The box was simple with all the “need-to-know” about the device printed all over it. Enclosed inside the outer box is another box that houses the phone and its accessories. Sliding it outwards will reveal the Magnum 2X resting on a molded plastic. I only wish that they included a cloth or carved the boxes so it’ll be easier to slide the inner box. Lifting the phone along with the mold will reveal what is to me one of biggest let down of the whole package.

The rebranded black phone ironically comes with White USB cable, white headset and white charger. It’s bad enough that the color of the accessories doesn’t suit the phone, to make things worse the accessories is, in every sense, a definite Apple knock-off. Here’s a couple of pictures of the accessories placed alongside Apple’s accessories.

From the color, to its design, the accessories look exactly like those that came with the iPhone. We’re not sure if this was intended by Cherry Mobile or this was the exact accessories that came with the Magnum 2X when it was released in China as K-Touch W700. We just wished that Cherry Mobile will not get in trouble for this because as some of us know, Apple has recently been filing lawsuits left and right to companies who they think stole some of their patents.

The minimalistic design of the Magnum 2X fits my liking. Its candy bar design with a tapered top and bottom is similar to that of the Nokia N8. But unlike the N8 that has tapered corners giving it an almost hexagon-like figure, the Magnum 2X’s corners are rounded.

The phone is a bit hefty but I find it easy on the hands compared to other phones which are made of plastic. It looks and feels sturdy especially because of the Aluminum back cover.

The front of the phone sports a 3.8″ screen with four soft buttons right below it. The VGA front facing camera can be found at the top right of the screen just beside the earpiece. The glossy plastic on the front can be a fingerprint magnet, which is a bit of a letdown to me.

On the left side of the phone, the volume rocker along with one of the secure latch of the back cover can be found. The power button which also acts as a sleep/wake button, can be found on the right side of the phone along with the other secure latch that can easily be mistaken as a physical shutter key.

There’s not much going on on the bottom part of the phone. At the top, the 3.5mm audio port can be found along with the MicroUSB port which covered by a removable flap. An eyelet can also be found there.

The 5MP camera of the Magnum 2X is found at the top left corner of the back of the handset. The top (where the snapper is) and bottom part is made up of matte plastic while the back cover is made of stainless steel.

Some of the heftiness of the device can be attributed to the slightly curved stainless steel back panel. Due to its curved structure, users can’t really lay it steadily even on a flat surface as the device has tendency to spin. This can really take its toll on the back cover as the can easily wear off over a short period of time. I only had mine for a week but its already showing some signs of wearing off.

Underneath the stainless steel back cover is where the 1500mAh battery can be found along with the SIM card slot and the MicroSD card slot. You’d have to remove the battery first in order to replace the SIM card but the MicroSD card can be replaced even without removing the battery.

We really like the design and build of the phone as it doesn’t feel fragile on the hands as compared to other smartphones. The Magnum 2X’s design and build is, in our opinion, one of its best features. Although some of my friends who have held the handset find it too heavy and bulky for comfort, I find the phone snug perfectly on my chubby hands. It’s a good thing that the glossy plastic part didn’t have too much of real estate, thus not being too much of a big deal when it attracts fingerprints.

I’m tossed up with the curved steel back cover of the phone as it provide added rigidity and grip but can be cumbersome at times as it won’t lay flat on a surface. That and the fact that it’s made of steel which can accumulate more heat as compared to plastic back panels which can literally turn the Magnum 2X into a “hot item”. I only wish that the secure latch could’ve been made shallower as it has a tendency to be accidentally pressed when the phone is placed inside the pocket.

The 3.8-inch screen of the Magnum 2X is just the right size, not too big and not too small. By having the same resolution (480×800) with most 4-incher phones, this handset is able to achieve slightly higher pixel density at 246ppi. This translates to richer and more vibrant colors. The viewing angle is also quite decent. The only problem that we had with the screen was sunlight legibility. At worst case, we can barely see anything on the screen. A little bit of tilting helps the visibility but still not enough for comfortable reading or viewing experience. In our opinion, this phone has the best screen amongst Cherry Mobile handsets so far.

In terms of sound, the Magnum 2X can provide decent sound output on all its available channels (Audio port, loudspeaker and earpiece). The calls that we made using the device were clear and audible. The same can be said when the call was placed on loudspeaker. At its loudest, the phone’s loudspeaker is able to produce sound loud enough for a decent hearing experience. And even at its loudest, the sound quality remains decent with only minimal hissing.

The sound through the 3.5mm audio port is what one may expect out of an average smartphone. And while we don’t suggest plugging in your pricey cans in this handset, a pair of decent earphones (not the one that came with the phone) should give users a pleasant aural experience.

A phone with 1GHz dual-core processor may not be as astounding nowadays as it was last year especially with the release of processors with higher clock speed and more cores. Nevertheless, the Magnum 2X’s performance benchmark test shows impressive results.

The Magnum 2X scored an impressive 4915 in the AnTuTu Benchmark (v2.7.3). Quadrant scored the device 2765 which is a couple of hundreds better than its result when it was running on Froyo. The handset also scored a decent result from the NenaMark2 test besting the LG Optimus 2X by a hair.

Unless you’re really in to processor-heavy apps or planning to use the phone for something out of the ordinary, you won’t really feel much of a difference between using a single core phone and a dual core one. Case of the statement is comparing the usability and responsiveness of the Magnum 2X and my Nexus S which are both running on the same clock speed. Both phones are equally capable of providing decent performance and are able to handle multitasking quite well. Both phones were also able to run most apps smoothly with no lags and are responsive to tilts and taps.

Our take on this is that it’s a case of a “good to have” rather than a “need to have”. We can definitely say that there are some things better done in dual core phones, but for the most part a single core handset would suffice.

This dual-core handset initially came pre-installed with Froyo (Android 2.2) but the review unit that we have already has Gingerbread (Android 2.3.4) in it and from the looks of things, may even run on ICS if a future update or hack would be available.

Unlike other handsets running on Gingerbread OS, I am glad that Cherry Mobile decided not to put any annoying skin on the Magnum 2X and retained the same Gingerbread feel. Maybe it’s just me but weird looking skin is just not my cup of tea.

By default, the keyboard of the Magnum 2X is set to TouchPal. It’s a software developed by CoolTek as an alternative input for mobile devices. There’s an option on the Settings to switch from TouchPal to Android Keyboard.

I personally prefer the Android keyboard over the TouchPal for a number of reasons but my main reason is that I’m more comfortable using the Android keyboard than the TouchPal because it is less confusing.

The Android virtual keyboard of the Magnum 2X is pretty much like the keyboards found in most Gingerbread devices. One of the benefits of having a slightly bigger screen is that it makes typing using the virtual keyboard a little bit more comfortable with more room to fit in all the keys. Even with my chubby fingers, I only find myself mistyping words occasionally.

The 5MP camera of the Magnum 2X is capable of taking decent photos in well-lit conditions. Although it’s not the best that we have seen, the images taken with this dual-core phone is on the positive side. There are also a handful of modes that users can utilize to enhance the photos or cope up with the current lighting condition.

Here’s some sample pictures that we took using the Magnum 2X.

Although we didn’t have that much issue taking stills in well-lit environment, the same cannot be said in low-light situations. The snapper struggles to bring in more light in dim places. As a result, it can be quite tricky to get a focus on a subject and if we were lucky enough to zero in on a subject, the results are far from pleasing. Images appeared dark and the colors are dull.

A built-in flash could’ve been handy in this type of situation. But sadly, the Magnum 2X doesn’t have one. As a comparison, we also took some sample pictures using Nexus S that has the same megapixel count as the Magnum 2X. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of a couple images taken by both handsets in low-light condition. Those on the left were the pictures taken using the Magnum 2X and on the right is the Nexus S.

Note: The Nexus S’s flash was not used during this comparison.

The front facing camera was actually kinda good considering that it is only VGA. We were a little surprised by how clear the images are taken using the VGA camera. The camera is also works great for video calling. Besides the usual network interference, the overall quality of the call was satisfactory.

Here’s some sample pictures taken using the front-facing camera:

Nowadays, a 1500mAh battery is what you’d typically get along with your mid-range handsets. It normally last for about a day or two with normal use and can even stretch up to 3 days on single full charge without internet connection and with only minimal to moderate usage.

On the Magnum 2X’s case, you’d be lucky to last a normal working shift (8-9 hours) with moderate to heavy use without reaching for your iPhone-ish charger and cable. The phone gulps down on its juice like nobody’s business especially with data access turned on. But if you’re just a casual user and don’t have plans on putting your internet enabled SIM on this handset, that phone should last you a whole day.

Just to let you in on what we did, we fully charged (turned off while charging if we may add) the phone and turned it on to watch a Bob Marley 2012 documentary to see what the viewing experience was like. After discovering that the phone, as with most Android phones, doesn’t have native support for .avi files, we decided to download a third-party video player along with its codec using its 3G connection.

The whole process was done in less than 3 minutes and after checking a couple of emails, we’re off to watch the film. The volume was cranked to its peak, the display set to its brightest and a couple of apps like email, FB and Twitter were running on the back ground and was set to automatically fetch data every 5 mins. 2 hours in on a 2 hours and 53 minutes documentary, we were warned that the battery was at 15% and that we need to charge. We didn’t charge the phone but instead we turned off the data access. We finished the entire thing with the battery status at 7%.

Here’s a screenshot of the battery status that we took after watching the documentary.

The next day, after charging the phone up to a 100% while it is off, we decided to use the phone as Wi-Fi hotspot and left without any apps running on the background.

Here’s a screenshot of how the phone fared as a hotspot.

Overall, we enjoyed our brief time with the Magnum 2X. We really liked the simple but sturdy structure of the phone it doesn’t feel fragile in the hands. We don’t suggest long periods of usage (if you can do that given the battery life) as the phone can really get uncomfortably hot, but nothing really alarming to the point that it can burn you. The just-the-right-size screen has also done well in certain areas but can still be worked on to improve outdoor legibility.

The phone was very responsive and was able to handle almost all of the things that we threw its way, thanks to its dual-core processor. Games along with other tasking apps ran smoothly with only a few but tolerable lags here and there, nothing really annoying. The handset was able to deliver decent sound output, but could’ve been better if it has a pair of loudspeaker instead of only one.

Given the right circumstances, the 5MP shooter on this phone was also able to deliver good results. Even with the lack of built-in flash, the Magnum 2X is still able to capture decent pictures and videos in well-lit areas. Given the fact that the Magnum 2X has two cores (that we should’ve known by now) the battery life is expected to be a little shorter than what we’re used to seeing in other single core phones. But we were not expecting that the battery life is going to be this short.

As we’ve mentioned earlier, the battery life is dependent on how you plan to use this device. But for this phone, we strongly suggest to keep your charger handy for good measure.

Whatever may be your take on rebranded phone is really up to you, but what we have to bear in mind about it is that it enables local brands such as Cherry Mobile to compete with big names in the cellphone industry by giving them an edge in the pricing department. By deducting all the cost of R&D and other expenditures involve in manufacturing a device, companies like Cherry Mobile can sell rebranded units at a much cheaper price as compared with other brand-new handsets from other manufacturers.

When the phone was released late last year, it had a fairly competitive price tag of Php19,999. But even at that price, consumers were still reluctant to buy the handset as some of them would rather prefer a second hand unit or gray unit of the same price and specs than the Magnum 2X.

Around this month though, Cherry Mobile has finally dropped the price of the Magnum 2X to an SRP of Php14,999.

Cherry Mobile Magnum 2X specs:
3.8″ capacitive display @ 480×800 pixels*
1.0GHz NVidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor
8GB internal storage
512MB RAM
up to 32GB via microSD (4GB included)
5MP rear camera w/ 720p video recording
VGA front-facing camera
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi hotspot
Bluetooth 2.1
3G/HSDPA
GPS w/ aGPS support
1500mAh Li-Ion battery
Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Editor’s Note: This is a fairly old smartphone from Cherry Mobile but it still remains the flagship handset by the local company. The upgrade to Gingerbread and the 25% price drop was a noticeable merit for us to revisit it and do a full review. – Yuga

Nokia to launch the Lumia 900 on May 18?

yuga — Tue, 08 May 2012 05:00:35 +0000

We originally thought this invite was for the much-anticipated Nokia 808 PureView but after some time, I thought the very few clues pointed more towards the Nokia Lumia 900. Check out and help us guess what’s coming on May 18 after the break.

The local invite is still mysterious and kept us wondering. Nevertheless, we are confident though that this invite (Nokia Event – Save the Date! 05.18.12) is for the Lumia 900 and not the Nokia 808 PureView.

All we got from the email is this. What do you think?

After the launch of the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710, the only two other handsets remaining are the Lumia 610 and the flagship Lumia 900.

Incidentally, Nokia is also doing some sort of a 3-day media event dedicated to the Lumia 610.

That leaves the Nokia Lumia 900 for next week. The tiles on the invite posted is our only biggest evidence so far.

Apple releases iOS 5.1.1 update, already Jailbroken

Louie Diangson — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:44:32 +0000

Apple has just released a minor update for its line of iOS devices namely the iPad, iPod Touch and the iPhone. The 5.1.1 update (54.5 MB in file size) focuses on improvements and bug fixes which include:

To get the update just plug in your device in your computer then fire up iTunes on your desktop and you will be prompted with the update or simply go to Settings – General – Software Update on your device to download it OTA.
Updates and upgrades are cool. This means less bugs and more fluid experience for iOS users. But this also means getting rid of your jailbreak.

Luckily for jailbreakers, the iOS 5.1.1 update is already PWNED! That’s right. You can now jailbreak tethered your A4 devices using Redsn0w. Follow the instructions here. Do this at your own risk though as this process voids your warranty and might brick your device.

Are travel deals the biggest headache in Group Buying?

yuga — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:10:06 +0000

We’ve seen the explosion of a lot of group buying sites and daily deal sites since 2011 and it has been estimated that total revenues are in excess of Php100 Million a year (and it is still growing). As such, it’s not a surprise that problems and issues tend to crop up more than their usual fair share.

Perhaps, these issues have risen because of the volume of transactions, the impulsive buying habits of consumers towards these deals (higher likelihood of buyer’s remorse?) and the clever wording of the so-called “fine print”.

I noticed though that a lot (or the biggest) of these headaches that group buying sites are experiencing come from travel deals.

Last year, we heard of the story with MetroDeal and their travel package that got screwed up leaving a lot of customers not being able to avail of the vacation package or get a refund for it. This got the attention of DTI and I also heard that a competitor reported them to Facebook which eventually led to the closure of their FB Fan Page and losing more than 500k fans (MetroDeal has since then created a new Fan Page).

Last month another deal site, CleverBuy got into some problems with their travel/vacation package. I am not familiar with the deal or how it went but this email newsletter from the company’s CEO might shed light:

Show Press Release (307 More Words)

Oftentimes, the issue mostly stems from over-booking, fluctuating prizes of plane fares that are package along with the deal, and the fine print that usually requires customers to buy vouchers in pairs, upsells them, or include additional hidden charges.

These travel deals and the travel agencies that offer them could be the next target by the DTI. And, it might soon blow over that customer confidence towards online shopping will degrade instead of improve.

I haven’t really tried getting a vacation package from any of the deal sites before so I don’t have any first-hand experience. If you have any experience before, feel free to chime in at the comments.

HP Envy Spectre in the flesh, priced Php116,990

yuga — Sun, 06 May 2012 07:45:18 +0000

With the short time we had in London, the only place I was able to visit to buy some stuff was Harrod’s and was fortunately see get a good look at the HP Spectre in one of the shops there. Turns out, the HP Envy Spectre is already available and being sold in the Philippines.

The HP Spectre has that glowing effect to it because of the glossy finish and Gorilla Glass construction. At 20mm thick and 1.8kg in weight, it’s not really something that you’d think can be considered as an ultrabook but it’s pretty thin for its size. And yes, it’s got that Macbook Pro look to it.

Nevertheless, the Spectre looks really great and also comes with a Beats by Dr. Dre headphones out of the box. I wasn’t able to play a bit more or even test the sound so can’t really say much about the laptop at this point.

I guess HP intends to make the Spectre to be the high-end variant of its Envy ultrabook line-up. The extensive use of Gorilla Glass to make the body more durable and less prone to scratches is a huge selling point (breaks our heart to see our precious laptops get accidentally scratched, right?).

HP Envy 14 Spectre specs:
14″ Radiance HD+ LED Infinity Display @ 1600×900
Intel Core i7-2677M 1.8GHz
Intel HD Graphics 3000
4GB DDR3 RAM
2 x 128GB SSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
GigaBit LAN
Bluetooth 2.0
HP Wireless Audio
Beats Internal Speakers
Beats Audio Playback with HP Triple Bass Reflex Subwoofer
Beats Solo Headset
HP Radiance Backlit Keyboard with proximity sensor
HD webcam
2-in-1 card reader
1 x USB 3.0 port
1 x USB 2.0 port
1 x HDMI port
1 x Displayport
4-cell Lithium-Ion battery
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

This configuration is available and being sold in Villman for a retail price of just under Php117k. That’s almost twice the going price of most other ultrabooks in the market nowadays.

In return for the hefty price tag, you get a Core i7 processor, a pair of 128GB SSD for storage (256GB total), Beats Audio and the Gorilla Glass materials. Fair enough?

Ainol Novo 7 Aurora Review

Louie Diangson — Sun, 06 May 2012 04:59:26 +0000

We did a review of the Aurora’s sibling a couple of months ago, the Ainol Paladin and that got a lot of attention for being the first one to have ICS pre-installed out of the box. Not to mention the really affordable price. The Ainol Aurora brings this up a notch by offering a sleeker design and better hardware configuration. Check out our full review of the Ainol Novo 7 Aurora after the jump.

7-inch tablets are a blessing. They’re big enough for large screen internet browsing, gaming, and movie playback, but small and light enough to be carried inside a clutch bag. Device manufacturers are aware of the advantages and produced these devices in different styles and forms. One contender in the 7-inch division is the Ainol Novo 7 Aurora, a fairly new player in the local market.

Design

At first glance, the Aurora looks simple yet well-built. You can easily spot that it has a plastic body but doesn’t totally look cheap. Put the tablet in your hands and you’ll notice its light weight and slim form factor. If you come from a thicker and heavier device such as the Kindle Fire, it’ll feel awkward at first but you’ll adjust to it eventually.

The Aurora is filled with ports and jacks which are all located on the left side. There you’ll find the charger port, mini USB (USB charging is supported), mini HDMI, microSD, and the 3.5mm headset jack. The mic is also located here if you need to know. On top are the power button, volume rocker, and a back/return button for a quick app exit. On the front is the 2 megapixel camera for video calling. Turn it on its back and you’ll find the speaker.

Although I like the glossy plastic build on the Aurora, it doesn’t actually feel solid. Tap it and it’ll sound like the entire case is hollow. Tighten your grip around it and you can actually hear the plastic creak. Not really a plus for me.

The tablet runs Android version 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich and runs it well. It’s very responsive, animations and transitions are smooth even when running multiple apps in the background. You’ll notice some lags every now and then but not to the point that it becomes annoying. In a nutshell the Aurora will give you the best Ice Cream Sandwich experience it can offer. By the way, formatting the Aurora will cause it to revert to its stock language which is Chinese. Since I have no internet access at the time of the formatting, which means I can’t Google a “how-to”, it took me almost 30 minutes just to navigate the language setting and change it to English.

Display

The Aurora’s 7-inch display at 1024×600 resolution is a treat. Details are sharp, colors are vibrant, has great contrast, and HD images and videos appear superb. It also has IPS so you get great viewing angles but I won’t suggest using it under direct sunlight as the display throws a lot of glare. The display also supports multi-touch, sensitive, and of course, a fingerprint magnet.

Camera

The front-facing camera works fine for self-portraits. For 2 megapixels I didn’t expect much in terms of quality. I also tried video calling via Skype but the camera doesn’t work properly. I can see my caller clearly but I appear pixelated and discolored on the other end. It’s probably a software issue than a hardware one.

Apps

Apps are not a problem. In fact, the Aurora will give you apps you might haven’t even seen before. I don’t want to call it bloat ware since I haven’t figured out yet how some of the apps work because they’re in Chinese. As a plus, games such as Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds Rio come pre-installed as well as a couple of file explorers and task managers. You won’t see the Gallery icon here since it’s replaced with QuickPic and Super-HD Player to handle your photo and video files. For other apps that you need, I’m sure you can find it in the Play Store and the Aurora will run it just fine as long as it’s compatible.

I downloaded Temple Run to test the gyro sensor on the device. The Aurora was able to run the game smoothly, swipes are working but unfortunately the character is always tilted to the left. It’ll only tilt to the right if you turn it on its landscape position which I think is a stupid way to play.

Multimedia

Like most Android tablets, multimedia is never a problem. Music playback is a breeze and the Super-HD Player app handles my AVI files very well but the speaker is a little bit on the soft side. It can deliver some oomph though and fill a small room but only if you max it out. If you’re planning to play music and watch a movie in a location with lots of ambient noise, may I suggest using a headset instead. I also downloaded the YouTube app to play some HD videos and so far no problems and plays smoothly.

Benchmarks

While over-all performance is very good, our synthetic benchmarks will categorically show you which other devices will perform closely like the Novo 7 Aurora.

The Quadrant Standard score is 1541 beating the score of the Nexus S while the Antutu Benchmark score is 2,843 putting it almost putting it very close to the Galaxy S and Nexus S. Lastly, the Nenamark 2 score gives it 24.1fps which is pretty decent.

Battery Life

In my regular use which includes normal internet browsing, light gaming, app downloading, eBook reading and some movies, the Aurora lasted two days before it completely ran out. I was able to keep it alive for three days if I let go of the games and movies. Overall, the Aurora’s battery life is sufficient enough to last a day without charging if you don’t go heavy on it. Should it run low on juice, just plug it to your computer through its mini USB port or use the DC charger.

Conclusion

The Ainol Novo 7 Aurora is a tablet that you’ll surely enjoy and appreciate. On the downside, I don’t like the plastic build of the Aurora. It feels hollow and I don’t like a tablet that makes a creaking sound when I grip it. It gives me a feeling like it’s going to break the moment I lose my temper. You can also hear the plastic buttons rattle when you shake the tablet.

I also noticed that it has a very, very small gap on the left side between the screen and the bezel where you can partially peak at the ports. It’s not really noticeable at first but it gets annoying once you know it’s there. Overall, the Aurora is a good (but not great) budget friendly tablet. It has good display, it’s slim and light compared to other 7-inchers and can handle most of your media needs without any serious hiccups. If you’re not too picky, then I don’t think the cons will discourage you from buying this.

Ainol Novo 7 Aurora specs:
7″ IPS LCD @ 1024×600, 170ppi
1.2GHz Allwinner A10 processor (ARM Cortex A8)
Mali400 GPU
1GB RAM
8GB internal storage
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
2MP front-facing camera
3,700 mAh Li-Ion battery
Android 4.0 ICS
189mm x 120mm x 9.9mm
325g

What we liked about it:
● Slim form factor
● Light-weight
● Decent to good display quality
● ICS out of the box
● Affordable

What we didn’t like:

● A bit poor plastic build
● Separate DC charger (not microUSB)
● No rear camera
● No Bluetooth

The Ainol Novo 7 Aurora is available at Widget City for a retail price of Php8,950 (check it out here).

Disclosure: Widget City provided the review unit. They are a display banner advertiser here in YugaTech.

Cherry Mobile W900 launched; 4-inch, 1.2GHz for Php10k

Ronnie Bulaong — Sun, 06 May 2012 04:16:00 +0000

Just hours before the SGSIII was announced last Friday, Cherry Mobile finally launched the Dragon Phone (we previously covered it here). Cherry Mobile Product Manager, Lonson Alejandrino explained the key features of the newly launched smartphone and answered questions fielded by the media.

While he was discussing the features of the handset, a model unit was passed around for everyone to have a closer look at the device. My first impression with the W900 is that it closely resembles the design of BlackBerry Storm as the top and bottom part of the phone is tapered with a flat back portion.

It comes in two colors, black with gold accent and white. The glossy all plastic design of the W900 is a fingerprint magnet, especially at the back. The Dragon phone runs on Android Gingerbread but looks totally different from the Gingerbread on the Magnum 2X that I had with me at the time of the event. On the right side of the phone, there’s a switch for what is called Eco-Mode that is basically a power-saving feature of the W900. We’ll discuss the other feature of the phone on our full review.

Also present at the launch was Qualcomm’s Regional Head Mr. Mantosh Malhotra to discuss some of the things that we can look forward from the processor manufacturer and answer some questions regarding their products.

He mentioned that the Snapdragon is not just a processor but is a System-On-Board dubbed the Qualcomm Single Chip solution (QSC). This means that Qualcomm has integrated numerous capabilities in one highly capable chip. According to him this is the reason why OEMs like Cherry Mobile was able to manufacture low budget smartphones with decent specs. Mr. Malhotra said that, Qualcomm takes the load off from manufacturers like Cherry Mobile by making sure that all the functionality they need to make a smartphone is on one chip instead of multiple chips from different chip manufacturer and putting it altogether. He also mentioned that Qualcomm plans to make 1GHz as a standard for all the chips in the future and would continue working with Cherry Mobile to come up with exciting new phones that fits the Filipino budget.

When asked about what sets the W900 apart from other Android handset in the market, Mr. Alejandrino said that there’s really nothing out of the ordinary about the specs of the Dragon Phone. As with our other products it really all boils down to competitive product pricing. For a 4 inch phone with decent specs, 10 thousand peso price tag is really a great deal for our budget-conscious market. But will the Php9,999 price tag of the Dragon Phone enough to reel in potential buyers?

We’ll soon find out if the phone is worth your hard-earned cash on our full review of the Cherry Mobile W900.