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There you go — no need to buy a Smart Netphone

Smart has just revealed its very first Netphone Edition smartphone — retaining the original name of the Samsung Galaxy Y complete with the Netphone suite of apps. It’s a curious move considering they actually had the un-released and cheaper Netphone 501 hanging since Mobile World Congress back in February.

From the looks of it, the Netphone 501 (another ZTE handset) is supposed to be the cheaper variant of the Netphone line-up and should have been launched together with the Netphone 701 many weeks back.

Why Smart did not release that cheaper Android phone is unknown but by the fact that they went and looked somewhere else to replace the handset in that price category gives us a hint that the Netphone 501 might not have performed as expected.

As such we’re seeing the Samsung Galaxy Y sporting the Netphone Edition.

Coincidentally, there’s also that leaked HTC Desire S Netphone Edition {via Unboxed} which has not yet been officially announced.

The trio seems to have completed the line-up — a 6k, 10k and 20k Netphone variants. The collection is pretty interesting as well — ZTE, Samsung and HTC. My guess is that if it’s a well-known brand, Smart will retain their original names and just add the “Netphone Edition” tag. If it’s an ODM, like ZTE or Huawei, Smart will likely use the Netphone naming system (e.g. 301, 501, 701, 901, etc.)

There’s no telling how many of these ODM handsets Smart will make in the next 12 months but my guess is not that much. They’ll just fill all the gaps in the price category and that’s it. The rest will just be a software roll-out via the Android Market.

This brings me to my point — why I think there’s no need to buy another Netphone. With Smart fast-tracking the development of the Netphone Suite, we should be seeing the app collection be available for anyone to download from the Market.

All you need to do is own a supported handset and subscribe to SmartNet. My guess is that it will spread first among the more affordable Android handsets since that was Smart’s goal in the first place — bring mobile connectivity to the masses (those who spent Php20 a day for unlimited SMS).

When that happens, there will no longer be any handset with a suffix of Netphone Edition the same way it’s unnecessary to call another Android phone the “Angry Birds Edition” or “FourSquare Edition” just because the app suite is pre-installed in the handset. A Twitter follower asked me last night what’s the difference between a Netphone and an Android Smartphone. Looks like it’s just confusing the consumers.

Bottom line, we might soon see the Netphone suite become available to all Android phones and maybe even Honeycomb tablets. That’s when the real fun begins.

Photo credit: CNet.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

18 Responses

  1. Avatar for haiz! haiz! says:

    stick to the infos kung ano dapat i-review! para nmn makatulong kau sa iba sa tamang pagpapasya. di puro ganto payabangan kau,,hay nako kung gnyan taung mga pinoy dina tlga tau uusad..di na tau uunlad!

  2. Avatar for kiterunner kiterunner says:

    wala naman mali sa pagcorrect. problema lang ni emm, mali yung pagkasabi niya.

    para rin naman sa ikabubuti ng yugatech kapag sabihin natin na mali ang english niya. hindi lang naman mga pinoy ang ‘target audience’ ng blog na to.

    ewan ko ba baket ang mga pinoy, takot na takot macorrect. pinepersonal agad.

  3. Avatar for jq jq says:

    why need to correct his/her grammar when you clearly understand the post?

  4. Avatar for dennis dennis says:

    @Emm

    masyado kang perpekto, masyado bang “techie” yung article kaya di mo na gets at yung maling grammar na lang nakita mo?

    —————-
    back to topic
    the best things in life is “libre” hehehe
    sana magkaroon din sa market.

  5. Avatar for william cunanan william cunanan says:

    after you’ve read the article and all you can say is about wrong grammar? fuck you. does it have anything to do with the content of the article english teacher?

    • Avatar for haha haha says:

      haha…nice one!…kasi ganyan ang sistemang pang-edukasyong tinatamasa dito sa pinas!..instead na e-push up ang student ay pinu-pull down nila…sad but true…

  6. Avatar for william cunanan william cunanan says:

    after you’ve read the article and all you can say in the is about wrong grammar? fuck you. does it have anything to do with the content of the article english teacher?

  7. Avatar for makulit makulit says:

    I like this phone too…

    yeah this is not an English grammar site, ok na sana kung ok pagka deliver ng correction mo eh, kaso medyo bastos.

    sorry lets get back to topic.

  8. Avatar for KaliKot KaliKot says:

    the main appeal of the netphone is the free services, if they continue with this till next year and have the Netphone app available to everyone, then it will definitely be a hit

    but it seems that its too good to be true

  9. Avatar for milanaorly milanaorly says:

    this is not a english grammar site.. XD

    i want this phone :))

    • Avatar for blogtroller blogtroller says:

      @milanaorly. tumpak! pero nag-ingles ka na lang din, mali pa! “this is not a english…”, dapat “this is not an english…”. mag-tagalog ka na lang. bobo!

  10. Avatar for SuperMarc SuperMarc says:

    I want netphone on my Nexus S!

  11. Avatar for Emm Emm says:

    “What’s the different?” You should check your grammar before posting.
    Grammar Police up here!!!

    • Avatar for Friend Friend says:

      “Hail Grammar NAZI!” … “Hail Grammar NAZI!”

    • Avatar for boogey_boogs boogey_boogs says:

      i understand your envious attack for this blogsite and to the blog admin as well, if you can’t swallow just don’t be here,..just read the other blog featuring the english grammar,..this is about technology,,.you’re just making a mess for the author,..have respect so that you’ll be respected in return,…you’re crap of crab mentality Emm……sorry,,,.

    • Avatar for jhoravi jhoravi says:

      Being too concious about English grammar is a sign of your racial inferiority. You feel slave of that language and bow down when you see white people. Look at Sony or HTC CEO speeches or even Miss Peru..you can hear wrong grammars from start to finish…. but still, they sound very respectable as always. Why? because they don’t bow down to that language.

    • Avatar for Yeah Yeah says:

      Still, it wouldn’t hurt to at least check for ‘obvious’ (take note, obvious) grammatical errors before posting. It’s not about the language nor about racial superiority ekek (exag!). It’s about communicating effectively. Para na rin tagalog na post pero puro ‘text-speak’ naman, medyo masakit sa mata ng mga bumabasa. Kelangan din naman ng respeto ng mga readers kasi yung mga clicks natin ang nagbibigay ng ad-generated revenue sa authors. I hope the site admins treat the comment as an advice for further improving the site.

    • Avatar for pinoy ako pinoy ako says:

      @ yeah…

      ganyan nga mga respeto natin sa kano,..pero ibang kano nga e hindi marunong gumamit ng kanilang sariling lingwahe,.. like ’em, gotta,.missin,..at iba ba pero wala naman silang reklamo,..tangi lang tayo kapwa pilipino ang very particular sa english grammar na yan,.kasi yan ang itinuro ng mga guro natin na koreksyonan ang nagkamali sa grammar na para ring ini-screwed natin ang kababayan natin,.instead na tinulungan natin na umhaon ay dinadowngrade natin dahil na yon magspeak na ayon sa kanyang sariling pananw dahil matakot ng magkamali dahil sa mga kapwa pilipino na gramar nazi,..subukan mo mag english sa amerikano eh hindi ka naman nila inaAno sa english mo kahit baliktad dito baliktad doon,.pero subukan mo mag baliktad ng english sa mayayabang na pilipino na marunong daw mag-english ay ikay pagtatawanan….ganyan tayo mga pilipino walang respeto sa kapwa pilipino,.ang nererespeto lang natin ay yung superior sa atin tulad ng mga kano jan…pero pano naman yung mga mababang antas ng ating kapwa pilipino na dapat iahon hindi lang sa buhay kundi sa kanyang dignidad…..

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