RIM and Globe Telecom held a party last night at the Prive Luxury Club in Bonifacio Global City to launch two of their latest socially-inclined smartphones, namely, the BlackBerry Curve 9320 and BlackBerry Curve 9220.
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RIM has just announced that the BlackBerry OS 7.1 update is now available to BlackBerry Bold 9900 users in the Philippines which just started yesterday.
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This is part of my year-ender series for 2011. We’ve done a ton of gadget reviews for 2011 and one of the key indicators that a gadget is hot or very interesting is by the number of pageviews it gets thru the years. Check out which devices got the most hits in 2011 after the jump.
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The HSPA+ network of Smart and Globe are continuously growing and getting wider coverage around the country. Devices like the Huawei E586 maximizes the speed of the HSPA+ network (just like the ZTE MF60). Check out our full review after the jump.
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We featured this HSPA+ capable mobile hotspot from ZTE a few weeks ago and we’ve finally gotten a review unit to test. Like many other pocket WiFi (MiFi) devices before it, the ZTE MF60 is one pretty kick-ass unit. If only it were more affordable.
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Since we featured it here back in June, we’ve got a number of request for it to be offered in YugaDeals. Today, the Sapido RB1632 is finally up on our deal site.
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Two Android phones and a tablet — that’s what’s else we saw at the Huawei booth earlier this week during CommunicAsia. Two of the top 3 Android smartphones, the Ideos X5 and X3, as well as the Ideos S7 Slim (predecessor of the MediaPad).
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Bought a Sapido 3G Mobile router last year as a possible replacement for my SmartBro Share-It. So I’m just waiting for my 24-month contract to expire so I could completely move up to this set-up in the car. But then, the local distributor met up with me early this week and showed me their whole new Sapido line-up.
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Huawei has announced that they’ll be shipping the new E5 “Pocket MiFi” to the Philippines this month. E5 is the next gen of Globe’s MyFi (only that it’s open-line). They have the same weight and size but the main difference is that the E5 now has a screen to show the signal strength, if you’re connected and the battery meter.
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Recently bought this Sapido Mobile 3G Router so I can compare it with the SmartBro Share-It WiFi router I use in my car and see which one makes for a better mobile internet set-up.
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Just finished guesting at Mornings @ ANC with @tjmanotoc where we discussed portable WiFi hotspots powered by 3G networks. I brought my SmartBro Share-It while TJ has this Huawei E5/E5830 with him.
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The other day, when my DSL broke down, I was forced to use my backup Smart Bro Prepaid and Globe Visibility to connect to the net. Problem was that only one PC at home had the connection. He’s a quick solution I did to share 3G internet over WiFi.
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Bumped into someone from Globe this evening and she quickly tipped me about their new Globe Visibility plans – Plan 799, Plan 999, and Plan 1499. Still postpaid but they’ve made it more affordable, obviously following the move by the competition.
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A reader emailed today about the recent Globe rebranding and points me to their recent DSL package upgrades. Obviously, we’ve all noticed that every time the other ISP upgrades their offerings, the other responds with the same.
That’s healthy competition that benefits the consumers.
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Over at PTB, Arnold is taking a spot survey from readers on the status of their ISP’s connectivity. For my end, it’s still spotty. There will be times that the speeds are decent (though not at par with normal) and there will be times that it’s totally useless to go online.
I have PLDT myDSL which is the worst hit. Surprisingly though, Smart Bro seems to be doing much better than expected.
So, I went out and tried several AirborneAccess hotspots but couldn’t login. Then I discovered that my free account from them already expired last December 31. Time to use that Globe WiZ backup but none is in sight.
Again, Smart 3G/GPRS saves the day. It’s not really that fast but feels better than dial-up (97kbps via 2Wire).
How’s everybody else’s connection nowadays?
When the guys from Globe Innove gave me a free WiZ (Wireless Internet Zone) account, I retorted that they didn’t have any list of hotspots posted on their website (not even on that login page you see when you’re hooked up with one of them wifi access points).
They shot me an email with the complete list below. (This one hasn’t been updated since December 10, 2005!)
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The SmartBro installation team just arrived here at my place to hook me up. Took them about 30 minutes to install and configure my account and I’m now running on Smart Bro (Just one of my desktop PCs. My laptop and other PC is still on myDSL.).
First off, some speed tests:
PLDTPlay: 260.3 kbps
GlobeQuest Utilities: 235.0 kbps
2Wire: 99.50 kbps
TestMy: 113 kbps
Smart Bro top speed: 384kbps
During the installation, I talked with the two tech guys and explained to them my arrangement with Smart. The tech guys were actually a bit curious why my account was different, at least that’s what the designated subscriber code says. They added that the subscriber code I am using is for internal use and usually assigned to COs. I told them I hope it does not affect my connection speed from that of a regular subscriber.
The above speed test results would indicate I am in no better luck than any other subscriber. Ok, on with the testing.
Btw, remeber that wifi incident last week at Malate? The techs did confirm to me that it’s something they’ve also encountered before and when they reported it back to the NOC, they were told that it’s for an experimental hotspot. Looks like Airborne Access is going to have some internal competition of sorts.
Will be using this entry to compile a list of free WiFi hospots all over Metro Manila (and maybe the rest of the Philippines as well). If you know of any other free WiFi hospots that are free, please leave a note here so i can update my list. 
- Cyberzone, SM Megamall Building B (Philcom)
- Baywalk – in front of Max’s Resto (EG 6 )
- Mabini cor. Salas (linksys)
- Shell – Magallanes (linksys)
- Starbucks Greenbelt 3 near the lagoon
- Mobile 1 Park Square Makati
- Palm Store Glorietta 4th Floor
- Starbucks G4
- Seattle’s Best, E. Rodriguez
- Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas
- Shangri-la Plaza, Ortigas
- Ermita, Manila (Ferguson Plaza)
- Podium, Ortigas (Philcom)
- Libreria Coffee Shop & Bookstore, Tomas Morato
- Seattle’s Best, Eastwood City
- Robinsons Place, Manila (near food center)
- SM San Lazaro
- DavidSpot! HotZone (within the vicinity of DLSU-CSU, St. Benilde) Get free account here.
- WalterMart along Pasong Tamo-Pasay Road (Linksys)
- Masas, and Greenbelt 2 area
- Baang Coffee Shop, Timog Avenue, QC
- Starbucks Ash Creek Center, Ortigas Avenue (near Xavier School/Mary the Queen Church) – free WiFi provided by Cooltoyz laptop store.
- Hotel Intercontenental, Ayala Avenue, Makati
- Manila Peninsula, Lobby area
- Robinsons Pioneer
- Rustans, Shangri-la (I’m inside the taxi at Shaw)
- Makati City Hall (accessible from Guadalupe Bridge)
- Shell Maya vicinity (corner Buendia & Ayala Ave., Makati) {name: tsunami}
- Captain’s Bar, Mandarin Oriental, Makati
- Free Public Wifi (ad hoc) at Paseo de Roxas near Mandarin Oriental, Makati
- Amorsolo cor. V.A Rufino (formerly Herrera), Makati {name: linksys}
- WLAN PS – in front of Philam Life Tower, Makati
- Sotto cor. V.A Rufino, Makati {name: Asus}
- Pier One, The Fort, Taguig City (BayanTel)
- Pier One, Tomas Morato, Quezon City (BayanTel)
- Holiday Inn Galleria Manila (Galleria Suites), Ortigas Center
- Seattle’s Best, Powerplant Mall, Makati (linksys)
- Shangri-la Hotel Makati, Lobby and Lobby Lounge
- Entertainment Arts Center, Jupiter St., Makati Avenue
- Mario’s Kitchen, Metrowalk, Ortigas
- Placemat Pinoy Cafe in Tomas Morato cor. Sct. Castor, Quezon City
- Italliani’s, Greenbelt 2 {name: wireless, ISP: Globe}
- Bluewave Mall, Macapagal Highway, Pasay City (linksys)
- Teriyaki Boy in Buendia (Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue) cor. Jupiter Street {Jupiter Suites}
- Zupa, Cybermall in Eastwood City, Libis
