You probably know NEO because of their affordable laptops from. They have the affordable basic laptops up to the the full featured gaming laptops in the market right now. And they are aiming again on the rising popularity of the Android tablet market with the announcement of the Neo OmniPad. Just like their laptops, the NEO Omnipad packs a very affordable price. The NEO Omnipad will have a 7″ screen and a dual-core processor and it is running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Yeah, I know that’s the boring specifications of a tablet. But did you know that the NEO Omnipad packs a 3G, Dual-Sim and a TV Function. Interesting right? Check out the tablet and its price after the break.
NEO OmniPad Specifications
7-inch IPS Display 1024 x 600
Dual-Core 1.2 GHz Processor
1 GB RAM
8 GB Internal Storage with MicroSD Card slot
2 Megapixel Rear Camera and VGA Front Camera
Bluetooth
WiFi
3G
3600mAh Battery
Dual-Sim
Mobile TV
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
I’m not sure what’s the exact processor of this tablet but let’s hope that it would be powerful and yet, a power saver. Yeah, that 3600mAh battery could be a little small for the tablet. Let’s hope that we could review this tablet very soon.
NEO OmniPad Price in the Philippines The SRP of the tablet is P6,999. With Free car charger, car holder and pouch.
Looks like my dream phone is here. If you’re happy with the features of the Samsung Galaxy S4 then better be excited for its brother, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active because the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active will feature an IP67 certification. In simple English, the IP67 Certification means that the phone is water and dust resistant. The Samsung Galaxy S4 active protects against water damage for up to 30 minutes of submergence at a depth of one meter But hold your horses guys because the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active doesn’t have the same specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S4. The rugged brother would have a downgraded camera and screen but the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active would pack a TFT LCD that supports Glove touch. It would be very useful to us whenever we’re on the go like when we’re biking. The 8 Megapixel camera of the phone also supports aqua modeto increase visual quality and clarity for enhanced underwater images and video. Yeah, maybe you could use the phone even underwater. Oh and there’s the removable back cover with a removable battery too. Man, I would love to have this phone.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Specifications
139.7 x 71.3 x 9.1 mm, 151g
5.0” Full HD TFT LCD with Glove Touch
Snapdragon 600 1.9GHz Quad-Core Processor
2 GB RAM
16 GB Internal with MicroSD up to 64 GB
8 Megapixel Rear Camera with LED Flash and 2 MP front
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
WiFi ac
LTE
2600mAh Battery
Colors: Orange, Teal and Black
IP 67 Dust and Water resistant
S Features
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Price in the Philippines The SRP of the phone wasn’t announced but I guess that phone will have a SRP of P32,000 in the Philippines
Well well well. Look who’s back? Our favorite game on our phone and desktops has its comeback. Whether you’re over 50 or below 10, almost all of us got addicted to Plants Vs. Zombies. And this time, Popcap has now announced that they’ll be launching Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It’s about time on July 18 and it will be exclusive to iOS devices. No word regarding Android and other devices. One thing that I’m very excited about this is that the game will be available for free. Yes, for FREE. But of course, that means that there would be an in-app purchases. There are no gaming demo yet but I’m pretty sure that there would be something related to time travel. Oh and of course, Crazy Dave would be back. Check out the trailer after the break.
Ah. Computex. It’s the time of the year where many manufacturers reveal their new and exciting products. Like this one from Acer. They unveiled their newest Windows 8 tablet. And it is not just a normal Windows 8 tablet because the Acer Iconia W3 packs an 8-inch screen, a first in the Windows 8 tablet family. Yeah, you could run a full Microsoft Office or play Red Alert 3 on this one because this is a Windows 8 tablet and not RT. 8-inch has been the new sweet spot in the tablet market since the release of the iPad Mini.The Acer Iconia W3 will be powered by a dual-core Intel Atom Z2760 processor which is very common among the affordable Windows 8 tablet family and the tablet comes in 32 GB and 64 GB but I guess the 15 GB of the storage will just go to the Windows 8. Don’t worry about the keyboard because there will be an optional full size keybord for $90. Want to know more about the tablet and its price? Check it out after the break.
Acer Iconia W3 Specifications
8.1-inch 1280 x 800 LCD Display
Intel Atom Z2760 Dual-Core 1.8 GHz
2 GB RAM
32/64 GB Storage
Bluetooth
Wi-Fi
Micro-USB
Micro-HDMI
Windows 8
Acer Iconia W3 Price in the Philippines
The starting price of the Acer Iconia W3 is $379 but my guesstimate for this tablet is P18,000 when it arrives here in the Philippines
Oh my. Samsung isn’t tired of releasing new Android tablets. I’m really getting confused with their tablets because they’re releasing too many tablet at different sizes with different names and features. Today, Samsung announced two new Android tablets — Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and 10.1. Yep, both tablets feature the same UX design of the Samsung Galaxy S4 but these tablets won’t have the same specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S4. Not just that, both tablets would have the same 3 hardware buttons that can be found on the Galaxy phones. I believe that Samsung wants to have a unified design for all of its devices.
Samsung should’ve just removed the 7-inch family in favor of the 8-inch. It is much better to browse the internet and watch movies on the 8-inch than the 7-inch. Both tablets will support LTE but I’m not sure if those variants will arrive here in the Philippines. Check out the specifications of those tablets below:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 Specifications
8-inch TFT 1280 x 800 display
1.5 GHz Dual Core processor
1.5 GB RAM
16/32 GB storage with MicroSD Card slot
5 MP Rear camera with 1.3 MP Front camera
Bluetooth
WiFi
LTE
4450 mAh Battery
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 Specifications
10.1-inch TFT 1280 x 800 display
1.6 GHz Dual Core processor
1 GB RAM
16/32 GB storage with MicroSD Card slot
3 MP Rear camera with 1.3 MP Front camera
Bluetooth
WiFi
LTE
6800 mAh Battery
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
I still wonder why the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 has a much larger RAM. Anyway, there are no SRP announced yet but let’s hope that it will be much more affordable
Last week Globe launched Globe Community, the first online community devoted for a telco that is made by the telco. The Globe Communities was already introduced a few months ago. Globe Communities allows the people with knowledge to help other globe subscribers in everything about Globe. Yeah, you could talk about Wi-Max, Postpaid, Prepaid and everything and anything about Globe. What I like about Globe Communities is that they are Gamifying it and they are offering exclusive deals for the members. Pretty cool huh? If you are a Globe Subscriber, I really suggest that you take a visit and learn some things that you could do with your phone and discover the things that you might know about Globe. Check it out at http://community.globe.com.ph.
Another new tablet has emerged from Cherry Mobile. And yes, this is still affordable but this is much larger and it packs a different specifications (Obviously). Presenting, the Cherry Mobile Fusion Wind! I guess they’ll always include the word “Fusion” in their tablets. Anyway, the Cherry Mobile Fusion Wind packs a 8-inch capacitive screen. They didn’t mention the exact resolution of the tablet but I guess it will be a 1280 x 800 or 1024 x 768. Instead of a Quad-Core processor, the Cherry Mobile Fusion Wind will pack a 1.5 GHz Dual-Core processor. I’m not really sure what they used on that one. The price is just a promo along with the Cherry Mobile MF1 and I’m not sure if that’s the original SRP. Check out the break to know more about it.
Cherry Mobile Fusion Wind Specifications
8-inch Capacitive screen with 5 point touch
1.5 GHz Dual-Core Processor
4 GB Storage
1 GB RAM
Wi-Fi
2 MP Rear Camera with VGA Front Camera
USB OTG
HDMI PORT
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Cherry Mobile Fusion Wind Price in the Philippines
The price of the Cherry Mobile Fusion is P5,999 (not official)
Blackberry is coming back in its new operating system and new phones. And yeah, I’ve tried both the Z10 and the Q10 and I really love it. If you’re planning to get the BB Q10 (not to be confused with Barbeque!) then better get your eyes on Globe because they’ll be the only network that will offer the Blackberry Q10 for the first 30 days when it becomes officially available in the country on June 7. Yep, just in time for the new Globe MySuperPlan that just got better than ever. Are you interested on getting a new Blackberry Q10? Check it out after the break.
If you’re planning to get the Blackberry Q10. You can get it for as low as P1499 monthly under the best-ever MySuperPlan 999. Yep. That means, you need to have a cashout of P500 on a 24-month contract period. But with the Best-Ever MySuperPlan you can choose from 6 up to 30 months of contract period. Very flexible huh?
But there’s one thing that I really like in the Blackberry Q10 Postpaid bundle. The Blackberry Q10 will have an unlimited LTE surfing which is up to 42 mbps. Man, I’ve tried the Blackberry Q10 and it is really amazing. The body is made up Metal and Carbon Fiber and the I really love to type on the QWERTY keyboard. The Blackberry Q10 is a product of real beauty. Oh and don’t worry too much about apps because Blackberry can run some Android apps.
Subscribers can order the BlackBerry Q10 AT www.globe.com.ph/bbq10 starting May 29 but the arrival of units in Globe Stores will begin on June 7. If you really want to have one of the first Blackberry Q10 devices then better get it at Globe because they’ll offer it for the first 30 days.
The Alcatel One Touch Idol is one of the newest Android offering of Alcatel. It isn’t the best Android smartphone from Alcatel but the phone surely looks good and it doesn’t feel cheap. This Android Smartphone also made a cameo at the blockbuster summer film, Iron Man 3. I’m just not sure whether they used the Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra or this one. Both phones pack the same design but the Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra has a much thinner body and you can notice the bulge in the camera in the Ultra. Interested with the Iron Man 3 Phone? Check it out after the break.
What’s inside the box?
Hardware
The phone is purely made up of plastic. I had no problems with the material that they’ve used but my only problem with its body is that the back cover isn’t removable and you can’t remove the battery. But I praise Alcatel for having a smartphone with a such thin design. The one that I got is a silver one and I really like the brushed metal design at the back. It feels premium and it makes the phone look really sexy. Speaking of sexy, the Alcatel One Touch Idol features a sexy and thin design and it feels really good in the hand.
I really like the thin bezel of the phone. It’s not the thinnest smartphone to date but it is VERY thin and it made the phone more comfortable to hold. And just like what other people said, thin is sexy and yeah, that applies to the Alcatel One Touch Idol. Another thing, the phone is freaking light too.
The display isn’t HD on a 4.7-inch screen but it doesn’t look that bad and you’ll only notice that when you’re browsing the Internet or when you’re playing games. But of course, the colors are much better on the HD screen rather than the qHD display of Alcatel One Touch Idol. The Alcatel One Touch Idol has all the things that you need on a smartphone except NFC, which is barely used by most people. Don’t expect very fast HSPA+ speeds since this one is only capable of HSDPA speeds of up to 7.2 mbps. There’s the Micro-USB of course for charging and accessory needs.
The phone will require a Micro-Sim. Inserting the MicroSD card and the Micro-Sim is the tricky part. The phone doesn’t use a tray for its MicroSD and Micro-Sim instead you’ll need to have a paper clip to push it inside. To remove it, you’ll have to push it again from the inside. The battery last more than I expected. The battery is just rated at 1800mAh but it last up to a day and ¼ of average use of Mobile data, Wi-Fi and texts before it runs out of juice. Maybe the display helped prolonged the battery life of the smartphone since this one doesn’t have an AMOLED and HD display.
Camera
The phone has 8 Megapixel camera and it can shoot really fast. There’s a 2 Megapixel front camera too. The lack of camera button is not really a turn off but I really miss having one on a smartphone. That’s one thing that I like about Windows Phones, all of them has a camera button. Anyway, I noticed that some images that I took using the smartphone were darker but it was sharp. But sometimes the shots are really that good. Well, I felt that the camera of the phone is somehow bipolar (LOL!). But overall, I think that the camera of the phone was good. Here, take a look at the shots that I took using the Alcatel One Touch Idol. Nothing to worry about because I didn’t take any selfie shots on the phone:
While here’s a .3gp HD video that I took using the Alcatel One Touch Idol. The details in the video don’t have a very fine details but the video quality of the phone is somehow acceptable. Check it out below:
Software
The phone is powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean that’s why the phone is much faster. The processor inside the phone is a 1 GHz Dual Core MediaTek MTK6577 processor. It isn’t the fastest nor the slowest but the phone was responsive thanks to that. I’ve tried different smartphones with that processor and I really didn’t had too much problems with it.
The phone didn’t have too much deep customizations. The icons and the lock screen was customized by Alcatel and I didn’t notice any other issues with those customizations because I feel that the things that I mostly use weren’t changed. Since this is a phone that appeared in Iron Man 3, there are a lot of Iron Man 3 wallpapers but I didn’t used those. Instead, I downloaded one from DeviantArt. I was expecting an Iron Man 3 game pre-installed but there was none. Maybe it is because that the phone was released before the game. But at least, there are 2 Gameloft games that are preinstalled on the phone.
I really like the Squarecircle glass icons on the background of every icon in the app drawer. This is really an eyecandy. Sometimes, I get annoyed when there are lags and hangs. It is very rare that I experience that but I really get annoyed when that happens. Heavy games will work on the device but it will not have a plausible frame rates. Speaking of performance, the Alcatel One Touch Idol got a score of 6294 on Antutu. The score that I expected on a Dual-core MediaTek powered phone. I also notice that the phone also heats up that fast. One time, the phone experience overheat. I turned on the WiFi and I played Subway Surfer on a very very very hot day. I think that’s reasonable but I didn’t expect that the phone will heat up that fast.
Conclusion
The Alcatel One Touch Idol, Nokia Lumia 920 and the Samsung Galaxy S3
It isn’t the best smartphone in the market and in its price range but it is the sexiest phone that I’ve tried in its price range. The phone might be made up of plastic but the phone is very sexy, thin and light. The phone also looks very nice and the brushed metal design added some points to its looks. The image quality of the camera is also at average. This phone would be a decent Instagram machine thanks to the both front and rear camera that can capture pleasant images. Like what I’ve said earlier, the smartphone isn’t the fastest but it is acceptable for those who are into casual games and just want a decent performance on a phone. I think the main selling point that you would like about here is the thin design design and the Iron Man 3 branding. The Alcatel One Touch Idol is now available for P11,990 at different stores. Check em’ out.
Who doesn’t love fast internet? We all love fast internet, Don’t we?. And just like our internet, all of us loves Solenn Heussaff. Everybody knows her right? Anyway, Sun Cellular showed us the power of their new product, the Sun Broadband Wi-Fi stick. Before we get to CCA Manila (That’s in front of Ateneo), we rode on a Sun Wi-Fi Stick powered and we experience its power and its speed right in the van. And yes, the Sun Broadband Wi-Fi stick that we used is just connected to a power bank to operate. Check out our experience with the Sun Broadband Wi-Fi Stick and the Cookfest with Solenn Heussaff.
Sun Broadband WiFi Stick connected to a Power Bank
When we were dropped at CCA Manila, we immediately went to Solenn’s taping of Taste buddies and of course, Solenn didn’t forgot to mention the sponsor, CCA Manila and Sun Broadband. She showed how Sun Broadband helps her in her career as a chef and as a professional make-up artist. CCA also toured us into their facilities and rooms. My favorite one is the Coffee room. Those tools came from Italy and I can smell the aroma of the coffee in the room. And it smells damn good. Too bad there’s no coffee during that time.
And after that, Sun Cellular team discussed to us what’s latest on Sun Broadband. Of course, Solenn was still there to answer some of our questions. Okay. So let’s get back to Solenn, I mean the Sun Broadband. The cheapest that you can get from them is the Plan 250 while the highest is Plan 899, which is the unlimited internet. FYI, the model that was used for Sun Wi-Fi Broadband Stick was ZTE MF70. Check out the table below to better understand the plans.
You already have a knowledge about the plans. Now, let’s get back to Solenn Heussaff. Aside from showcasing us the prowess and plans of Sun Broadband, the Sun Broadband team also treated us to a Cookfest with Solenn Heussaff. I never thought that we would have a chance to cook with her. Aside from being gorgeous and beautiful. Maaaaan, she was so kind, humble and she’s really good in the kitchen. I know I know. Those are just some characteristics that a man would want from a woman.
We were divided into two teams — Team Solenn and Team Sun Broadband and we were given ingredients to cook for something with the help of Sun Broadband to search for the right dishes. Fortunately, Team Solenn won the Cookfest.
Team Solenn!
And yes, it was a fun filled event and I hope that it could happen again soon. The new Sun Broadband Wi-Fi Stick is available in both Postpaid and in Prepaid. The Sun Broadband Wi-Fi Stick Prepaid kit costs P2495 with a free 5 hours internet while the unlimited postpaid plan starts at Plan 899.
