We all complain how Facebook is getting too much clutter now and today, Facebook announced that they’ll be bringing a redesign News feed soon. So what’s in it for us? Well, the redesign News feed will be cleaner and it will have the same UX (User Experience) on the mobile. Facebook aims to have a less-clutter environment and they want to optimized the content such as videos and pictures on the page.
The new design features the same feel on the Facebook for iPad, iPhone and Android phones. As you can see in the picture, it features the left-hand menu that we can see on the Facebook for mobile. Facebook also want to make sure that you can check out the latest happenings and stories from your Facebook friends that’s why they introduce several news feeds in addition to that what we have right now. Facebook added the following in addition to the News Feed that we have today:
All Friends
Photos
Music
Following
Here’s a video on what to expect on the overhauled news feed of Facebook
The new design will be coming in a few weeks on the web and on your Android and iOS devices. But if you want to get the first dibs on the redesign news feed then add yourself to the waiting list here – www.facebook.com/newsfeed. I’m still don’t have that Graph Search. Geez.
I loved Asus Padfone 2. It was one of the best Android smartphone I’ve reviewed (Pop na Pop!) and it is only smartphone that is available in the Philippines that can transform into a tablet. That feature is the main selling point of the table. Aside from having that unique cool feature, the Asus Padfone 2 also sports a specifications you’ll surely love. The specifications of this phone is on par or even better on most flagship phones to date. But of course, there are also some things that I didn’t like in this smartphone tablet hybrid. Check it out after the break. 3 Things I like about the Asus Padfone 2 1. The solid and concentric circle texture of the smartphone
The concentric circles. It’s the unique trademark of the Asus Padfone 2. It’s awesome, It made the phone more comfortable to hold. The phone is solid too even though it is made up plastic. The aluminum accents on the side also made the phone more sexier.
2. The 13 megapixel camera is freakin awesome.
The 13 megapixel didn’t failed to impress me. The camera app might be confusing at first but the quality of the images were great. It can also record Full HD videos and even 720p videos at 30 fps. If you want more, it can record 90 fps videos at VGA size. The camera app also features a lot of effects including beautification.
3. Of course, I love the transformation of smartphone to tablet!
It’s the main selling point of the device. Why in the world would you not love that? When you docked in your device it automatically boots into an Android tablet in a matter of seconds. Don’t worry about your apps, files and mobile data because the Padfone Station would rely on the Smartphone for all of that. Pretty awesome right?
3 Things I dislike about the Asus Padfone 2 1. No MicroSD card slot
All of my school files, videos and music are all stored in a MicroSD. And whenever I have a review unit, I just transfer my MicroSD to the review unit and voila! All my files are there already. Device without a MicroSD card slot is such a pain for me. I hate wasting my time transferring files. The 16 GB storage is also not adequate for me. Too bad, there’s no Micro SD
2. The Padfone 2 doesn’t feel that durable
To be honest with you, I like the design of the Asus Padfone 2 and its station but I wasn’t impress with the Padfone 2’s Station material. The back was made up plastic and you can really press the body which makes me wonder if the docking station could last more than 2 years for me. The white color could easily attract dirts and I had to wipe it almost everyday just to make it clean. I strongly suggest to get the black Padfone 2 rather than the white Padfone 2.
3. Holy $#!+. It will cost you an arm and a leg
As expected, the Asus Padfone 2 will cost you an arm and a leg. Heck, it would even cost you a head! The Asus Padfone 2 is priced at P36,500 at Widget City. That’s way too expensive compared to other Android Flagship phones. Even though you can get a smartphone/tablet hybrid on this one, P36,590 is still too expensive for our pockets
Who would have thought that a phone with a good lowlight capability would reach the mid-range market. We know that Nokia has the best records in camera in their smartphone lineup. First, they introduced the Nokia N8 that has a 12 Megapixel camera and it performed great during its time and then they revealed the eye popping camera phone, the Nokia Pureview 808 that has 41 Megapixels. When it was announced, most of the people can’t believe it and then just last year, they announced the Nokia Lumia 920 with OIS that can perform really well on low light and it can greatly stabilize videos. And this week at MWC, they announced the Nokia Lumia 720. So what’s so special about this phone? Well, the phone got a freakin 6.7 Megapixel camera with a f/1.9 aperture. That may not bested the Nokia Lumia 920 but it surely beat most of the flagship phone’s camera. Nokia Lumias might look like each other but they surely have different features. Check out the break if you want to know more.
The Nokia Lumia 720 looks like the other Lumias. It doesn’t share much of its genes from its predecessor, the Nokia Lumia 710 which we reviewed a long time ago. The Nokia Lumia 720 will be powered by the latest version of Windows Phone 8 and this phone is targeted for chics and vain people. But I think people who are not vain or even a chic (Hello ate readers!) might like this phone. I wonder when will Windows Phone would have their own Instagram app. Instagram just reached 100 Million users, I think creating an Instagram for Windows Phone could help increase the market share of Windows Phone. Check out the specifications of the Nokia Lumia 720 below:
Nokia Lumia 720 Specifications
Dimensions and Weight
127.9 x 67.5 x 9 mm, 128g
Display
4.3 inches 800 x 480 IPS LCD
Processor
Qualcomm Dual-Core 1 Ghz Processor
RAM
512 MB
Storage
8 GB with MicroSD Card Slot
Camera
6.7 MP Carl Zeiss Camera with f/1.9
Bluetooth
Yes
NFC
Yes
Wi-Fi
Yes
Connectivity
HSDPA
Battery
2000mAh
Colors
White, Red, Cyan Yellow and Black
Other features
–
OS
Windows Phone 8
Price
€249
Nokia Lumia 720 Price in the Philippines
The Nokia Lumia 720 is expected to be released here in the Philippines on Q1 2013 on Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore and then a rollout will continues afterwards at Europe, Asia, Africa and India. My guess estimate for this phone is PHP15,000
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So here’s the tablet that can match up the Apple’s iPad mini. There were a lot of rumours and leaks before this tablet was announced. From the name itself, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 has an 8-inch screen with 1280×800 TFT display. Yes, it’s a TFT display and not an Super AMOLED one. FYI the iPad mini has a 7.9-inch display. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0’s adopts the design of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Samsung Galaxy S3. I still wonder why they designed it like a phone with a 3 buttons below. They should’ve a buttonless tablet instead since it would be more easier to use a tablet if there’s no buttons. This will force the users to use the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 on portrait mode. If you want to know more about the tablet, check it out after the break.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will be powered by a 1.6 Exynos Quadcore processor which is already enough for your gaming and processing needs. With that processor, I believe you can play the latest demanding games like the games from Gameloft. And just like its smaller brother, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will feature an S pen with a lot of pen features. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will also feature reading mode which will optimize the screen for reading. Oh and by the way, you can also use the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 as a phone, thanks to the HSPA+ inside. Samsung said that the LTE version is still in the works.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Specifications
Dimensions and Weight
210.8 X 135.9mm, 338g
Display
8” WXGA (1280×800, 189 ppi) TFT
Processor
1.6GHz Exynos quad-core processor
RAM
2 GB
Storage
16/32GB with MicroSD up to 64GB
Camera
5 Megapixel Rear camera with 1.3 Megapixel Front camera
Bluetooth
Yes
NFC
–
Wi-Fi
Yes
Connectivity
HSPA+ and LTE (available soon in selected countries)
Battery
4600mAh
Colors
White
Other features
S Pen TouchWiz UI
OS
Android 4.1.2
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Price in the Philippines The SRP of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 wasn’t announced yet but I think the starting price of this tablet without the cellular data will start at PHP 16,000-PHP 20,000
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Most problems that you’ll encounter with Android smartphones is the lack of battery life. Most smartphones even the flagship phones can’t last up to more than a day or even half a day in heavy use. So most smartphone users are force to have a power bank or another extra battery which will just be another expense for your wallet. That’s the problem with most smartphones these days. They kept on improving the processor of the phone but they haven’t innovate that much on the batteries. Thankfully, there’s an Android Smartphone that can last up to more than 3 days of average use. That smartphone is the Cloudfone Thrill 430x. Want to know more about the phone? check it out after break.
Hardware
First of all, the Cloudfone Thrill 430x is a rebranded Innos D9. Okay, so let’s talk about the main feature of this phone. The freakin 4160mAh battery inside the Cloudfone Thrill 430x. According to them, it can last up to 3 days on average use. But in my tests the smartphone last up to 4 days and a day of hotspot. That’s pretty rare on a smartphone especially on android unless you have a power bank or an external power source like those cases with power from Mili and others. I really like this phone. AFAIK, there are no smartphone in the Philippine market that can compete with the battery life of the Cloudfone Thrill 430x. But of course, a bigger battery needs a bigger room. The battery of the Cloudfone Thrill 430x is too heavy and too big. The battery is even heavier than the smartphone. The battery of the Cloudfone Thrill 430x also made the phone thicker but don’t worry, the Cloudfone Thrill 430x will still fit your pocket and it is still comfortable in the hand. The Cloudfone Thrill 430x is one of the sturdiest phone that I’ve tried. The phone is too solid that my friend got hurt when I accidentally swinged the phone to his arms. And yes, I can compare this phone to the legendary Nokia 3310. Of course, we all know when we dropped a Nokia 3310 on the floor. It can break the floor. The first time you’ll hold this phone, you’ll already feel that this phone is very solid even though it is made up of plastic.
The 4.3-inch display is a qHD one, not a WVGA. I’m pretty sure that you’ll like the display of the phone, it’s an IPS display with a pretty nice colors. And no, it’s not washed out. The display is very crisp. This might be one of the things that you might love about this phone. The phone comes with a screen protector too but I guess you don’t need that anymore. The 3 Android buttons doesn’t light up on my review unit but they said an update would fix that.
The back cover of the Cloudfone Thrill 430x somehow reminds me of the Samsung Galaxy S2. The phone is very thick for its size, but that doesn’t mean that the phone can strain your hand easily. It’s very comfortable but when you put the phone in your pocket, you would really notice a big bulge. You might have a problem if you have a fitted jeans.
The phone features dual-sim dual standby but only one of the sim slot features 3G/HSDPA. But I don’t think that’s a disadvantage since you can use both sim card simultaneously. The only thing that I hate about it is that I always get confused which one should I use but I didn’t had problems with connectivity or whatsoever.
And before I forgot, the dual-core Snapdragon of the phone is already enough to satisfy your thirst for mobile gaming. I’m not sure If all latest games would work on this smartphone but I’m pretty sure that most of them will work but you just need to lower some settings. It might not be the best processor in the world but the Dual-Core Snapdragon on the Cloudfone Thrill 430x is already enough for your daily needs on applications and games. The performance is comparable to the ones in the Cherry Mobile Flare.
The Camera
The Cloudfone Thrill 430x has a 8 Megapixel camera with Dual LED flash. It’s a decent one but not one of the best in the market. But that’s expected on a phone that’s affordable. You can really notice the pink spot whenever you’re taking a photo that is almost all white and that’s pretty annoying. The photos are not washed out and they have a great colors. As expected, the photos are great when there’s sufficient light. Here, take a look at the photos that I took using the Cloudfone Thrill 430x
The phone can also record 720p HD videos. The pink spot and the slow frames is very noticeable. The video quality was disappointing. I didn’t expect a 1080p recording on this one since it is just an affordable Android Smartphone. Take a look:
All in all, the camera of the Cloudfone Thrill 430x is already fine for daily use. You can take a photo of your notes on the whiteboard, your daily instagram photo or even at parties. The Cloudfone Thrill 430x could do fine in all that aspects
Software
The Cloudfone Thrill 430x is powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. I’m not surprised with that since most rebranded phones already comes in ICS or even Jelly Bean. There’s no Jelly Bean update in sight but let’s hope that there will be. The combination of Android 4.0 and Dual-Core Snapdragon resulted to a fast and smooth transitions and interface butit is not as buttery as the Jelly Bean phones.
The Cloudfone Thrill 430x also packs a FM radio which is a plus. There are only a handful of bloatware applications on the Cloudfone Thrill 430x. The smartphone feels like a virgin android. Only a minor changes were done on it. But I don’t think that’s an issue to you guys. I think that it’s nice that there are only a few bloatwares on this one. C’mon guys, there’s the Google Play Store for the apps that you need on your phone. So far, almost all apps that I’ve used on the Cloudfone Thrill 430x is fast and I didn’t experience slowdowns thanks to the fast dual-core Snapdragon processor. FYI, the processor is a MSM8225 which is the most affordable S4 processor around.
Verdict
It is not the best or fastest local Android phone around but it is certainly the best when it comes to the battery life. This is the Android smartphone that I know that has the longest battery life. If you are the type of person who loves to browse the internet and doesn’t want to bring a charger or a power bank then the Cloudfone Thrill 430x would be the best smartphone for you. The Cloudfone Thrill 430x can also play a lot of games and applications. But you might be turned off with the thickness of the phone. It is VERY VERY THICK but nonetheless, the phone is still comfortable in the hand. This power monster is now available at Cloudfone Stores for P7,777. Pretty affordable right? If I have the money, will I buy this phone? Hell yes, I want a smartphone that can last up to more than a day even at heavy use.
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+HTC announced today the newest flagship on their lineup, the HTC One. It’s kinda confusing for some because the name of their last flagship was called HTC One X. Anyway, HTC decided that their flagship is not too cool for 5-inch and they just retain the same screen size which is 4.7″ but they revamped the resolution to 1080p — A feature that is expected on every flagship phones this year. Well if you want a 5″ HTC device then just go for the HTC Butterfly. The HTC One also comes with ‘Ultrapixel’ camera. Basically, that feature can make your low light photos better by allowing more light to come in the camera. I think that feature is somewhat similar to the OIS of the Nokia Lumia 920. According to their twitter, HTC One’s Ultrapixel allows 300% more light in than the competitors. But there’s a catch in that. You only have a 4 megapixel camera on the HTC One. Don’t worry, you can still record 1080p videos and even a 1080p HDR video at 28 fps or 720p video at 60 fps. And the large 4MP image is still enough for your Retina Macbook Pros. I think they want to prove that the megapixel is now a myth in smartphone imaging. Want to know more about the device? Check it out after the break.
The HTC One is powered by 1.7 GHz Snapdragon 600 along with the 2 GB RAM. The processor was just recently announced this year. And aside from having a Ultrapixels camera and a Super LCD3 1080p 4.7″ screen with 468ppi, the HTC one will have the latest Sense 5 on the Android 4.1.2. Yeah, they should’ve at least made it to Android 4.2. But don’t worry, an upgrade is imminent. HTC is also boasting their aluminum unibody and they’re hoping that they could make a comeback on their new flagship. My take? I think HTC could make a comeback on this one like what they did when they had the HTC Desire HD. The HTC One will be available this March 2013
HTC One Specifications
Dimensions and Weight
137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 mm
Display
1080p Super LCD3 4.7″
Processor
Quad-Core Snapdragon 600 1.7 GHz
RAM
2 GB
Storage
32 GB
Camera
Ultrapixels 4 MP with 2.1MP Rear Camera. 1080p recording and 720p@60fps video recording
Bluetooth
Yes
NFC
Yes
Wi-Fi
Yes
Connectivity
LTE
Battery
2300mAh
Colors
Black, Red and Silver
Other features
Sense 5
HDR Video Recording
Ultrapixels camera
OS
Android 4.1.2
HTC One Estimated Price in the Philippines The HTC One’s SRP wasn’t announced in the event but my guesstimate for this phone when it arrives here in the Philippines is P32,000
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Cherry Mobile shocked us when they launched the the Cherry Mobile Flare last year. Today, Cherry Mobile shocked the press and the bloggers once again when they announced the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt. The Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt is a quad-core tablet that has a freakin price of P3,999. That’s insane. I never thought that a quad-core tablet could have a price the same of the Cherry Mobile Flare. And like what the people have guessed before, the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt is based on the Ainol Venus but this one has a few minor changes. Want to know more about the tablet? Check it out after the break.
The Ainol Venus has a 1.2 Ghz Quad-Core processor but the Fusion Bolt runs on a 1 GHz Quad-Core A9 Processor. The storage also went down from 16 GB to 8 GB but don’t worry guys because there’s a MicroSD Card slot that can expand up to 32 GB. Here. Take a peek on Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt’s Specification.
1 GHz Quadcore Processor
7-Inch 1280×800 IPS Display with 5 Multi-Touch points
8 GB Internal Memory
MicroSD Card Slot up to 32 GB
1 GB RAM
Wifi
MicroUSB
Mini HDMI
4000mAh Battery
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt and the Nexus 7
The 7-inch IPS display of the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt has a resolution of 1280×800. The display is pretty much similar to the one that can be found on the Nexus 7 but the bezel on the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt is much smaller. The front camera of the tablet is also placed for landscape mode. Oh and before I forgot, there’s a 2 MP camera on the back for your Instagram needs. And speaking of the back of the tablet, it has a pretty nice texture on the back.
The Quad-Core processor inside the tablet may not be the best in the market but it is already enough to have a smooth web browsing and play the some decent 3D games on the tablet. I notice some lags but I think a software update can fix that. We’ll put the Quad-Core processor of the Cherry Mobile Fusion on a test in our review soon. If you feel like watching your favorite 1080p movie on the Cherry Mobile Fusion Tablet then you can hook it up on your HDTV using your Mini HDMI. The battery of the tablet is rated at 4000 mAh and I think that’s already enough for a 7-inch tablet.
This is not the best quad-core tablet in terms of performance but can you mention any tablet that has a Quad-Core processor and IPS 1280×800 display that is below P5,000? Oh and before I forgot. The Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt is powered by Jelly Bean.
The Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt will be available on March 2013 for P3,999. They’ll be releasing a 8-inch and a 10-inch version of the tablet soon so watch out for that.
Catch my review of this tablet soon at JAM Online!
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Remember Beyond the Box? Yep, one of the newest Apple Resellers here in the Philippines. You know, I love Apple products except the iPhone *cough* Android fanboy *cough*. Everytime there’s a new Mac announcement or refresh, I get a little depress for my Macbook Pro. Anyway, Macs got a price drop recently especially the 13″ Retina Macbooks that is now available for P69,990 from P82,990. For those people who didn’t know yet why Retina Macbooks are so special. First, the Retina Mac got a gorgeous Retina display. Second, it has SSD instead of a Hard Disk which makes it faster. The retina Macbooks makes my Macbook Pro cry. Anyway, if you are planning to buy a new Mac then better check out the new prices after the break.
MacBook Air11″ MacBook Air / 1.7Ghz i5 / 4GB Ram / 64 GB Flash / Intel HD4000 – from 47,990 to P46,990 11″ MacBook Air / 1.7Ghz i5 / 4GB Ram / 128 GB Flash / Intel HD4000 – from 52,990 to P50,990 13″ MacBook Air / 1.8Ghz i5 / 4GB Ram / 128 GB Flash/ Intel HD4000 – from 57,990 to P55,990 13″ MacBook Air / 1.8Ghz i5 / 4GB Ram / 256 GB Flash / Intel HD4000 – from 72,990 to P64,990
MacBook Pro13″ MacBook Pro / 2.5 Ghz dual core i5 / 4GB Ram / 500 GB / Intel HD4000 – from 57,990 to P55,990 13″ MacBook Pro / 2.9 Ghz dual core i7 / 8GB Ram / 750 GB / Intel HD4000 – from 72,990 to P69,990 15″ MacBook Pro / 2.3 Ghz quad core i7 / 4GB Ram / 500 GB / GeForce GT 650M 512MB – from 87,990 to P84,990
MacBook Pro with Retina Display13″ MacBook Pro with Retina display / 2.5 Ghz dual core i5 / 8GB Ram / 128GB SSD / Intel HD4000 – from 82,990 to P69,990 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina display / 2.5 Ghz dual core i5 / 8GB Ram / 256GB SSD / Intel HD4000 – from 97,990 to P79,990 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina display / 2.3 Ghz quad core i7 / 8GB Ram / 256GB SSD / GeForce GT650M 1GB – from 107,990 to P102,990 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina display / 2.6 Ghz quad core i7 / 8GB Ram / 512GB SSD / GeForce GT650M 1GB – from 137,990 to P130,990
I really want that 13″ Macbook Pro with Retina display but I don’t have the moolah for that. If you are planning to get one then better check out the nearest Beyond the Box or Digital Hub in your place. Oh and here’s a store locator if you don’t know where you can find the nearest BTB or DH: http://bit.ly/BTBStoreLocator
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Do you love reading other blogs aside from my blog? (I hope you really love my blog). The NuffnangX app might be the app for you. Why? I’ll make it shorter for you guys. NuffnangX is basically an app that lets you stalk, find and communicate with blogs easily. I love to read other tech blogs if I have time to spare. NuffnangX also helps you search for blogs in a category. You can follow them and check it out on NuffnangX’s timeline. Basically, NuffnangX helps you check out the latest happenings on your favorite blogs. Check out what NuffnangX can offer after the break.
I already have the NuffnangX app on my Samsung Galaxy S3 and it really helps me to stalk other blogs and discover their latest posts. NuffnangX also helps me discover interesting blogs that I haven’t seen before. It’s a pretty amazing app for bloggers and for those people who loves to read blogs. Don’t worry my friends because the NuffnangX is not limited to tech blogs like JAM Online. There are other categories like Fashion, Automobiles and more.
NuffnangX App for Android
The NuffnangX is available on the Play Store and the App store. NuffnangX is also available on the web if you don’t have a smartphone. Oh and don’t forget to follow me on NuffnangX.
Finally, Filipinos will now be able to taste the Nokia Windows Phone 8 goodness because the First Nokia Windows Phone 8 will now ship here in the Philippines! The Nokia Lumia 820 is the mid-range Windows Phone 8 smartphone of Nokia that has already a nice specifications that can already match its bigger brother, the Nokia Lumia 920. The Nokia Lumia 820 features a S4 Dual-Core Snapdragon processor which I think is still decent, a 4.3-inch OLED screen, a 8 Megapixel Camera and it comes with an interchangeable back covers. The thing that I like in here is that the Nokia Lumia 820 features an expandable storage. Yes, unlike the Nokia Lumia 920 you can insert a MicroSD in here that is up to 64 GB. If you are on a data plan, the Nokia Lumia 820 that’ll be arriving here in the Philippines will be LTE-ready. So all you need is a LTE-Ready sim and the Nokia lumia 820 then you’re off to that 42 mbps speed. I haven’t tried the phone personally but if you want to test one, it is now available at selected Nokia Stores. The Nokia Lumia 820 has a suggested retail price of P18,990. It is is available in wide array of colors from black, white, red and yellow which will be available soon. Check it out guys!
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