Symbian is not yet dead in the Philippines. That’s what the latest statcounter tells us. Symbian is still the leading OS here in the Philippines this month with a 32.29% share overtaking Android and iOS and I was surprised by the stats because the Playstation made it to the list while the Blackberry OS was missing on the chart. Symbian is leading the race but it continues to decline every month. Since the Nokia Lumias were launched this month. I think the Windows phone can get a small share in the coming months. We might see the Android OS rise to the top because of more and more affordable Android phones offered here in the Philippines.
Globe will be the first one to roll out the new iPad in the Philippines on May 29. Yes folks! the long wait is over! Finally, you’ll get a taste of that 9.7″ retina display, A5X processor, 5 megapixel camera, 10 hour battery life and that 42 mbps network speed from Globe. Yep, that’s 4G folks. The new iPad has been launched a few months ago in different countries and many pinoys are already impatient with the new iPad. Thankfully, some online stores like Widget City is selling the new iPad at an affordable price. No word regarding the pricing and plans.
It will be available in Pebble blue and Marble white
Today is the day Samsung fanboys! You’re now allowed to pre-order the next flagship phone of Samsung, The Samsung Galaxy S III. It is available in two colors — Pebble blue and Marble white. Yes folks just the two. No black SGS III here. The flagship phone is expected to have a Quad Core Exynos processor, 4.8″ HD Super AMOLED screen and a 8MP Camera at the back w/ 1.9MP at the front. There are a lot of new features on the new Samsung Galaxy S III like the S voice which acts like Siri and some people even said that the S voice is better than Siri. If you want to get one then check out http://www.globe.com.ph/galaxys3. Oh and this phone will be free at Plan 2499.
Okay, so here are the plans that you can get from Globe.
Not bad Globe. Too bad, My fortunes isn’t enough to let me buy this phone hehe.
Wait what? Facebook is changing our layout again? Not really. They’re just redesigning the current timeline profile that we got right now. I guess this one is much more cleaner than the current timeline profile. I hope that there won’t be a lot of changes that’ll happen because Facebook will just confuse its users again. As you can, our infos is placed on the black gradient at the cover photo which I think is cool because It’ll save us more space in timeline pages. They also replace those boxes with pictures by just text. Well, I hope it’ll really be cleaner than the current timeline. No word on how many people got to try this redesigned timeline and how to get this one on our profile right now
Here’s another good deal at our partner Widget City. HTC Titan was P24,900 before but starting today, It is now available for P19,700. The HTC Titan is a Windows Phone that has a 4.7″ S-LCD screen with a 800 x 480 resolution, a 8MP camera w/ Dual LED Flash oh and there’s a 1.3MP Camera on the front. It is powered by a Single Core 1.5ghz Qualcomm processor. Don’t fret guys because a single core is already enough to make the phone fast and fluid. This phone is a great alternative to Nokia Lumia 900 which will be available this june that has a SRP of P27,990. Too bad you won’t be able to see some Nokia apps such as Nokia Drive or Nokia maps on this Windows Phone. If you want to get one then check out Widget City’s website.
Aside from the Nokia Lumias that were launched yesterday, We got a chance to play with the prototype Nokia 808 Pureview at the Lumianation event last May 18 at Bonifacio Amphitheater (Me, Martin of Widget City and Mark of Techpinas were one of the lucky guys!). Yes, the Nokia 808 Pureview is the 41 megapixel monster cameraphone. The Nokia 808 Pureview that we got is just a prototype according to them. But hey! proto or not, the camera of the phone is still amazing! Unfortunately, the phone isn’t available yet here in the Philippines.
There are a lot of people asking how did we got the Nokia 808 Pureview and what are these phones doing at a Nokia Lumia launch. Before the event had started, Neil of Mister JonJon tweeted about a guy who is using a Nokia 808 Pureview to take photos at the Lumianation event and then later that night Harwin of HJP Techie world told and pointed me a certain guy who used the Nokia 808 Pureview to take photos of his friends and thanks to Ms. Nikka, we were able to play with it and use it for a period of time. Before we proceed on my first impressions of the phone, here’s my hands-on video of the Nokia 808 Pureview
What do I love about the Nokia Pureview? Of course, the camera which is too freakin awesome. I got a chance to use the Nokia 808 Pureview for a period of time and as you can see on the video above, I can zoomed in to the pictures even they’re from afar. The quality of the image were really great. Pictures without flash and at low-light are a little bit grainy but the xenon flash performed well on some images and I believed that it is way better than the Nokia N8’s Xenon flash. I can easily customized the settings such as the saturation and contrast while I can adjust the fps setting on the video recording too which can record up to 1080p. Symbian Belle is fast, I haven’t experience any lags, crashes or slowdowns even though I opened a lot of apps.
The 4″ AMOLED Screen looks good but you might be disappointed with the nHD screen. I love it when I press the camera button, the camera app will open immediately just like with the Windows phone. Oh and you may also notice about the bulge at the back because of the large camera sensor. Well, it’s not really annoying but I think you’ll get used to it when you’re always using it.
The back cover of the red Nokia 808 Pureview. Gorgeous
Symbian Belle Homescreen
The Nokia 808 Pureview matte back cover
At the top. 3.5mm Audio jack, Micro USB port and HDMI
A picture taken using the Nokia 808 Pureview
The camera settings. Fully customizable
All in all, I’m impressed with the Nokia 808 Pureview. But hey, this is not a final product that will be release in the market. Seriously, this thing is a beast when it comes to camera. The quality of the images that I took were better than my Micro 4/3 camera. No word on the price but it will arrive this June here in the Philippines
Finally, the Nokia Lumias were launched last May 18 at the Bonifacio Amphitheatre. The rain passed by the area but that didn’t stop the people to see the latest Windows phones from Nokia. They also showed the Nokia phones back in the 1990s and 2000s until to the present smartphones, the Windows Phone-touting Lumia smartphones. There were a lot of celebrities out in the event including Kat Alano who hosted the event. One of the coolest part of the event was the 3D projection at the wall. Check out the video pictures after the break!
the dancers!
the 3D projection on the building!
The jump smokers!
After the event we’ve talked to Mr Dharmesh, the General Manage of Nokia Philippines. I didn’t expect that he was funny. I thought the man was always serious but he loves to play jokes with us. Anyway, we’ve talked about the Nokia Lumia and he gave us a clue about why will the people loved Windows phone. He said that there are 75% of people who use a PC. I guess that there will be a convergence between the Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. Something that we’ve been waiting for a long long time.
Oh and if you want to know more about the Nokia Lumia phones just check out my review of the Nokia Lumia 710 and the Nokia Lumia 800. Be sure to check out my experience with the Nokia Lumia 610 at a helicopter ride!. Unfortunately, we haven’t reviewed the Nokia Lumia 900 but we’ll try to get and review the phone soon!
UPDATE: Oh and for those people who are asking about the Nokia Lumia 900, the SRP is P27,990. (You’ll get the Purity headset with that one!)
Oh and as promised, here’s a video of the 3D projection on wall of the building at the Bonifacio Amphitheatre!
Oh and watch out!, We’ll post our hands-on of the Nokia 808 pureview soon!
The Sony Xperia U is probably one of the most affordable dual core Android phone out there. It is powered by a dual core NovaThor processor with a 5 megapixel camera that can only record 720p videos (I was expecting to see a 1080p recording but no 🙁 Sigh). It has borrowed the same looks from its bigger brother, the Sony Xperia S but this one has exchangeable bottom caps. According to Widget City, the stocks will arrive this saturday and the phone will have a price tag of P13,250 but if you want to bundle a Sony Mw600 hifi Headset the price will be P15,500. If you want to get one, just get in touch with them with their contact numbers which can be found at Widget City’s website
So you have a lot of money to waste for the next Galaxy phone? If you have a tons of money to spend and you’re planning to have a data plan on Globe then starting today, you might get excited because the Samsung Galaxy S III is coming to Globe and the pre-order will start on May 23. FYI, The Samsung Galaxy S III is available in 2 colors — Blue and white and it will be powered by quad-core Exynos processor which is way faster than Nvidia’s Tegra 3 according to benchmarks and it will also have a 4.8″ HD Super AMOLED screen. Oh and Globe told that you can get it at their My Super Plan Unli Surf Combo. Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S3 will begin on May 23 at www.globe.com.ph/galaxys3
The long wait is over my friends because the Nokia Lumia 900 will finally be available at our friends at Widget City. According to their Facebook post at their page, the stocks will arrive in 2 working days. Oh and if you want to wait for the official launch of the Nokia Lumia 900 in the Philippines then take a visit at BGC on the 18th because according to Nokia Philippines, the event will be open to public. Anyway, If you want to pre-order the device then you may contact Widget City via text. The contact numbers of Widget City can be found at their Facebook Page. Oh and I almost forgot!, the pre-order price of the Nokia Lumia 900 is P30,800.00 and if you want to add an accessory then just add P1,200 to get the Sennheiser hd218.
