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.
Cherry Mobile has just reached the lands of Thailand but that’s not the biggest news of them all but the biggest news that we have right now is the arrival of the long awaited Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0. The Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0 will pack all the specifications that you need on a smartphone like the Quad-Core processor and the HD Screen. Worth a drool huh? Check out the specifications after the break.
The Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0 has been long awaited because of its competitor, the MyPhone A919i that packs a Quad-Core processor and a HD Screen. Many of Cherry Mobile fans have been longing for a phone that can match up the specification of the MyPhone A919i. I hope that most of the Cherry Mobile Omega HD users won’t be disappointed because a successor of the phone is on the way. Here, Check out the specifications of the phone:
Cherry Mobile OMEGA HD 2.0 Specifications
1.2 GHz MediaTek Quad-Core Processor 5″ HD IPS Screen Dragon Trail Glass Technology (5 point touch) 1GB RAM 4GB ROM w/ MicroSD Card Slot 12MP BSI Rear Camera w/ Flash | 2MP BSI Front Camera 3G Bluetooth Wi-Fi Dual-Sim 2100 mAh Battery Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Cherry Mobile OMEGA HD 2.0 Price in the Philippines The Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0 is now available in the Philippines for P8,999. Better check the nearest Cherry Mobile stores and kiosks if there are stocks.
Nokia really wants to fill all the markets with their phones. Their mid-range phone offering is the Nokia Lumia 720. A phone that packs a camera that boasts low-light capabilities and a long battery life but still brags a sexy and thin design. Nokia Lumia 720 has just been launched earlier this year in the Philippines and Nokia Philippines have been giving the Filipinos a chance to taste the sweetness of Windows Phone 8 thru the Nokia Lumia 720 5-day trial. Let’s check out how the Nokia Lumia 720 fares in our review.
Inside the box!
Hardware
The construction of the phone isn’t as solid as the Nokia Lumia 920 and the quality of the material seems to be different from its bigger bro but the phone is effin light. It is one of the lightest phone that I’ve tried and reviewed. I think there may be a chance that you can break it if the phone fell on a very solid ground. Unfortunately, the phone’s construction is unibody and you can’t remove the back cover just like the 920. Unlike the Lumia 920 that has a flat top and bottom, this one has curve edges on all sides. The Nokia Lumia 720 is a real beauty, it’s thin and sexy. It’s the best-designed Windows Phone for me.
The Nokia Lumia 720 and the Nokia Lumia 920
The 4.3” Clearblack display is one of the things that I really hate on the white paper because of its small screen and WVGA resolution but it doesn’t disappoint after I used it. It isn’t one of its biggest strengths but the display is quite good for a WVGA. But of course, nothing beats browsing and playing on a HD screen. Nonetheless, it doesn’t disappoint and the sunlight legibility is average.
One of its advantages over the Nokia Lumia 920 and the other Windows Phone 8 phones is this one has a MicroSD card slot. Yes, the flagship doesn’t have that while the Lumia 820 and 720 has one. And just like the Micro-Sim card slot, you’ll need to have a pin to eject the MicroSD Card tray. Sometimes I get confused which is which because there’s no label if it’s a MicroSD tray or a Micro-Sim tray. Speaking of that, the phone can only handle HSPA+ and there’s no LTE. Didn’t expect that much from the phone but it is acceptable since this is just a mid-range phone from Nokia.
The Nokia Lumia 720 only has an 8 GIGs of storage but if you’re planning to put on a lot of media files on the device then I suggest that you get a MicroSD card for that since you can’t use the who 8 GB of the phone. Transferring files from PC to the Nokia Lumia 720 is a little bit of a pain since you’ll need to have that Windows Phone Connector on your desktop.
One of the things that I loved about it is the battery life of the Nokia Lumia 720. It’s the second longest that I’ve tried on a smartphone. The battery life of the Nokia Lumia 720 last up to 2 days of average use. Not bad for a Windows Phone. I really didn’t expect that since the phone is very light and the construction of the phone is very slim. I didn’t expect that the phone could handle that juice. Here’s a screenshot of the battery life of the Nokia Lumia 720:
1 day and 5 hours on heavy use. Not bad.
The sound quality is really not that loud but it is acceptable for me. And if you have a wireless charger at home, you might want to try it on the device since the phone supports wireless charging. But I would still prefer charging on a Micro-USB charger rather than the wireless one.
Camera
Nokia is known for making devices with devices with great camera capabilities. The Nokia 808 Pureview and the Nokia Lumia 920 are just some of their amazing products. This one packs an amazing camera too just like its bigger brothers but it doesn’t pack an 8.7 MP Carl Zeiss Camera instead the Nokia Lumia 720 features a 6.7 MP BSI Carl Zeiss Camera. It might not have the OIS of the Nokia Lumia 920 but It can produce bright videos and images even at lowlight because of its aperture. Nokia is very proud of its f1.9 aperture that allows more light to the camera. But of course, the LED flash would come in handy if there’s no light. There’s a 1.3 MP camera for video calls and for your vanity needs. Oh and both cameras are wide angle. Here are some of the images that I took using the Nokia Lumia 720:
The phone can’t record 1080p videos but it can record 720p HD videos. Since it doesn’t have an OIS feature just like the Lumia 920, the videos would be sometimes shaky if you don’t have a steady hand. The Nokia Lumia 720 can focus immediately and the video quality was really good. Here, check out the video recording of the Nokia Lumia 720:
It might have a good camera but it can’t replace our point and shoots and SLRs compared to the Nokia Lumia 920 which came in very handy because of its overwhelming and great camera. Well at least, the phone is better than some of the flagship phone’s camera.
Software
The Nokia Lumia 720 is powered by Windows Phone 8 and again, it doesn’t fail to impress me. The phone is still powered by a Dual-Core Snapdragon processor but there’s one thing that I really didn’t like about the phone. The Nokia Lumia 720 only has a 512 MB of RAM. Yeah, I know. That’s okay for a mid-ranger. But that doesn’t apply on Windows Phone 8. Why? Because some apps and games like Real Racing 2 and Temple Run requires 1 GB of RAM on a Windows Phone 8. I know, it’s really weird that they require the devices to have a Gig of RAM while their Android counterparts could run those apps even at a Single core device with 512 MB of RAM.
Don’t worry about the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram anymore on the Windows Phone because there’s the Facebook Beta that is on par with the Android and iOS counterpart, the Twitter for Windows Phone is already nice while the Instagram already has a free 3rd party Instagram client called Itsdagraph that enables you to upload images to Instagram for free. You might miss some of the games on the Android and iOS but don’t worry, there are other alternatives. If you’re planning on switching to Windows Phone, I suggest that you check out the apps you’ll need on a smartphone before buying this one. Up until now, Windows Phone needs more apps on their app store.
Of course, there are Nokia Exclusive apps on the Windows Phone store like the Here Maps. One of the things that you’ll love about the Nokia Lumia phones is the Nokia City Lens, which gives you an augmented reality of the nearby places that you want to check out. It came in handy to me when I was in Fort Bonifacio and I was looking for a certain store.
The Nokia Lumia 720 might have the same dual-core processor of Nokia Lumia 920 but this one has a lesser performance. You might not notice it but the Nokia Lumia 920 still wins in terms of performance because of its larger RAM and faster processor but nonetheless, the Nokia Lumia 720 is still great and fast thanks to the Windows Phone 8.
Conclusion
Nokia Lumia 720 isn’t the best Windows Phone 8 in terms of specifications but it is the best Windows Phone 8 for me considering its form factor, price and its features. It might still have the iconic Lumia design but the Nokia Lumia 720 is the one of the best phones in its form factor. The phone packs a great camera and a long battery life but it doesn’t sacrifice the thin and light body of the Nokia Lumia 720. I would love the Nokia Lumia 720 as my 2nd phone. The features of this phone are just amazing. Too bad, there are a lot of apps that I really need on Android that are not on Windows Phone 8. The Nokia Lumia 720 is now available at stores for P14,990
Who doesn’t know about Globe’s My Super Plan? If you think that the plan is already great then think again. Because the best just got better. Yes, the best-ever MySuperPlan is more flexible and you can get more value from you have paid for. Sounds exciting right? Globe really want to give their customers the services and satisfaction that they need. Check out what’s new and exciting about the best-ever MySuperPlan after the break.
RJ Ledesma hosting the show
Actually, there are a lot of things why you should be excited with the Best-Ever MySuperPlan. Here are the things why I really like it.
Subscribers get more than what they pay for with a plan value – Every plan corresponds to a peso value and then you can allocate those peso values to a plan. Subscriber can choose from Plan 299 with a P500 monthly Peso Value, Plan 499 with P900 PV, Plan 999 with P1700 PV, Plan 1799 with P3200 PV, Plan 2499 with P4400 PV, or Plan 3799 with P6500 PV.
It is customizable depending on customer’s needs – You’ll be given PV (Peso Values) and then you can spend it different combos such as All Net Combo that has 5 minutes of call with 100 Globe/TM texts that corresponds to 100 PV. If you took the Plan 299, you still have P400 PV that you can spend on other combos.
Flexible Contract Period – You’re no longer locked to a 24 month lock-in period thanks to the Best-Ever Globe MySuperPlan. Why? Because you can now choose from 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months or even 30 months.
There are boosters if you feel that the Combos that are available aren’t for you. Most of the unlimited offerings are on boosters except for Unlisurf which has a peso value of 999 PV (So you still need to subscribe to Plan 999 for that!). Want to know more about Globe’s newest Postpaid offering? then check out their website at http://www.globe.com.ph/postpaid.
