SONY Bloggie MHS-PM5K enters the video sharing market at PHP 14,999
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 27th, 2010
I was thinking of doing a live blog series over the course of my stay at the Shangri-La Boracay but the laid back island and hints that summer is full blown made me retire that thought (see photos for reference and tell me if you’d want to work in this condition of paradise). Destination Boracay served as Sony’s second and third launch for the year, and might I add, one of the best product launches I’ve ever attended. After releasing the new VAIO portables last month, Sony unveiled the new BRAVIA’s with 3D TV and face recognition. More on this in a bit. From the imagine line, we have new Cybershots and Handycams but the “people’s choice” highlight of the day was the Bloggie video recorder (boring name: MHS-PM5K).
Although late in the game, the Bloggie affirms that the industry recognizes a market for portable devices that allow you to directly upload video to YouTube, among other sharing sites. It directly competes with the 5th generation iPod nano that also does video and the Flip video camera. As Sony came in later in the market, they had time to add several unique features that makes this the best “Internet video camera” for friends to enjoy.
First off, the Bloggie has slots for two types of memory cards: SD and and their proprietary memory stick (the device comes bundled with a 4GB card). Second, the USB dock is built into the unit, which means that you won’t need any external cables to connect and transfer video. Third, it comes with a secondary 360 degree camera (so yeah the Bloggie comes with 2 cameras) that rotates by itself to capture everything around its radius. Great for parties. The Bloggie records in HD.
According to Nina Lumabas, product manager for Handycam the Bloggie has a battery life of up to one hour. Note that the Bloggie isn’t classified under the Cybershot or Handycam line as it is a product segment on its own. it retails for PHP 14,999.00.
Ouch.
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 23rd, 2010
It’s Michelle Paloma for the month of January – February 2010. By the way, the content for this issue is mind blowing. Grab a copy now.
And now for some behind the scenes…
Michelle Paloma for UNO Magazine
Unboxing Bang! The Bullet
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 22nd, 2010
I was introduced to Bang! over the 2009 holidays during the course of several get togethers with my childhood friends. More than anything, it was an instant addiction (apart from this other card game we played — the Munchkin series by Steve Jackson) and became integral to any sit down gathering we had in any living room.
Bang! is a western themed card game that assigns roles for up to 7 players: a sheriff, 2 deputy roles, four outlaws and one renegade. The sheriff and his deputies must defeat the outlaws while the outlaws must kill the sheriff to win. The renegade wins if he’s the last man standing. The catch is that nobody knows what role each player assumes, except the sheriff, who is publicly known.
Wikipedia explains it best:
The game is an interesting application of Game theory. As only the Sheriff is known, it is hard to know who has what role. Generally, a person’s role is implied if he tries to shoot, or otherwise harm, the Sheriff. Others’ role can be implied if they try to harm those who harmed the Sheriff. The advantage of keeping one’s role hidden from enemies must be weighted against the need to accomplish one’s goal.
Since the Renegade loses if the Sheriff dies when there are still others in the game he must defend the Sheriff to some extent. On the other hand his ultimate goal is killing the Sheriff. This leads to a “two faced” nature of the Renegade, trying to weaken each side (Outlaws and Deputies) while keeping the Sheriff alive until the end. This also makes it harder to ascertain who is an Outlaw, who is a Deputy, and who is a Renegade, as their actions may be similar. (source)
So little old me found out that there are over three expansion sets to Bang! and the whole package can be bought and enclosed in what’s known as The Bullet, a special edition casing that contains the complete game, and three expansion sets plus a sheriff badge for eye candy.
I finally got to play test this with a bunch of blog friends over at Aileen and Jay’s house and despite the first hurdle of explaining the entire game to seven other people, we had loads of fun. Definitely an addicting card game for any big group of friends (minimum 4 players). I’m not sure you can find the card game here in Manila, but you can do so via Amazon.
Bang! The Bullet costs USD $34.xx via Amazon.
TORQUE DQ500 looks like the E72: PHP 4,999.00
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 18th, 2010
Whoaa nelly!
I’ve always been curious about TORQUE’s roadmap in the Philippines. As a China sourced phone with local branding (TORQUE’s local endorser is Luis Manzano), they’ve made some rather humorous moves in the industry, one of which is this E72 / E71 clone, the DQ500. TORQUE’s PR lent me a few phones to try out (check the F1 feature) but this phone wasn’t included in the catalogue. I begged them to have a demo sent over as it was just too funny to let pass. It’s an E72 clone!
From afar, you won’t be able to tell the two apart. But there’s more to the DQ500 than its jest at Nokia’s most popular enterprise device: for PHP 4,999.00 you get a dual SIM phone with really loud audio. The DQ500 is lighter than the E72 and feels almost exactly like it. If all you’re after is the aesthetic (poser!), you get to save over twenty thousand pesos if you buy this phone. A 1.3MP camera with video, Bluetooth, voice recorder, trans flash expansion, FM Radio and GPRS are the other features. That’s it really.
The DQ500 mimics the call and menu buttons of the E72 by instead making each button act as the “call” for SIM 1 and SIM 2, with one red end call button while the remaining odd key acts as the back button.
What’s next in the pipeline: I hear they’re going for the most affordable Android market. Go TORQUE! Undercut the competition!
JAP-AAAN!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 18th, 2010
Ahh, the best sound effect ever.
A Valentine’s Message
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 14th, 2010May your “S” channels and your partner’s “T” channels always match amplitudes for dual resonance.
May you all find your life’s String Theory to reconcile your view of quantum mechanics.
May both your hadrons collide.
May your bosons have integer spin.
May you discover each other’s Higgs.
And may your black holes violate the second law of thermodynamics.
Happy Valentine’s day!!
The Dying Game
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 13th, 2010
Dual SIM TORQUE F1 Metal at PHP 3,999.00
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 7th, 2010
I’m intrigued with TORQUE’s latest flagship phone for a couple of reasons. In terms of its positioning, it’s supposed to be the classiest of the el cheapo dual SIM phones (LOL!). The mobile’s real estate is covered in metal with the familiar red and black F1 Ferrari colors in leather on the upper back of the device. So while Apple is enjoying its aluminum Macs and HTC is going the teflon route, TORQUE loves the cold embrace of metal. Curious too that this isn’t an official F1 release, but just like a lot of phones from China, this one mimics it quite well.
Read on for my first impressions and more photos.
(more…)
Demonstrating Spectograph: Sony VAIO Z series
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 6th, 2010
Sony VAIO Z Series (VPCZ116GG/B) Specs
Last week I attended Sony’s VAIO launch and they revealed the availability of the new VAIO Z series. Sure, it’s great that we have product specs in press releases but it is double awesome that Rico is launching what I predict to be a valuable resource for tech bloggers. In the same way that we can embed YouTube videos, Spectograph allows you to embed product specs. That means you won’t need to copy + paste specs ever again!
Spectograph is the product of Rico Mossesgeld, founder and sole proprietor of Technogra.PH and Kiven Codamon.
Spectograph is still in beta.
Unpacking iPod Compatible JBL Radial speakers
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 4th, 2010
Hello again. Part of my work salary is given in gift checks so what I end up doing is collect one year’s worth of GC’s every end of the year. So this is what I got from the list of things available. It’s way better than the ColorTunes speaker set I bought for PHP 2,000, obviously. The Radial is a monster, packing a great balance for low, mid and high frequencies. In fact the only bad thing I can say about it is that it’s expensive at about PHP 11,xxx.00. Yay for GC’s!
The Radial comes with 3 sets of input for 3.5mm, USB and the default iPod dock. It also comes with a remote.
Catching my attention with the Sony VAIO F series
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 4th, 2010
Apparently there were three sets of launches yesterday — one for the morning shows, a mid-day “lunch launch” for the media and an evening with the online community. I made like a BLT and sandwiched myself into the noon event.
Great event. Sony launched the new VAIO line, which was shown in CES last year. Although the Z line is their highest tier unit that was showin on a rotating pedestal (main feature is the “speed” vs “stamina” switch turning your VAIO into a Crysis suit), the price point for me was too high at PHP 150,000.00 I’m currently running a VAIO CW prototype (that’s the sexy part — no serial number) which is stock fit for gaming. So the laptop that wow-ed me during the launch was their multimedia VAIO, the F series. The “F” stands for “F*ck you, I have a numerical keypad!” It’s bad ass.
8GB of stock RAM. Just look at it! Just look at it! And a GT330 video card to boot. It is very hard to find a laptop that is stock full of features that allows you to play games. At one point there’s always a compromise. Also, “gaming rigs” sold by most companies come in cheesy packaging. At least this F series is silent about it, preferring the elegant finish of Sony. Also … I cannot reiterate more how it has a numerical keypad!! It’s again, a silent way of saying this monster has a big screen.
I guess Sony’s biggest problem is the import taxation that makes their products more expensive in the Philippines. During the launch, “buying from Hong Kong” was brought up as the price differences are huge. The fact that most of these devices have international warranty also brings about a conundrum. Hm.
On a lighter note, the new Sony netbooks are now more eco-friendly as they don’t come shipped in a box. When you buy one, you get your VAIO in this cute eco-friendly bag.
