It Begins: Holiday Online Shopping Spree
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 29th, 2011
As a gamer and well, an all-around geek I look forward to the months of November and December for one reason: the beginning of the holiday sales.
Take note: this period starts from the day after Thanksgiving which has been coined as ‘Black Friday’ in the USA which symbolically marks the start of the holidays. This is the time of the year when stores offer insane discounts and as the all0around geek that I am I frequent three sites: Board Game Geek, Amazon (doh!) and the digital PC gaming store called Steam.
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Nightfall: Martial Law
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 28th, 2011
Wrote my first piece for GeekOut. Finally, a place where I can talk about board games and card games.
I recently acquired a copy of Nightfall: Martial Law created by AEG after having spent a couple of months researching for a new deck building card game I could play with my regular board game group. The ‘Nightfall’ series is a fairly popular franchise in the gaming community set in a world where vampires, zombies, werewolves and the human “hunters” duke it out to control what’s left of civilization. And before you get illusions of “vampires” and “werewolves” of either being sparkly-clean or abs-endowed, nope this isn’t Twilight.
Samsung pokes fun at iPhone fanboys
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 24th, 2011This ad is spot on. It’s exactly the reaction I get from people who see the Galaxy S II. As I said in previous posts, the S II is the only phone that turns the heads of the fanboys.
SMART Communications launches LTE Closed Beta Program. Sign up now.
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 17th, 2011Saw this tweet today from Mellissa Limcaoco who handles communications:
Predictions are spot on that SMART Communications is really unveiling public LTE by the end of 2011. Although I am a consultant for them I am not privy to everything so this is really great news for me and for everyone else who have been dying to try out the LTE service (aka SMART Evolution) which they previewed during the Holy Week in Boracay. You can follow the #SmartLTE hashtag for more details.
As such, they’ve launched an early closed beta program for Internet citizens who have the know how and aptitude to be able to give insightful feedback about the new service that is being unraveled. They have launched the closed beta LTE test. < ---- More details there if you want to know how you can participate in the program.
A bit related, but the use of the dots in the new SMART Communications logo is beginning to make sense now.
SmartNet looking good on the 5.3″ Galaxy Note
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 17th, 2011
Mitch (@mpadua) from SMART’s Netphone team posted an updated version of the SmartNet app running on a Samsung Galaxy Note side by side the HTC Desire S. The new version adds support for the really big 5.3″ screen and as you can see, the widget is really elegant and does not take up the entire width of the screen. The Internet icon has also changed.
We’re expecting to see an APK of the app’s latest version soon.
What do you look for in a desktop media player?
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 16th, 2011
In this day and age, the term “media player” can be defined only as ambiguous. Where once, a media player meant the VHS player that sat beside your television set, today a media player has been limited to a feature in almost any piece of portable technology rather than the hardware itself.
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Hands on with the HTC Sensation XE aka HTC Beats
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 16th, 2011
Last week, HTC launched their new ‘Beats’ line of smartphone composed of the HTC Sensation XE and the Sensation XL. Main difference of both is that the XE comes with a 4.3″ screen while the XL comes in a hybrid 4.7″ form factor. I have the XE version at home so here’s a quick unboxing and weekend first impressions.
The release of HTC’s ‘Beats’ is exciting as these phones come bundled with a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre in-ear earphones which are some of the best in the industry.
Really excited about: True 3D projection technology
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 15th, 2011Remember R2-D2 projecting to the rebel alliance? Remember Robin’s tactical overlay in Young Justice? I’m really excited for the “next phase” in display. Although it may take an additional 10 years to be improved and adopted by consumers, there’s hope in the horizon!
Digital Signage: Although the demonstration shows monochrome colors, full color projections are possible with the use of red, green and blue lasers. Imagine getting rid of all the ugly billboards along EDSA and instead have lasers projecting only in certain spots. But the key take away here is that these signs can be turned off anytime to give way to bluer skies.
EastWest Bank wants you to win a BlackBerry Torch (and more!)
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 11th, 2011
You know, it’s OK to admit that your wallet seems to empty itself during the holiday gift giving routine. It’s the same story every Christmas — that I either decide to buy bulk gifts for all my friends (i.e. my blog themed cupcakes from way back) or individual gifts for people who are really memorable to me during the year. Now it’s usually the former, but one thing that I always had a hard time doing was budget my expenses. Well. Because even if let’s say I set a budget of PHP3,000-PHP5,000 for gifts (excluding family) I find out at the end of my shopping spree that I’ve emptied my wallet! I think “sales” are a consumer trap, especially if you’re into gadgets.
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Hands on with the 5.3″ Samsung Galaxy Note
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 11th, 2011
Been playing with the Samsung Galaxy Note for the past week. It’s a peculiar device, being the biggest smartphone to date yet doesn’t seem to have that bulky feel compared, say to Dell’s Streak. I’ve shown this phone to a lot of friends and the most common reaction is that of intrigue accompanied by the question, “would I look stupid carrying this around?”
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Interview with Justin Gary, Creator of the Ascension Deck Building Game
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 10th, 2011
OK. So here’s another side to my geekiness. Board games.
I’m hooked on Ascension. It’s the staple board game (sorry, Bang!) I play with my regular gaming group next to 7 Wonders. It’s fast, easy to understand, doesn’t require much setup, and you can play with 2-4 guys. A 30 minute game is already long. So I was thrilled at the chance to interview Justin Gary of Gary Games, creator of Ascension. For those who enjoy deck building games like Dominion, Ascension takes direct precedence as a more compact but still epic deck builder. This interview talks about how Ascension was conceived as well as the latest expansion, Storm of Souls.
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