“How to Troll the Telco Industry” by SMART Communications and SUN cellular
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 13th, 2011
I had a similar idea. But not with a Nokia phone. If you check my review of the Lenovo A60, you’ll realize that this is the perfect Android device that can feed both SUN and Smart. At a retail price of PHP 8,900.00 the phone can be offered for free at a very low plan. Add to the fact that you’re running an Android 2.3 device, it’s too epic to refuse.
Beyond The Box @ One Rockwell is giving away SECRET PRIZES if you buy from them
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 9th, 2011
If you’re buying gadgets from an IT store for the holidays, I highly suggest you grab your gear from Beyond The Box at One Rockwell this December 10-11 2011. That’s because every time you buy something worth PHP 1,000.00 you will be able to rip open an unlabeled box that contains extra loot for the holidays. Imagine buying a pair of earphones and then opening a box to unveil … an iPod nano! Instant win!
Crack open the box and get more than what you pay for at Beyond The Box One Rockwell, the newest Apple Premium Reseller in town as they launch their flagship store! For every minimum purchase of P1,000 of any item each customer will get a loot box containing instant giveaways and the thrill is in the mystery of what you’ll get. The boxes might include a variety of items such as headphones, bluetooth headsets, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, and the quirkiest items! The promo is only going to run for two days, December 10 and 11, so hurry on down to the store because it’s only limited to a total of 100 boxes!
Boy Abunda auctions off his glasses in Ebay Philippines for Charity
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 7th, 2011
So I was browsing Ebay Philippines today and saw this.
Wow, PHP 2,000 pesos starting bid. All items will be donated to the environmental efforts of WWF Philippines.
Microwarehouse Year End Sale 2011: Spend! Spend! Spend!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 6th, 2011
Hope you got your Christmas bonuses early because the sale is already this December 11 and 12 2011!
As always, Microwarehouse has learned from all of the previous sales. Make sure you bring friends as usually, a lot of the items are buy 1 take 1 and it would be great to split the cost among others. The Macs go by really fast. If you’re looking for speakers, this is the best place to buy.
List of SMART LTE sites in the Philippines
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 5th, 2011EDIT: Here’s a visual map of the LTE sites as of Dec 29 2011:
EDIT: Updated list of LTE sites from Smart Communications as of December 13 2011. Please click on the image for full size.
SMART is in the process of rolling out their LTE sites across the nation. I am one of the beta testers involved in this rollout alongside over 120 other civilians. The HUAWEI USB dongle that was provided gets speeds up to 46Mbps which is around half the speed of the proposed LTE Network of SMART Communications. LTE is hardware dependent so even if the network allows for above 70Mbps, the mobile phone or dongle you have will limit the speed. 46Mbps = 5.76MB / second.
This is a list of LTE sites for future reference. I will add to this based on the feedback of the beta test group and personal experiences. Note that this is only an initial list and does not reflect the commercial release of LTE in the Philippines.
List of confirmed LTE Sites in the Philippines
Boracay
Jump Store, Megamall (Cyberzone) — LTE connection is shared via WiFi
Greenbelt 3 (CBTL area)
Greenbelt 2 (Mary Grace area)
Greenbelt 1 (Bon Chon, Starbucks / AIM area)
Promenade, Greenhills (Figaro area)
Festival Mall, Filinvest
List of LTE sites being turned online
** does not reflect the final list of LTE coverage
Quezon City
Cubao
15th Ave Parc
Ateneo
magnolia
UP Diliman
Xavierville
Manila
Singalong
Manila P. Noval
UST
San Juan
Annapolis
PLDT Greenhills
Pasig
Ugong
Meralco Ortigas
Pasay City
SM Mall of Asia
Makati
Greenbelt
PLDT Wise Tower
RC Bldg Pico
VAR
Mandaluyong
Wack Wack
SM Megamall
Muntinlupa
Filinvest City
SmartNet (Netphone) running on iOS 5
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 4th, 2011
The telco industry is always exciting. And when the competitions exchange blows, there’s always the aftermath of awesomeness that, in the end, gives more choices to consumers. In the end, they win.
This is a photo of SmartNet running on iOS (Yes, the iPhone 4s now has Netphone capabilities). Way back in February, I talked about my trip to Barcelona and divulged the whole deal with SmartNet and the Netphone which is essentially Smart’s plans to turn itself into one big social network and make mobile Internet more affordable via smartphones. You, like me, might be thinking “Hey I already use mobile Internet on my phone!” but the truth of the matter is, the Twitter and Facebook we see everyday is one big bubble of the same social circles we have in real life. There are still millions of Filipinos who do not have Internet access but amazingly have found the first entry into cyberspace not from a computer, but from a phone. This credit is actually due to Nokia who sold many GPRS/EDGE-enabled phones in the last 5 years. And that’s the hole SmartNet tries to fill.
SmartNet is rather ubiquitous on Android right now — the 5.3″ version for the Samsung galaxy Note just came out. Another juicy development is that Smartnet is also coming to iOS5 via the iTunes store so that’s a lot of added value if you’re a Smart Subscriber. So the “grand plan” is showing signs barely a year into the Netphone project with Smart releasing the SmartNet platform for both Android and iOS, the top two smartphone platforms in the world. Other platforms coming.
Oh and this company I work with is pretty damn agressive. Just take a look at Social Mention:
Pre-order the iPhone 4s now with SMART. There’s a lot more added value with this telco. Plus the data network is much better.
The inventor of the Rickroll makes himself known
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 4th, 2011
Over 54 million views. These are the video statistics of the very first “Rickroll” video done in 2007 by YouTube user “Cotter548.” He recently did an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit and the story, like most videos that went viral on the Internet were really just lucky accidents compounded with the right timing. In his case, it was a combination of the GTA IV release together with Family Guy picking up the steam. Have a read.
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.
