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List of SMART LTE sites in the Philippines

EDIT: Here’s a visual map of the LTE sites as of Dec 29 2011:

High resolution version here

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

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SmartNet (Netphone) running on iOS 5

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.

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The inventor of the Rickroll makes himself known

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.

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It Begins: Holiday Online Shopping Spree

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.

Continue reading “It Begins: Holiday Online Shopping Spree”
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Nightfall: Martial Law

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.

Read more.