PS3 Exclusive The Last of Us now available in the Philippines
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at June 18th, 2013
There’s a lot of life left in the PS3 even post-E3 and that’s saying a lot. As the current generation of consoles come to a close, the PS3 has aged gracefully. While Sony is set to release the PS4 this November, they’ve given gamers a sweet parting gift — The Last of Us. Developed by Naughty Dog (in my opinion the best AAA-game studio developer also responsible for the Uncharted series), this PS3-exclusive has a hype that truly does justice to the actual product, from more than two years of previews, teasers, live-action trailers and let’s play videos. It’s finally here.
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BlackBerry Q10 with QWERTY keyboard and LTE available TODAY for PHp 31,990.00
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at June 7th, 2013
Several weeks ago I reviewed the first BlackBerry 10 handheld to hit local shores, the BB Z10. It was essentially the Canadian company’s foray into a revamped OS to keep up with the ever-changing market. In that review I basically spelled out how the new OS is both condemning and innovative: the new OS doesn’t provide any new innovation that makes it stand out (unless of course you’re a BlackBerry Hub loyalist in which case my argument is moot) but it also has something great going for it — Android compatibility. This is what I had to say back then regarding that:
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SMART Communications launches LTE Prepaid Services and Plans
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 26th, 2013
Bit of ‘late’ news here. Last week, SMART Communications launched their prepaid LTE service which means that you can now avail of LTE signals without the need of a phone plan. The LTE SIM card costs PHP 350.00 if you plan on using it with your current LTE-compatible phone. If you want the LTE USB plug-it, this will set you back by PHP 5,995 for the dongle and SIM. If you intend to share your LTE with multiple devices, this will set you back by PHP 6,995. Speeds up to 42 mbps. In terms of sachet connections, here are the keywords for LTE plans. The most ‘sulit’ is the unlimited 995 Plan.
LTE 50 P50 1 day Text LTE 50 to 2200
LTE 299 P299 7 days Text LTE 299 to 2200
LTE 995 P995 30 days Text LTE 995 to 2200
Introducing the HUAWEI Ascend W1, Windows Phone 8 for only PHP 8,990
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 22nd, 2013
Whoa! Windows Phone 8 for less that P10,000? Nice! Last week, Microsoft Philippines together with HUAWEI unveiled a sub-10k smartphone running on the latest Windows Phone 8 operating system. Historically, there have been other Windows Phone devices that have been released for less than P10,000 yet cannot be upgraded to the latest OS.
Here are the specs:
480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches
5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Qualcomm MSM8230 Snapdragon
Dual-core 1.2 GHz Krait with Adreno 305 GPU
microSD expansion up to 32 GB
Internal 4GB storage with 512MB RAM
Ascend W1 Huawei's First Windows Phone 8 Smartphone Now Out at P8990_12April2013 (6)
An hour with the Samsung Note 8
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 16th, 2013
The Samsung Note 8 retails at PHP 23,990.00 for the 3G version. The LTE version is not available in the Philippines. If you are looking for a deal, the Note 8 is available for free on PLAN 1699 on SUN Cellular and it comes with a FREE Samsung Galaxy S3 mini smartphone!
I got to sit down at a quaint dinner as the reps from Samsung ran me through their new baby, the Samsung Note 8. It’s quite obvious where Samsung gets their inspiration (having been an Apple OEM) and as a market leader and Android poster boy in the smartphone and tablet segment, competition with Apple is stiff. The Samsung Note 8 borrows much from two predecessors — the love child between the Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Note producing an offspring that’s wee-in between the size of both devices and retaining the S-pen. In a nutshell, the Note 8 is an enlarged Note II (or a smaller Tab 10.1).
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BRAVEN BRV-1 weatherproof wireless speakers + charger goes for PHP 7,450.00
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 15th, 2013
BRAVEN. I love this word. This is because it sounds like one of my favorite descriptors in the English language — the adjective ‘brazen’ which meant ‘without fear or shame.’ And perhaps this descriptor is apt as a brand name for hands down, the most impressive rugged portable speaker system I have encountered.
Many brands take portability to the next level by displaying a line of speakers that’s centered more on portability than function and with this norm dominating the ‘casual’ speaker scene, this is something completely different. The BRAVEN’s BRV-1 is king of the hill of portable speakers: rugged, light, wireless, splash-proof and wow, the sound (WOW!). I was completely blown away when I first turned it on in my living room: 6 watts of booming audio filled the space. None of that rickety audio that seems like it’s coming out of a tin can: Full bass, full mids and great highs. The BRV-1 is about the size of a DSLR (body only) giving it enough oomph for the bass to tremble.
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A review of the BlackBerry Z10
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 20th, 2013
Before we talk about the BlackBerry I’d like to momentarily digress you, the reader, to a time back in the year 2000 when a company known as 3COM unveiled their new trade name under Palm Inc. It was, henceforth the company that brought memorable palm pilot devices such as the m515, the Zire, Tungsten, Lifedrive and of course, the Treo series which arguably became the basis of the modern day smartphone. Five years later, the company renamed itself into palmOne, and then after a number of months reverted back to the original name, Palm. In 2009, we all said goodbye to the iconic ecosystem, which was in turn replaced by webOS (which was then bought and then sold once more by HP).
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Nokia Lumia 620 pegged at PHP 11,600
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 22nd, 2013
Nokia has put a price tag on its entry-level follow up to the Lumia 610. The new Lumia 620, pegged at PHP 11,600 comes with the following tech specs:
5MP main camera and secondary front-facing VGA camera
Windows Phone 8 software
PhotoBeamer (free) for photo sharing
Snapdragon™ S4 Dual-core 1.0GHz
3.8″ LCD screen
microSIM slot
NFC enabled
1300 mAh battery life
512 MB RAM and 8GB internal storage (additional 7GB online with Skydrive)
Up to 64GB microSD card slot
Nokia Lumia 620 Philippines by
Nokia 206; dual SIM, 28 day standby time for PHP 2,850
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 8th, 2013
This is Nokia’s entry-level “206″ model that costs PHP 2,850. If you know anyone that needs an updated feature phone for calls and text and yeah a bit of Facebook, this is something you can recommend.
That’s all folks!
• Imaging technology that optimizes photos taken with its 1.3MP camera for sharing on Facebook
• A comprehensive social and mobile entertainment package with eBuddy Chat and a gift pack of 10 free, premium content items.
• Exclusive Easy Swap technology that enables consumers to change SIM cards without having to turn off the device.
• The Nokia 206 remember the settings of up to five SIM cards making it easy to switch between making calls or using the Internet
• An impressive standby time of up to 28 days.
Hands on with the Lenovo Ideaphone S720; dual SIM 4.5″ screen sells for PHP 9,999.00
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 29th, 2013
UPDATE: If you’re interested in Lenovo’s P-series (with long life battery) do check out the Lenovo P770.
If you’re a close follower of Lenovo’s release schedule for phones, you’ll notice that they churn out about four or five units a quarter. At the recent CES, Lenovo unveiled five new phones for Q1 2013. We have one of these units now. The Ideaphone S720 is the perfect choice if you’re looking for a sub 10k Android device with a 4.5″ screen.
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Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is PHP 2,495.00 at Datablitz
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 22nd, 2013
Finally, the PS3 exclusive, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is now available locally via everyone’s favorite Datablitz. Ni No Kuni is a refreshing (and absolutely beautiful) revisit to classic Japanese RPG’s. If you want over 40 hours of amazing gaming bliss, this will only set you back by PHP 2,500.00. It’s very worth it.
