The #SMARTHTC Event was trending worldwide on Twitter

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 8th, 2011

I can’t remember — was it 8 glasses of Grey Goose on Sprite? Basta. As far as I can remember everything was a blur. SMART and HTC were giving out ChaCha and Sensation smartphones like there was a huge surplus and the event was trending worldwide on Twitter for a couple of hours.

That event was epic. SMART announced their exclusive partnership with HTC for carrying all their smart phones. It’s part of their positioning as the Android brand in the Philippines.

Disclosure: I’m a consultant for SMART Communications.

HTC ChaCha: The Facebook phone you’ve been waiting for! (Part II)

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at June 27th, 2011

This is the second part of a two part series. Part I can be found here.
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Hands on with the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at May 19th, 2011

Yes it may be made out of cheap plastic but that doesn’t mean this phone isn’t a looker. The XPERIA Arc from Sony Ericsson is one of the rare Android 2.3 Gingerbread-ready phones in the local market today (the other one being the HTC Desire S). This is an “Acceptance Unit” which simply means that it is, like us, waiting for someone to accept us for who we really are.

OK seriously, more photos after the jump.
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If you have a great story to tell, you can win PHP 100,000.00

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at May 16th, 2011

Just in case you haven’t seen it, this is SMART’s new corporate thematic AVP. From “Simply Amazing” to “Make Life Extraordinary.” Got word that they’re making a version II of this but instead of stuff they pulled from their briefs (teehee get it?!) the ad will be a crowd-sourced from videos, photos and testimonials from Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2006 … You.

Hey it’s a fun way to win PHP 100,000.00. Check it out.

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On a more personal note, I was invited to give two speeches about **drumroll** .. SOCIAL MEDIA again!!! The first was held in Cebu for the SMART Schools Conference and the second was for their townhall meeting. I was absolutely floored to be part of panels composed of Bam Aquino, Professor Michael Tan of UP Diliman, and visionary corporate leader Vivian Tan.

I didn’t go into the nitty gritty of social media this and that so I wanted to present two different ways of looking at this phenomenon. The first was a talk addressing school presidents, deans and administrators from 300 campuses around the country. My short presentation had the overarching theme of “being a product of your own time” and how the youth are challenged with daily revolutions and conflicts on the Internet compared to how the other generation had EDSA I and their parents, WW II.

The second talk was a more practical application of social media and I decided to show off my diving photos and videos and how sharing these over the web helped connect what we see to other people interested in our country’s biodiversity.

The points of both talks was quite simple: social media is nothing more than being able to tell a good story.

SMART Communications launches LTE

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 18th, 2011

By the time you read this post, I’m still in the middle of the ocean, finishing our last day of diving Tubbataha Reef. When I get back, I fly, almost immediately to Boracay. I’m there with my partner-in-crime Andi9 so we’ll be streaming live soon!

SMART is launching LTE technology and doing the entire demo in Boracay.

LTE is a modulation technique that is designed to deliver 100Mbps (DL) per channel and give individual users performance comparable to today’s wired broadband. It was bound to happen. The question was when. To put things into simpler terms let’s have a look at a short history of how mobile phones work:

2G GSM Technology
Remember your Nokia 5110 and 3210? There. Calls and SMS. That was 2G connectivity.

2.5G Technology
This was the first shot into surfing the Internet with your phone but we were using WAP sites. Remember WAP? Yung parang pangit na website designed for mobile phones using GPRS? That was it. Add your ringtones and picture messages. It got a little better when phones started using EDGE connectivity (popular with BlackBerry then) but that was still not …

3G and 3.5G Technology
This is Internet today. It’s workable but not comparable to the wired connections we have at home. You could surf, email, chat, do your social networking, but it was honestly a bit hard to do things like online gaming and downloading huge files.

4G Technology
This is the next generation of connectivity. 100MBPS. On your phone. Built on top of existing technology. No, you cannot use your current phones or USB dongles to access these speeds. The only phone I know that’s capable of accessing this network is the HTC Thunderbolt. Yeah I think SMART is deploying LTE at the same time as Verizon in the USA. Not sure if the Thunderbolt is launching here though because there’s a slight difference in setup with the LTE here and the one in the USA. I heard they’re shipping in dongles.

So yes if you’re planning on buying a new USB dongle for mobile Internet, I suggest you wait a few. That’s because you can practically achieve faster speeds with costs similar to your current plans.

I’m not sure when exactly SMART is making the commercial announcement (i.e. data plans and rates) but if you leave a comment here they will probably get back to you as a number of them read this cute site.

Oh and just one more thing. In case you’re wondering what the difference between LTE and WiMax is, well the former is GSM-based technology: phones. While WiMax involves a completely new set of hardware and is designed for WiMax-enabled devices.

Seen at MWC: Prototype Netphones and Netphone Tablets

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 15th, 2011

So it appears that the Netphone isn’t just one phone. It’s a brand! I was made privy (well, me and all 60,000 people) to prototypes of future devices that carry the Netphone branding that will be launched by SMART.

Seen here are the Netphone tablet, an entry level Netphone running on Brew (the white one) and the Netphone we’ve previously seen running Android 2.2. All these are part of the WAC initiative, meaning the Jollibee app you see can be made available across several platforms (i.e. Android, Brew, etc) without having to create multiple apps for different platforms. In the same way, telcos from other countries that are part of the WAC initiative can also choose to apply these apps to their store.

SPECULATION: This is actually big. Remember the Sandbox project I helped move forward several months ago? In a way, this is it’s second iteration. Imagine a BlackBerry Messenger-like service but applies to everyone who has Netphone devices. SMART is re-building its own community of subscribers by interconnecting them to one another. So instead of committing to one device platform, WAC enables SMART to use several phone platforms to interconnect. This definitely makes sense since the Philippines is primarily a feature phone market (i.e. the white Brew-enabled Netphone) but recognizing the fact that smartphones and tablets are the big thing for the upper income brackets. END OF SPECULATION.

Day 0: Jollibee Android Application seen on SMART Netphone

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at February 14th, 2011

You’ve seen it here folks. Looks like Jollibee will be raking in a new market demographic. Since this app is WAC-enabled, it will allow any telco to house the application. The app has the potential to integrate with your payment gateway (in this case either COD or SMART Money). Watch the video.

“Jayvee, you’re the first person outside Microsoft Philippines to see this”

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at October 16th, 2010

EDIT: My friend Johnny Benitez from Microsoft has also posted his first impressions on Facebook.

Before I continue let me just say that I haven’t felt the adrenaline of chancing upon a gadget like this since the early 2000′s. Back then when it was a battle between Palm and Windows Mobile, I’d have Elbert Cuenca calling us to hurry over to Microwarehouse to see a then flagship m515 in the flesh, complete with blurry photos. I had been working on getting this scoop for a while and finally, effort paid off.

This is an industry exclusive. I’m apparently the first person outside Microsoft Philippines to be able to hold the new HTC Mozart, the first Windows Phone 7 device launching before the holidays. Thinking of an iPhone for Christmas? Hold your horses first.

Above: The new events calendar is color coded to match different synched accounts (via email including Google Calendar, Microsoft Exchange Server) and yeah even Facebook Events … all color coded baby.

Here’s what you need to know:
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How to set up Nokia Messaging on the E72 with SMART

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 2nd, 2010

I procured a Nokia E72 from SMART over the holidays. They’re offering it on retention so if you’re a SMART subscriber and due for a new phone from them, Santa SMART might be able to help you with their brand new selection. Simultaneously, I activated Nokia Messaging, the Finnish quasi-equivalent to push email for BlackBerry users.
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Hands on with the HTC Magic exclusively from SMART

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 7th, 2009

Because Rico shot this phone while we were dining at Soms tonight, I promised to have my short feature of the HTC Magic up before the morrow so that he could link back to my “scoop.” Before anything else, let me list the pricing scheme of the device which is available exclusively through SMART. The unit alone is quite expensive for a device that uses the Android platform at 39,900.00 (shouldn’t open source not have heavy licensing fees?).

With a plan, the costs will look like this:
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5 good reasons to join Sandbox

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 22nd, 2009

I’ve written about it before, but here’s a more itemized post what I found most interesting with the Sandbox project. These are ultimately the reasons why I immediately signed up for the project when it was presented as a mere concept just a few months ago.

1. Your friends are most probably already there
When Sandbox launched in April it had a few hundred beta testers who were members of mainstream and online publications. Communities have been growing at a steady rate across all spectra — video gaming, anime, tech, love, blogging advice, photography, food and dining .. the list goes on. And, if you can’t find a group that fits you, why not create your own?

2. It is built as a one stop shop
There are two components to Sandbox – the user generated features that’s composed of the social network aspect, blogging platform, and photo / video uploads and an online content store where you can download games and music (P30.00 per song, cheaper than iTunes). Sandbox integrates what’s on your web browser with your mobile in your account creation page thus when you order items from your desktop or laptop, the information is pushed to your phone.

3. It has tangible benefits
Not that I have anything against other social networks, but this is the first locally developed one that actively gives out rewards and benefits to its members. So apart from the fulfillment you get with connecting with your friends, there are true offline benefits for participating in promotions and campaigns.

4. You can make money
Because Sandbox is locally developed, there are more interesting opportunities for you to make money through the system. Apart from an advertising platform within Sandbox that is currently being developed, there are going to be other engagements that will allow Sandbox netizens to build their online real estate such as the mobile site development. During the beta brief, Anton discussed the feasibility of growing your community. Just like with blogs, your real estate inside Sandbox values over time, especially when you grab potentially high ranking keywords.

5. It is continuously being improved
So really, the most exciting thing about Sandbox is that it is continuously being improved based on the feedback from the community. I’ll be the first to say that what you’re currently seeing is still the tip of the iceberg and the team led by Rezza Custodio has been actively looking into feedback. Of course, change doesn’t happen overnight but the plans for the future of Sandbox will take a stronger stance on Web 2.0. So yeah, tell your friends!