Because of Microbiology, Google Grow Biologically

I don’t have much idea about microbiology, and that’s probably the reason why I was amazed a bit when I saw this video posted by the search giant just recently.

Two microbiologists in the name of Dr. Edward Johnson and Clayton Wright conducted an experiment that will “grow Google” using samples of bacteria. Really quite strange, but they were able to form the Google logo in exact colors by culturing such microorganism. Watch the video below to see how they “grow” the already grown giant.







Oh yeah, Microbiology triumphs again!

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Windows Phone 7 Theme for iPhone and iPod Touch Started to Show Up

This may not be the entire Windows Phone 7 OS ported to Apple iOS (I don’t even think it’s possible) – but having just a theme that can be installed on your iPhone and iPod Touch devices is something you could imagine and feel how is it playing on the Windows Phone 7 intuitive interface.



Yes, the very first Windows Phone 7 theme for iPhone and iPod Touch started to show up and guess what? It’s incredibly awesome as it brings Live tiles and application lists, and several features including Start Menu customization. We only got few details for now, but the good thing is we got some screenshots how it looks in your iPhone and iPod Touch.

More amazement from the demo video after the break…







The official release of Windows Phone 7 theme for iPhone and iPod Touch is not yet available for download, but the creator who’s currently polling for the price, already posted a public Beta for you to try. If you want to participate, head over to the forum via this link.



And oh, I guess we have to say “hi” to HTC 7 Surround, HD7, and of course Trophy and Mozart. No, it won’t beat the full experience on the Windows Phone 7 handsets. Really... J



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Angry Birds Rio is Coming… and They Need Your Help!

Okay… Okay… Okay… You play Angry Birds, right? Well, so am I. I personally loved it. It’s incredibly addictive, yet not boring.

And if you think it will only end on your smartphones and tablet devices, you got yourself wrong. We already proved that. And what's more, Angry Birds will also hit on big screens, the theaters, comes April 15th this year. Exciting, eh?

Angry Birds maker, Rovio, together with the creators of ICE AGE, the 20th Century Fox - announced recently that they will be releasing an animated feature film entitled “RIO”. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, Tracy Morgan, and George Lopez – “Rio” will hit theaters this summer.



The storyline goes…

Not long after they arrive, Blu and Jewel are kidnapped by a group of bungling animal smugglers. With the help of street smart Jewel, and a group of wise-cracking and smooth-talking city birds, Blu escapes. Now, with his new friends by his side, Blu will have to find the courage to learn to fly, thwart the kidnappers who are hot on their trail, and return to Linda, the best friend a bird ever had.

Rio Trailer...





The story doesn't end there, Angry Birds fans, ‘coz prior to the release of the movie – a new version of this popular game called Angry Birds Rio will be available for download on your smart phones and tablets, basically iOS and Android-based devices. The game will come with 45 dedicated levels and with added new levels via updates. There’s no pricing details announced yet, but we’ll uncover that soon.

In Angry Birds Rio, the original Angry Birds are kidnapped and taken to the magical city of Rio, where they eventually escape their captors and set out to save their friends, Blu and Jewel – two rare macaws and the stars of the upcoming Fox motion picture, Rio. Angry Birds Rio will pair the physics-based gameplay of the original game with unique twists based on the highly-anticipated film.

Got a glimpse with the trailer and I realized the flocks really need our help. Can't imagine how badly they need your help? Hit the video after the break.

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Which KamaSutra Laptop Positions Are You?

In a workplace, it’s important to consider good practice in Ergonomics, thus having a proper ergonomic design on equipments particularly those designed for people working with computers could prevent strain injuries and disabilities in the long run.



These days, consumers have a wide-range of laptop selections to choose, yet it’s still up to the user’s lifestyle concerning ergonomic care that he has to become accustomed with, keeping him safe from physical damages. I got here a picture showing 16 different Kama Sutra positions when using a laptop. Nope, it’s not the usual picture you’ve probably been thinking; this one is something sketched creatively which reminds you of a wrong ergonomic practice if you’re into some of these Kama Sutra positions.

Click to enlarge

I understand it’s so strange posting this kind of article, but the point is – laptop users really have to make use of it safely, that is ergonomically. So, which KamaSutra laptop positions are you?

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Featuring Sony PlayStation Meeting 2011 Videos

I’m going to watch later the replay videos of the recent Sony PlaySation Meeting 2011 held in Tokyo, Japan.

I’ve been waiting for the HD version with language translation (‘coz honestly I don’t understand Sir Kaz Hirai talking in his native languageJ) - and finally Sony posted the videos from the event, thanks to a sweet feminine voice-over. At least we can still feel the excitement though we already have idea what had been revealed, the Next Generation Portable and PlayStation Suite. I decided posting the videos here before watching my own downloaded copies. And here it is, sorted in six parts, the Sony PlayStation Meeting 2011! Enjoy watching!



























Done? Have something to say? Hit the comment section below.

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Selling Gadgets in AyosDito.ph is as easy as Uploading Photos in Facebook

Think about it. You have a gadget (a phone, a gaming console, a laptop, and etc.) you’re about to sell, because it has of no use for you anymore; probably because you got a new and upgraded model or perhaps you just really need an extra cash.



Now you realized it’s extremely awful selling the gadget somewhere in the internet, like in some buy and sell forums, bombarded by mixed and unorganized categories. The scenario even become worst that your ad posting is not visible in the threads anymore because it has been pushed down to the last page by non-stop bumps from competitors. Your last resort then would be a dedicated buy and sell marketplace in which you can sell your gadget easily and fast.

I got a Flip Mino HD last year, a cool portable HD camcorder which I used to record videos mostly in unexpected moments. Such gadget was incredibly cool that it won’t require you to use 3rd party video editing software due to its good quality when you upload it to your computer. But time comes I realized I don’t need it anymore, though I really valued its worth since it was a gift from a friend. Nonetheless, I decided to sell it online anyway through AyosDito.ph – just another player in the country for online classified ads.

Here in the Philippines, AyosDito.ph is not a new name anymore, proven by its wide audience (both seller and buyer) as well as its traffic rank in the country. And as an internet-savvy kiddo, there’s no reason I wouldn’t try selling items through the site.

I posted my own ad for Flip Mino HD using a single detailed photo of the gadget, plus the details required in the 1-2-3 ad posting process. Of course I left a contact number for a faster transaction, and guess what – hours after I confirmed the auto-generated verification link sent to my email after posting the ad, I got an SMS message from a potential buyer of the Flip. Interesting!

If you’ll ask me why or that would make sense if you’ll ask how- it’s because I only posted the ad targeting potential buyers in the Central Visayas region. Basically, a buyer will find the latest “for sale” items on his vicinity, be it an expensive computer accessories, cheap laptops, or any gadgets of his interest. Because of how the ad listing is organized and categorized, your ads definitely have a potential of being sold in no time. Plus, there’s the social feature on every ad listing that will gain your ad more exposure to social networking sites.



Based on experience, I’m actually thinking selling gadgets online through AyosDito.ph is as easy as uploading photos to Facebook. But I’d prefer the first one, perhaps you already knew why. Don’t you? And oh, by the way, don’t search for the Flip Mino HD in the site – it had been sold already. Thanks to the functionality built into the site that will allow users to delete posted ad when the item is already sold.



How about you, have you tried selling items through AyosDito.ph? How about buying? Please do share your views.

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WTH! iPhone 4 is Controlling a Helicopter!

So you were amazed last week with the Nokia C7 controlling a BMW car? Well if you’ll ask me, I was certainly amazed.

But hey, Smartphone Integration on vehicles like BMW is available on Apple devices, too. Though it won’t probably work the same way Smartphone Integration originally designed, the bottom line is the fact that those Chinese folks were able to interface their own program to communicate and control the BMW.

And talking about iPhone, we know that there are other stuffs Sir Jobs’ craft can do more than what it has been intended to do. Oh yeah, Apple has an app for that! It has been proven more with this copter flying around in a small city somewhere in the west; don’t be too much ambitious by the way as I'm just kidding, it’s just in the R-O-O-M. Forgive me; it’s not the Boeing Chinook or any rotorcraft you were thinking after reading the title of this postJ. It’s just the AppToyz Helicopter worth 80-bucks. Want to see it? Check the video after the break.

If you’re wondering how it works, the iPhone is being used as a remote control utilizing not the built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth wireless connectivity options – but probably through Radio Frequency or RF. There’s the AppCopter device plugged through the iPhone’s headphone jack instead of the dock connector, wirelessly communicating to the copter. Warning, it’s enticing!



This toy will be available in April, so just stay tuned to receive future updates.



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Sony Unveiled Next Generation of Portable Gaming, codenamed: NGP

While pushing minor system software update to PS3 devices, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. unveiled yesterday its next generation portable gaming console codenamed NGP.

The NGP is what we first learned as the PSP 2, a refresh to the early models of popular Sony PSP launched back in late 2004 in Japan and in the early quarter of 2005 in Western countries.

Sony NGP

The Next Generation Portable or NGP is powered by an ARM Cortex A9 (4 core) processor, together with the SGX543MP4+ GPU. It features a 5-inch multi-touch organic LED at the front display, and a capacitive multi-touch pad on the rear of the device. Unlike the first-gen, this handheld console now has dual analog sticks, has two cameras (front and rear), 3 motion sensors, gyroscope, accelerometer, electronic compass, and support for 3G connectivity.

Of course there’s still the Wi-Fi capability for a better experience on the PSN which will have an added new features like “LiveArea”, a place to share fun and excitement with other players; “Activity”, logs in which NGP users can check other players’ activity on the same game title; and “Near”, a location-based application that will allow users to find out what games are being played in the same vicinity (thanks to its built-in GPS and Wi-Fi location service support).



The NGP will debut at the end of this year, probably mid-December if Sony follows similar roadmap with the first-gen PSP. Interesting!

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Sony Push PS3 Update 3.56 While Having PlayStation Meeting in Japan

Just in case you haven’t learned yet, Sony is having a PlayStation event in Tokyo, Japan as of this writing.

The event is focused more on PSP, the cross-platform development framework called PlayStation Suite, the new licensing program called PlayStation Certified, PlayStation Store for Android devices, its Next Generation Portable (NGP) handheld gaming console next to PSP (unconfirmed yet if it’s the PSP2), and etc. (Updates to follow...)

And while Sony’s PlayStation Meeting is going on, it’s also silently pushing update to PS3 devices. The new software update, PS3 System Software Update v3.56, is a minor update that adds a security patch – but speculations are it targets patching the security flaw exploited on the PS3 jailbreak. We can recall that Sony also pushed PS3 firmware update v3.55 last month, so it appears that didn’t fully work in due time.



If you got a PS3 console connected to the PlayStation Network, expect to receive updates in the next few hours. Or perhaps you already have it, do you?

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Nokia X2-01 Philippine Sale, Price Drop to Php 3,950 This Saturday, January 29th

Here we go again Cebu Tech Blogger fans, just another “One Time, Big Time!” promo courtesy of Nokia Philippines.

This Saturday, January 29th, you’ll get a chance to buy the Nokia X2-01 feature phone for as low as Php 3,950 (Php 1,000 off the original SRP). There will be 97 participating Nokia Stores and retailers in the country, and the good thing it’s a one-day event. Check the flyer below.

The Nokia X2-01 is a quad-band feature phone released early this year. Full features include:

• Series 40 Interface


• 2.4-inches TFT screen (320 x 240 px)


• Full QWERTY keyboard (with 1-click access to email, social networking, and chat)


• 55 MB Internal memory, with microSD expansion slot up to 8 GB


• 64 MB RAM


• 128 MB ROM


• 2G (GSM 850/900/1800/1900)


• GPRS


• EDGE


• Bluetooth


• MicroUSB


• VGA camera at 640 x 480 pixels


• Video playback, 176 x 144 at 15 fps


• 3.5 AV connector and built-in hands free speaker


• WAP browser


• Radio


• Standard Li-ion 1020 battery


• 107.5 g


• 119.4 x 59.8 x 14.3 mm

The Nokia X2-01 is promised to offer up to 48 hours stand-by and up to 4.5 hours in talk time. The phone comes with built-in games in which you can add more through downloads. It also comes with standard Java mobile apps including support for MP3, MP4, and voice memo. Should I mention the Nokia Stereo WH-102 headset that's included in the package?



If this type of feature phone is something that interests you, check the complete list of participating stores below and don’t forget to visit them this Saturday.



Megacell Ermita

Hello Festival

Wellcom Festival

Junrex Ayala Premium Shop Cebu

Junrex Gaisano Mactan

Junrex Gaisano Metro Colon

Junrex Marina Mall cebu

Junrex SM city Cebu

Wellcom Marilao

Megacell Market Market

Hello Megamall

Wellcom Megamall

Junrex Mobile City, ICM Tagbilaran bohol

Wellcom Nokia Concept Store- Rockwell

Wellcom Nokia Concept Store- Trinoma

Wiltelcom Nokia Store - GenSan

Junrex Nokia Store- Ayala Cebu

MX Nokia Store- Glorietta

Graphics Nokia Store- Limketkai

Silicon Valley Nokia Store- Podium

Hello Nokia Store- Robinsons Galleria

Junrex Nokia Store- SM Cebu

MX Nokia Store- SM North EDSA

Wellcom Nokia Store- Sta. Rosa

Newingtel Nokia Store- The Fort

Wellcom North EDSA

Wellcom SM Dasmarinas

Wellcom SM Fairview

Hello SM Makati

Megacell SM Manila

Hello SM San Lazaro

Wellcom SM Sta. Rosa

Wiltelcom Cotabato

Wiltelcom KCC Mall General Santos

Wiltelcom Midsayap

Wiltelcom NCCC Mall

Wiltelcom Robinsons Gensan

Wiltelcom Spazzio Gaisano Mall

Wiltelcom Victoria Plaza

8Telcom Panabo City

8Telcom Spazzio Gaisano Mall

8Telcom Victoria Plaza

Abenson Caloocan

ABENSON FARMERS CUBAO

ABENSON MARKET MARKET

Abenson SM San Lazaro

Abenson Sta. Lucia

ABENSON WALTER MART SAN FERNADO

Abeson Calamba

Abenson AVANT ATC

Abenson Avant Greenbelt

Abenson Avant Trinoma

Cellcom Main, Tacloban

Cellcom Ormoc

Cellcom Robinson's Mall Tacloban

Cellcom Salazar, Tacloban

Cellcom Zamora, Tacloban

Abenson ELECTROWORLD ATC

Abenson ELECTROWORLD PARK SQUARE

Abenson ELECTROWORLD SM SAN LAZARO

Abenson ELECTROWORLD TRINOMA

Megacell Metro East

Abenson Nokia Concept Store -SM Mall of Asia

Megacell Nokia Concept Store- SM Batangas

Mobile Experts Nokia Store- ATC

QSL Nokia Store- Dagupan

Globotel Nokia Store- Gateway

MX Nokia Store- G-Mall Davao

Globotel Nokia Store- Greenbelt

Fone Style Accessories Nokia Store- Greenhills

Gentext Nokia Store- Pampanga

Globotel Nokia Store- Robinsons Ermita

Cellcom Nokia Store- Robinsons Tacloban

POS Nokia Store- SM Bacolod

Herrera Nokia Store- SM Davao

M2 Mobile Nokia Store- SM Fairview

POS Nokia Store- SM Iloilo

BSD Nokia Store- SM Manila

Hello Nokia Store- SM Megamall

Megacell Nokia Store- SM Southmall

Gentext Nokia Store- SM Tarlac

Power Telecom Nokia Store- SM Taytay

Megacell Nokia Store- Tomas Morato

Hello North EDSA

Megacell North EDSA

POS Digital Araneta Bacolod

POS Digital Marymart, iloilo

POS Digital Robinson's Dumaguete

POS Digital Robinson's Place Bacolod

POS Digital Robinson's Place Bacolod

POS Digital SM City Bacolod

POS Digital SM City Iloilo

Megacell SM Dasmarinas

Megacell SM Lipa

Hello SM Mall of Asia

Hello Sta. Mesa

Presnet Nokia Store- SM Calamba



That's a long list we got here, folks! J

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BlackBerry Bold 9780 Gets Official in the Philippines… the Price?

Wait no more, BlackBerry fans! Almost three months since the official release in Canada, the new BlackBerry Bold 9780 is officially here in the Philippines.

And if you were not tempted with that sexy Torch because of its steeper price, this bolder and sweeter genus of RIM’s BlackBerry Bold handsets, lusting BlackBerry 6 OS in a 2.4-inch display could be a better choice. Though there’s no official pricing posted in the PR, a wilder presumption would be in the range of Php 22K to Php 24K. But anyway, we’ll let you know once our favorite Telcos post their plans for BlackBerry Bold 9780. Want it cheaper? Let’s say “Hi!” to Globe Telecom, Smart, and Sun Cellular.



BlackBerry Bold 9780 is the first model in the Bold series to run the latest BlackBerry 6 OS, and for you to take a glimpse the new features and interface, hit the video after the break.







Click to Read Press Release

RIM Introduces the New BlackBerry Bold 9780 Smartphone in the Philippines



Manila, the Philippines - 26 January 2011 – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today introduced the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9780 smartphone – the newest addition to the BlackBerry Bold series of smartphones – in the Philippines. Featuring a premium and iconic design with an incredibly easy-to-use keyboard and optical trackpad, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 is elegantly styled and packed with advanced communications and multimedia features. It is also the first BlackBerry Bold smartphone to come with the new BlackBerry® 6 operating system.



Gregory Wade, Managing Director of Southeast Asia, RIM, said: “The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is a powerful and feature-rich smartphone with an exceptional keyboard and a compact and stylish design. It comes with the popular new BlackBerry 6 operating system and delivers a truly outstanding mobile experience. We are confident that the BlackBerry Bold 9780 will be well received by customers in the Philippines.”



The BlackBerry Bold 9780 offers a compelling blend of features, performance and design. It supports 3G networks around the world, as well as Wi-Fi® connectivity and GPS for location-based applications and geo-tagging. Its 5 MP camera comes with a full complement of high-end features including continuous auto focus, scene modes, image stabilisation, flash and video recording. The BlackBerry Bold 9780 also includes 512 MB Flash memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB of storage.



The new BlackBerry 6 operating system retains the familiar and trusted features that distinguish the BlackBerry brand while delivering a fresh, approachable and engaging experience that’s powerful and easy to use. It integrates a new and rich WebKit-based browser that renders HTML web pages quickly and beautifully for a great browsing experience. The browser offers fluid navigation using the handset's optical trackpad, includes tabs for accessing multiple sites simultaneously and provides a zoom feature that can intelligently auto-wrap text in a column while maintaining the placement of a page's key elements for easier viewing.



Additional features of BlackBerry 6 include expanded messaging capabilities with intuitive features to simplify the management of social networking and RSS feeds (Social Feeds), and integrated access to BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger), Facebook®, Twitter™, MySpace™ and various instant messaging applications on the BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone. Its enhanced multimedia experience rivals the best in the industry and includes a dedicated YouTube app. It also features redesigned Music and Pictures applications and a new universal search feature that allows users to more effectively search for content on the smartphone as well as extend their search to the Internet or to discover applications on BlackBerry App World™.



The BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone is now available from carriers and authorised distributors in the Philippines. For more information, please visit this link

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MS Office for Mac 2011, Free 30-Day Trial

Got one of those two ultra-thin MacBook Air notebooks from Apple? Well, I guess you now understand why Microsoft launched the latest Mac version of its office suite on the same month the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air came out.

Needless to say, the scheduled release really makes sense due to expected growth of MacBook users by then. It was probably a great launch for Microsoft that they has gone past its internal sales milestone; and to give a chance for those users who wish trying out the features and experience working with the new Office for Mac 2011 – Microsoft is now offering a free 30-day trial of the software. To get your copy, head over to this download page, enter the required details and you’re good to go.

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Globe Telecom SuperFree Weekends; Free 200 Texts and 1-Hour Mobile Internet for Prepaid Subscribers

I was watching ABS-CBN's TV patrol last night when a commercial by Globe Telecom was aired in the middle of the newscast.

The company launched a new month-long promo for its prepaid subscribers called SuperFree Weekends.

Globe SuperFree Weekends promo allows prepaid subscribers to get FREE 200 texts to all networks, plus 1 hour of mobile phone internet from Saturday to Sunday provided the subscribers load at least P199 from Monday to Friday!



When a subscriber reached Php 199 worth of load during weekdays, he will get a confirmation message from Globe and the subscriber will be asked to send SUPERFREE to 8888 on Saturday to claim the reward. It’s simple as that.



Globe says all loading denominations are included except for Share-A-Load. The promo will run until February 16th- that means you only have 3 more weeks to go. If you’re a subscriber who consumes more than Php 200 worth of load in a week, Globe SuperFree Weekends promo is definitely for you!

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Samsung Philippines Drops Prices for Galaxy 5, Champ, Corby, B7722 and Punch!

It has been a long time since we got pinged with the latest “sale”, as they say, of the coolest handsets available in local stores here in the Philippines.

This time, we got another one from Samsung. Sammy’s kids including the Galaxy 5, Champ, Corby, B7722, and the Punch now retail at a cheaper prices. Please refer to the flyer below.

Just to make sure you didn’t miss the new prices, refer to the list below.



Samsung Galaxy 5 now selling at Php 9,190 from Php10,980

Samsung Champ now selling at Php 4,390 from Php 4,980

Samsung Corby Wi-Fi now selling at Php 5,890 from Php 6,900

Samsung B7722 now selling at Php 12,980 from Php 15,700

Samsung Punch now selling at Php 4,890 from Php 5,199



Though the flyer posted only shows 4 of Sammy’s kids, the youngest sibling – Samsung Punch- actually haven’t been missed. And oh, we actually reviewed such dual-SIM phone hours ago. Check it out!



So, are you buying?

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Samsung Punch (C3222) Review [With Hands-on Video]

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you would notice or perhaps get surprise why the heck I'm featuring a phone not considered being a smartphone.

Well, my apology for that. I understand that most of the featured articles here about mobile phones are those equipped with sophisticated or high-end specs and features, but for the sake of a friend of mine who happened to request a review of this unit and also for those who remain loyal to “Feature” phones, I really have to. And since I started this thing, expect from me more feature phones in the future. To end this drama- go read the review after the break.



Overview



The Samsung Punch is the local name here in the Philippines for the dual-SIM phone released by Samsung back in November last year. It’s originally called as Samsung C3222 or Samsung Ch@t 322, but if you happened to see this advertised on TV – those jolly folks are calling the phone as Samsung Punch.



Samsung Punch Specs and Features



Dual-SIM

Quad-band on 2G Network (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) for both SIM

QWERTY keyboard

Optical trackpad

1.3 MP camera with video recording

2.2-inches 220 x 176 screen

54 MB internal memory (with microSD slot for up to 8GB)

GPRS and EDGE, (no 3G or WiFi)

Bluetooth

WAP web browser

microUSB

FM Radio

Standard Li-ion Battery

95 g; 109.5 x 60 x 12.3 mm



Build

The Samsung Punch features a 4-row QWERTY keyboard with functional buttons just above it, including those used in making calls. There’s the rectangular optical trackpad at the center along with dedicated buttons for messaging and internet browsing, and the 2.2-inch screen and the speaker moving upward. At the bottom, you will see a tiny mic of the phone.

The Punch is covered with a silvery matte throughout the edges, but its entire build feels plasticky and light.

On the upper-right side is where you can find the memory slot and in the upper-right side is the button used in switching active SIM cards.

There’s the 3.5mm audio jack at the top and the microUSB slot on the opposite side. Flipping its back reveals the 1.3MP camera and the loudspeaker.

I had a quick hands-on with the Samsung Punch, and was able to record a short video while playing and exploring the interface. Well, too bad I’m not good of using optical trackpad – so, just pardon me from being “noob” in using the phone. Without further ado, hit the play button below to watch the video.







Verdict



Samsung Punch is just above-average feature phone that is an ultimate choice for those who are looking for a dual-SIM yet reliable phone. According to the rep, this is the first “branded” dual-SIM phone released in the market to date, which I agreed. There are lots of dual-SIM phones out there, but mostly are clones and have reliability issues. Note that the Punch has really nothing more to show-off rather than the dual-standby capability of the dual-SIM. It has no 3G and WiFi capability, but still the WAP browser allows user to connect to the web via GPRS and EDGE. Other features are very common like support for MP3, MP4, video recording, FM radio, and etc. There are built-in games on this phone in which you can add more through downloads. Overall, at a dropped retail price of Php 4,890 – the Samsung Punch is one of the best phones to consider on its category.



Anyone here rocking the Samsung Punch? Do share your experience in the comment section below.

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LG Optimus 2X Released in Korea; has a White Version, Too!

Remember that iPhone 4 look-a-like smartphone from LG claimed to be the first to run a dual-core processor? I think you do. It's the LG Optimus 2X.

Look at the phone, not the girls!

For our Korean friends, LG won’t let you down with their promise releasing the Froyo device this month. First seen last month with a flirty 4-inch WVGA screen powered by a 1 GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor on Android 2.2; the LG Optimus 2X goes on sale today in South Korea under its official carrier, SK Telecom, in a 24-month contract.

White LG Optimus 2X

LG said countries in Europe and in Asia will follow, and hopefully we’ll be seeing this unit here in the Philippines, perhaps prior to the white version. Oh, yes- just in case you didn't notice, seems like LG will beat Apple in releasing a snow-colored version of the handset. Would it still be this quarter? Only time will tell. But surely we’ll ping you with another update if we spotted one! [via]



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iPhone 3G Unlocked at Baseband 6.15.00 for Life, Downgrade to 5.13.04 in the Works

Just recently, Apple seeded the second beta of iOS 4.3 to developers and as expected- it doesn’t come with any support on iPhone 3G anymore.

This means that those who were able to unlock iPhone 3G at baseband 6.15.00 will have it for life.

Because there's no 4.3 beta for iPhone3G, it's effectively unlocked for life via the 06.15 ultrasn0w unlock

– said MucleNerd of the iPhone Dev Team via Twitter.



Though there is still the GPS issue on the device when using the iPad baseband 6.15.00; users need to downgrade the baseband of their device to earlier versions to fix the issue. The good news is it looks like the downgrade hack we’ve learned a month ago even became more imminent. MuscleNerd confirmed that they are working on a fix in which those iPhone 3G users at baseband 6.15.00 would be able to downgrade to baseband 5.13.04.

At least this would give another hope to our friends out there who are still using iPhone 3G, yet with compromised GPS functionality. Stay tuned folks as we’ll let you know once the Dev Team provides us updates on the workarounds on the said hack.



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Apple Hits 10 Billion Downloads at the App Store… Still Counting! Did You Win?

When Apple announced its official earnings for fiscal year 2011 last Tuesday, January 18th, with whopping $26.7 billion total revenue for the first quarter alone, the App Store has over 300,000 apps available that have been downloaded over 9 billion times.

By then, Apple posted a counter on the App Store in a quest to identify who’s the lucky user to download the 10-billionth app and ultimately win $10,000 worth of iTunes Gift Card. That’s a huge amount of money if you don’t mind, but not bad to become greedy and be tracked as the 10-billionth app downloader though.

But anyway, it’s over. Apple already hit over 10 billion downloads to date and the company is now extending its sincere thanks to those who participated the quest and continue downloading more apps; a great milestone for a service that Apple introduced back in mid-2008 as part of the iTunes. With the growing number of iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices – it’s undoubtedly possible Apple will double the number in a year or two.



For now, we’ll just have to wait Apple’s official revelation of the 10-billion App Countdown promo winner– so just stay tuned with the Cebu Tech Blogger for more updates! J

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Greenpois0n iOS 4.2.1 Untethered Jailbreak by Chronic-Dev Team, Coming Soon

While the iPhone Dev Team is still on its beta testing for Redsn0w 0.9.7, which is capable of jailbreaking iOS 4.2.1 untethered – the Chronic Dev Team is back into the game with an updated version of its popular jailbreaking tool, Greenpois0n, which initially uses the Limera1n exploit discovered by Geohot to jailbreak iOS 4.1 untethered.



The new updated version of Greenpois0n is capable of jailbreaking iOS 4.2.1 untethered, but unlike Redsn0w – it won’t require users to have the iOS 4.2 beta 3 SHSH blobs saved. The video below is a demo of an iPhone 4 running a jailbroken iOS 4.2.1 untethered.







The Chronic Dev Team didn’t provide ETA as to when this untethered jailbreak will be released, but surely we’ll let you know once this good news for jailbreakers progresses. Stay tuned!



Update:



Greenpois0n Untethered Jailbreak for iOS 4.2.1 (Mac Version) is out!

Greenpois0n iOS 4.2.1 Untethered Jailbreak for Windows Available for Download!

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Nokia C7 as Remote Control for BMW Car, Amazing Video!

We’ve seen that first flying car called Terrafugia Transition, and so does the self-driving car from Google.

In this era, cars have been engineered to equip sophisticated technology, and the good thing is – it leaves more space for other enthusiasts to innovate software applications that will make cars even better. And that’s what a Chinese computer programmer and electronics enthusiast, An Jiaxuan, did to the BMW 1 Series Coupe.

Together with his friend, An Jiaxuan created a software application for Nokia C7 (a Symbian^3 smartphone powered by 680 MHz ARM 11 processor, with 256 MB RAM and 1 GB ROM) that will control several gadgets remotely. He wrote the codes in 20 days and has been tested on seven separate response and compatibility tests. But the ultimate quest doesn’t end there, which is controlling a BMW car using the device. And the end result? A fully working Nokia C7 as a remote control for BMW 1 Series! Watch the video after the break.







Amazing, isn’t it? Do share your viewsJ.

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750 GB Western Digital Scorpio Black HD Arrives in the Philippines

Got the 500 GB Scorpio Black Mobile Hard Drive from Western Digital? I think you would beg for an upgrade, because the higher-capacity version of Scorpio Black that has been launched in the US early this year finally made its way here in the Philippines.

Boasting a low-power consumption for the 7200 RPM spindle speed in a 2.5-inch form factor, the 750 GB WD Scorpio Black also features 16 MB cache and a faster data transfer rate in a 3 Gb/s SATA interface.

A decent choice for your high-performance notebook, the 750 GB WD Scorpio Black (model number WD7500BPKT) is selling at selected resellers in the country, including Verdure Xchange Tech Inc. and PC Trends Inc., for a MSRP of Php 5,795. This mobile storage is covered with a limited 5-year warranty, almost the same coverage if you get this in Amazon.

Anyone here using this Hard Drive on their rig? Please do share your experience in the comment section below.



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Facebook App Launched for Non-Smartphone Devices, Free Data Access on the First 90 Days

iOS, Android, BlackBerry OS, Windows Phone 7 – just to name few of the full range of mobile operating system rocking smartphones from Apple, RIM, Samsung, HTC, LG, Microsoft, and etc.



All of these devices are capable of providing better user experience due to its high-end computing ability as compared to non-smartphone devices or Feature Phones. And when we talk about getting connected with our favorite social networking sites like Facebook, we would prefer having an app installed on our smartphone rather than just by visiting directly on mobile sites. But for Facebook, it doesn’t end on leaving those who are still using Feature Phones, thinking how they’re compromised with the less-intuitive interface of Facebook for Mobile site.

Oh yes, Facebook App on Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone 7, offers a better experience. But the question is how many are using smartphones of the entire mobile phone market? Well, according to The Nielsen Company in October last year – Feature Phones shared 70.3% of the total mobile phone market in the US alone, while 29.7% is shared by Smartphone devices. And that’s the reason why Facebook launched a new mobile app for the full gamut of your above-average Feature Phones.

Today, we're launching a new mobile app to bring Facebook to the most popular mobile phones around the world. The Facebook for Feature Phones app works on more than 2,500 devices from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG and other manufacturers, and it was built in close cooperation with Snaptu. The app provides a better Facebook experience for our most popular features, including an easier-to-navigate home screen, contact synchronization, and fast scrolling of photos and friend updates.

The Facebook for Feature Phones App can be downloaded by visiting m.fb.snaptu.com/f directly on your phone browser. It’s initially available to 14 mobile operators, and similar to Facebook Zero, the app will allow you to access Facebook for free for the first 90 days since it has been launched. These mobile operators include:



(Launching today)



Dialog (Sri Lanka)

Life (Ukraine)

Play (Poland)

StarHub (Singapore)

STC (Saudi Arabia)

Three (Hong Kong)

Tunisiana (Tunisia)

Viva (Dominican Republic)

Vodafone (Romania)



(Launching soon)



Mobilicity (Canada)

Reliance (India)

Telcel (Mexico)

TIM (Brazil)

Vivacom (Bulgaria)



There’s no Telco listed from the Philippines as of the moment though, surely we’ll let you know once we got updates on this. So, you’re still rocking your Feature Phone? Try this new Facebook App and do let us know what you think about it.



Update: Facebook for Every Phone Released

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Larry Page is the New Google CEO, Eric Schmidt as Executive Chairman

Eric Schmidt, the current Chief Executive Officer of Google Inc., announced today that he will be transitioning as the company’s Executive Chairman starting April 4th, 2011.

Google’s founder Larry Page will seat then as Google CEO, while Sergey Brin will stay as the company’s Co-Founder.

From left to right - Eric, Larry and Sergey in a self-driving car photo

In his blog post,

Larry will now lead product development and technology strategy, his greatest strengths, and starting from April 4 he will take charge of our day-to-day operations as Google’s Chief Executive Officer. In this new role I know he will merge Google’s technology and business vision brilliantly. I am enormously proud of my last decade as CEO, and I am certain that the next 10 years under Larry will be even better! Larry, in my clear opinion, is ready to lead.

Sergey has decided to devote his time and energy to strategic projects, in particular working on new products. His title will be Co-Founder. He’s an innovator and entrepreneur to the core, and this role suits him perfectly.

As Executive Chairman, I will focus wherever I can add the greatest value: externally, on the deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership that are increasingly important given Google’s global reach; and internally as an advisor to Larry and Sergey.

With more than a decade in the Search industry, Google has revolutionized the way people use the internet. Since 2001, three years after the search giant was incorporated, Eric Schmidt played the role as Google CEO - leading the company to a place he never had imagined. While the company continues to grow, and innovates technological and advanced products and services for its users, they’ve decided to simplify the management structure of the company.

We are confident that this focus will serve Google and our users well in the future. Larry, Sergey and I have worked exceptionally closely together for over a decade—and we anticipate working together for a long time to come. – Eric Schmidt added.

What do you think of the move? Will Google continue to dominate the search engine market? How about its mobile platform, Android; and its upcoming Chrome OS? Well, let’s just see.



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HP to Unveil Topaz and Opal webOS Tablets, February 9th

With a bunch of tablets lined up for this year, you would probably forget about the HP Slate 500, or even the PalmPad which until now still keeps on hiding J.

I guess the latter won’t even come out or get official until the HP event next month. But the good thing is, or perhaps worse at some points- the internet is there to ruin HP and Palm’s event, leaving everyone of us a closer insight of what we have to expect on the webOS announcement this February 9th.

Engadget is reporting that HP and Palm are set to unveil two webOS-based tablets; though we’re quite sure it will run on an upgraded webOS 2.0, a webOS 2.5 perhaps. The first is a 9-inch tablet codenamed Topaz, and the other one is a 7-inch model codenamed Opal. The smaller Opal webOS tablet is said to get three variants – a Wi-Fi only version, AT&T 3G, and Verizon LTE. There are no official specs yet, but it looks like both will have a decent builds, giving the fact that it will get a direct encounter with those strong contenders we’ve seen during the recent CES like the ASUS Eee Pads and Android 3.0 Motorola Xoom. It’s still unclear if HP will launch an international version of these slates, but it’s just exciting to see the merger will finally have webOS-based tablets. Let’s have more on this while we’re still waiting for the official announcement next month. Stay tuned! [via]



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Samsung Galaxy Ace is the S5830?

Seems like we’ve got another legit photo of the Samsung S5830. But this time, this Sammy breed which is an iPhone 4 look-a-like emerged with a new name as the Samsung Galaxy Ace.



Update: Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 Official Specs and Philippine Price

Yes, it’s pronounced as “ayss”, just homonymous to our favorite Samsung Galaxy S. But don’t worry Thailander friends, you still probably get it as “Samsung Galaxy Cooper”. At least that would remind everyone of the legendary Martin Cooper who just switched to Droid, giving off his iPhone almost a year ago. Oh, that’s non-sense. Anyway, only the Mobile World Congress can tell which is set to take on next month in Barcelona, Spain. Surely, we’ll let you know what cool name this yet another Froyo device officially get. Stay tuned!



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iPhone 4 Case: Moshi iGlaze 4 XT Review

Adding protective casing to personal gadgets is one of the best things you can do, well, just to save extra bucks from damages it gets when you accidentally drop it or in an events that you’d really feel sorry for your toys.

And that’s what I did to my iPhone 4 with ZAGG Invisible Shield, a resistive thin film which covers the entire glass panels of the iPhone 4 including the aluminum frame in all sides. However, my girlfriend got me surprised when she bought another case last Christmas – the Moshi iGlaze 4 XT. I realized it’s kinda useless because it will only cover the back panel and I’d rather choose a leather case instead. But since it was her choice and a Christmas present, too – I took it anyway.

The small box is packed with a Buffer Film (similar to ZAGG invisible shield, but thicker) for the back of the iPhone 4, a circular microfiber cloth used to wipe away dust particles at the back of the iPhone 4 and also used to smooth out the buffer film after installation, and lastly – the iGlaze case.

The Moshi iGlaze 4 XT is a transparent snap on case for iPhone 4. There’s the “Moshi” logo at the bottom, which appears below the Apple trademarks after installation. It’s ultra slim considering the thickness of about 0.8mm; that’s why it won’t require much pressure when you install it to the device.

Installation is very easy since it was really designed for the iPhone 4. The measurements are precise at all edges including the height, and the rear camera and LED flash of the iPhone fit at the center of the hole.

One problem though, is you need the iPhone free from other protective films on it. In my case since it had the ZAGG Invisible Shield installed already, I just removed the shield at the back and replaced it with the new Buffer Film that came with the iGlaze. You also need to remove the shields in all sides, unless you can manage to install it with the shields still in place – but it would be tighter. The ZAGG Invisible Shield at the front glass panel or display was not a problem during the installation. In fact, it’s a good thing to have a separate protection for the display if you’re going to use iGlaze 4 XT. Though iGlaze is made of transparent plastic, you can’t find flares on photos when using the Flash of the camera.

For more than two weeks of using this on my iPhone 4, I feel it’s more sexy and decent. I’m excited to fit the iPhone 4 on a leather case with the Moshi iGlaze installed. But anyway I’ll just let you know once I have it. Just in case you want to buy one online, this accessory costs around $24 at Amazon. Other variants include iGlaze Graphite Black, Burgundy Red, and Tyrian Purple. My girlfriend bought this one for Php 1,290 at the local store here in Cebu.



What do you think about this?



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Samsung S5830 Specs and Photos Leaked: an iPhone 4 Look-a-Like and Galaxy S brother?

Samsung is expected to showcase new handsets in the forthcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain next month – and it looks like there are new images already of its S5830 Froyo smartphone hitting the web.



Update: Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 Official Specs and Philippine Price

Samsung S5830

The image above shows what is claimed as the Samsung S5830, in which at first glance would resemble the looks of the iPhone 4, or perhaps the little brother of Galaxy S. But nope, it didn’t beat the SoPhone 4 if we’re going to talk scrupulous copying of the iPhone!



Flaunting a 3.5 HVGA display, the S5830 is powered by an 800 MHz processor on Android 2.2.1. There’s the 3.5mm audio jack on the top, the speaker at the center-top, a home-button, a slot on the right side (perhaps for memory) and another button beside it (Volume control?). Other purported specs include a 5MP auto-focus camera with LED Flash and HD video recording, Wi-Fi, and micro-USB slot. There’s another Samsung trademark at the back, but there’s no Google logo just yet. It's required for Android devices if you don't mind J.



The folks in Thailand are calling the S5830 as the Samsung Galaxy Cooper, and since it’s just 29 days more to go (as of this writing) before the next MWC- let’s just see if this bad boy shows up and what official name it gets. Stay tuned!



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Globe Telecom Offers Unlimited Data Roaming with Bridge Alliance in Asia-Pacific

Here’s good news for those Globe Telecom postpaid subscribers who frequently travel outside the country, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

In partnership with Bridge Alliance, Globe Telecom is now offering unlimited data roaming in selected countries for flexible dominations under the Bridge DataRoam Unlimited plan of Bridge Alliance.

Those who will travel to Hong Kong (CSL), Singapore (Singtel), Thailand (AIS), Malaysia (Maxis), Macau (CTM), Australia (Optus), Taiwan (Taiwan Mobile), Indonesia (Telkomsel), India (Bharti Airtel), and South Korea (SK Telecom) – won’t have to worry about your bills when you came home, because you can already avail unlimited mobile data roaming at your destination with the following cheaper flat rates:



US$ 10 for 1 (one) day

US$ 27 for 3 (three) days

US$ 40 for 5 (five) days



To enjoy the service, you’ll need to signup for Bridge DataRoamUnlimited by sending SMS to 2884 (either here in the Philippines or abroad) using the following format:



BDU[space]Country[space]Denomination[space]Start Date mm/dd/yy



For example, if you want to stay in Singapore on February 1-3, 2011 and want to avail Globe Telecom’s unlimited data roaming for 3 days – just key in:



BDU Singapore 27 02/01/11



and send to 2884.



If you want to activate the unlimited data roaming service on the same day you signup, you don’t need to indicate the start date in the SMS format. That means you’ll just have to key in:



BDU Singapore 27



and send to 2884.



Note that if you signup for the unlimited data roaming while in abroad, your account will be charged for the transaction using the current roaming rates. So it’s better to signup while you’re still here in the country to avoid additional charges.



This unlimited mobile data roaming from Globe Telecom is country-specific. That means if you happen to travel from Singapore to Thailand and your subscription is still active in Singapore, you’ll have to signup a separate plan for Thailand following the same steps above.



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CDMA iPhone 4 Shipping to China, Japan, South Korea; Philippines Won’t Have it Yet

The first CDMA-based iPhone 4 units will be available next month for Verizon Wireless subscribers in the US, and it looks like selected Asian countries will have it, too.

Worker at Foxconn

Apple’s assembly partners, Foxconn Electronics and Pegatron Technology, have been reported shipping out CDMA iPhone orders since December last year.

Pegatron started shipping its CDMA iPhone 4 in January 2011 and Foxconn started in December 2010. Foxconn's model will be solely supplied to the US, while Pegatron's model will be supplied to China and other countries. Since US-based telecom carrier Verizon currently has over 93 million users in the US, the launch of CDMA iPhone is expected to double the number of the current iPhone users in the market.

Other Asian countries to have a CDMA iPhone delivered include Japan and South Korea. Though there’s no word about the availability in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, among other countries, we can predict they can get the device as long their networks support CDMA. Here in the Philippines, Globe Telecom is still on the 2nd phase of its field trials for the LTE technology, so that dictates we won’t have CDMA iPhone just yet. [via]



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3 iPhone and 3 iPad Models Revealed on iOS 4.3 Source Code

Apple’s iPad has been released officially here in the Philippines just a month ago or more than 9 months since the tablet was launched in the US.

The release was delayed quite long, leaving Apple fans a second thought whether to buy the first iPad models or just wait until the 2nd-generation tablet from Apple is released. It has already been speculated that iPad 2G will be launched in the US sometime in the first or second week of April, and for the sake of those who planned to buy the first-gen model – I think you’d love to hear that there are 3 more iPad models coming as revealed on iOS 4.3 which was released for developers yesterday.



Our friends at Engadget dug unto the source code of iOS 4.3 and they got, well, not much precious as the gold mine revealing Apple secrets of its future devices lineup.

As you can see from the screenshot above, there are those identifiers for the future iPhone and iPad models. iPad 2,1 could be the Wi-Fi version of the 2nd-gen iPad or iPad 2G. The Wi-Fi with 3G support 2nd–gen iPad is referred as iPad 2,2. And the iPad 2,3 could be the CDMA iPad 2G version.



On the other note, iPhone 4,1 could be a GSM-based iPhone 5; and iPhone 4,2 could be the CDMA-based iPhone 5. iPhone 3,3 still leaves a mystery- but a wild guess is, it could be the next iPhone 4 without a Home button. Weird, isn’t it? Not exactly, because BGR got an exclusive report that the next iPad will be losing the Home button. If so, functionalities of the Home button can be achieved through the Multi-Touch gestures added on iOS 4.3 firmware; and since the iPhone will also support the multi-touch feature on iOS 4.3 – it could be possible that iPhone 3,3 actually refers to iPhone 4 without Home button. Interesting.



So, that leaves us to expect Apple to release at least 6 more devices (3 iPhone models, 3 iPad models) in the future. Just in case you ask if iPod Touch 4G will still have another sibling, I think I’m safe to say “Yes”. We’ve actually read similar story before. What do you think?



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