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    Google Nexus 7 production cost estimated at $184

    Gadgets Team
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    1
    Google Nexus 7 production cost estimated at $184

    When Google’s Nexus 7 was announced last month, everyone was speculating on how much the tablet cost to produce, because let’s face it, at the price that it’s being sold for ($199) it’s almost like they’re giving it away, right? Well, it seems that Google isn’t quite selling the tablet at a loss – TechInsights has done a deep teardown of the device and has estimated the prices of the attached components and have come up with a production cost of $184 for the 8GB model – which is perilously close to the $199 sticker price on the device. $15 isn’t a huge profit margin, though TechInsights have estimated that Google and Asus make more money on the bigger, 16GB version of the tablet, which retails for $249, as it only costs $194 to produce, netting both firms a tidy $55 profit. Of course, the Google isn’t banking on the hardware profits on the Nexus 7 (though we’re sure they wouldn’t mind that one bit). Google is set to make money off of the wundertablet via sales of digital media, from movies, magazines and games which is at the heart of the device.

    Source: TechInsights Via Android Community

    Spike will change how you use your iPhone (if it pushes through)

    Ren Alcantara
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    0
    Spike will change how you use your iPhone (if it pushes through)

    One of the most annoying things about the touch screens that have invaded the market is just how difficult it is to get messages written. There are lots of software keyboards that do a really good job, but there really is nothing that is quite like a physical keyboard for banging out long messages or emails. While Apple isn’t likely to change their design philosophy regarding keyboards, Spike intends to give you a simple, elegant solution to the keyboard conundrum. The Spike iPhone keyboard attaches to the device and stows away, invisible, when you don’t need it. When stowed, the Spike appears to be nothing more than an average iPhone protective case. Based on the photos, it doesn’t appear to add much bulk to the device, while adding heaps of functionality.

    The case isn’t in production just yet, but if you really want to see it happen, you can do your part and jump on board, thanks to Kickstarter. As of posting, they are at USD 16,000 of the 75,000 goal, so if you want one for yourself, head on over to this LINK and make a pledge.

    Furby 2.0

    Ren Alcantara
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    0
    Furby 2.0

    If you are reading this, it is quite likely that you are the kind of person who has at some point come into contact with a Furby. It has been well over a decade since these fuzzy, penguin-esque invaded homes everywhere from underneath Christmas trees. They were smart then, and now, they’ve evolved. Hasbro has announced the arrival of the new 2012 Furby in the United States in fall this year, and we can probably expect them to arrive here shortly after that.

    The new Furby still learns and develops a “personality” just like the old one, but now had the additional feature of not forgetting it if the batteries run dry. There will reportedly also be an iOS app so you can take the experience to an even higher, slightly creepier level. They will also interact with one another, and comes with even more sensors than ever before. It’s incredibly cute, super smart and he’ll be everywhere. I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords. Hit the video LINK to see more Furby.

    Facebook and Yahoo end patent war, comes together in a strategic alliance

    Gadgets Team
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    12
    Facebook and Yahoo end patent war, comes together in a strategic alliance

    The bizarre patent war between Yahoo and Facebook is now over, and it looks like the two business partners are coming off of it on a high note. According to All Things D, both Yahoo and Facebook have entered into a strategic alliance, dramatically expanding their content distribution and data partnership, as well as adding a deeper, better joint advertising deal. The deal also includes talks of cross-licensing patents, which is the ammunition that most companies use for patent litigation (see Apple). It seems that the whole patent war was instigated by former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson, and as soon as he was taken out of the picture, Interim Yahoo CEO Ross Levinsohn and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg immediately started talks on how to end the whole nasty business.  You can read the joint interview that All Things D did with both Levinsohn and Sandberg at the link below.

    Source: All Things D (1), (2)

    Ex-Nokia staff to create MeeGo based smartphones

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    Ex-Nokia staff to create MeeGo based smartphones

    Our time with Nokia’s one and only MeeGo based smartphone, the N9, was a bittersweet one. We loved the device but hated the fact that it was the first and last of its kind. Well, if you’re like us, you’ll be happy to know that there may be some other, MeeGo based phones coming down the pipeline. A bunch of ex-Nokia staff has banded together and created the mobile start-up Jolla (Finnish for dinghy). According to their LinkedIn page, Jolla consists of “directors and core professionals from Nokia’s MeeGo N9 organization, together with some of the best minds working on MeeGo in the communities.” The new start-up is led by Marc Dillon, who was with Nokia for almost 11 years and was the company’s Principal Engineer for MeeGo from January 2006 until he left Nokia earlier this year. Hopefully these guys can manage to re-create the magic that the N9 had in other, MeeGo based smartphones.


    Source: The Verge

    Samsung Galaxy Note II rumored to be announced late August, will have a quad-core processor and a bigger 5.5-inch screen

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    Samsung Galaxy Note II rumored to be announced late August, will have a quad-core processor and a bigger 5.5-inch screen

    It’s no surprise that Samsung’s going to be making a successor to the Galaxy Note – the original phablet had a strong following, and netted Samsung 1 million orders in the first two months of its existence. Samsung would want to top that of course, and according to the rumors swirling around the ‘net, it’s lined up some pretty impressive hardware to do just that. The Galaxy Note II is rumored to have an even larger screen than the original, up to 5.5-inches from the original 5.3. Other specs would include the use of Samsung’s Exynos 4 quad-core processor (naturally) that’s already present on the Samsung Galaxy S III, Android 4.1 out of the box and a 12 or 13 megapixel camera. The device is rumored to be slated for a late August unveil during IFA trade show in Berlin.

    Source: Phandroid

     

    FixYa compiles top issues with Lumia 900, Galaxy S III, iPhone 4S and more, offers simple solutions

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    FixYa compiles top issues with Lumia 900, Galaxy S III, iPhone 4S and more, offers simple solutions

    We all know that no smartphone is ever perfect. There will always be an issue with it, either with the OS, hardware or battery – it’s just the nature of the game. But have you ever wondered what is the most common problem with the leading smartphones today? Well, a new report from troubleshooting website FixYa which  used 15 million reports filed by the service’s users paints a good picture of what you can expect if you buy a Samsung Galaxy S III, iPhone 4S, Nokia Lumia 900, HTC Titan II, Galaxy Nexus and BlackBerry Curve. According to the report, the top problem encountered by Galaxy S III owners was a malfunctioning microphone (50%), with battery life coming in at a distant second (15%). For the iPhone 4S, it’s a bit reversed – battery life was the main complaint of users (45%) with WiFi connectivity issues coming in second (20%). If you’ve suffered from any of these problems in the past, you can go straight to FixYa’s website below to see the whole report and several proposed solutions that can fix your smartphone right up, good as new.

    Source: FixYa

    Samsung Philippines officially launch the Galaxy Tab 2 tablets, starts at Php 12,990

    Gadgets Team
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    1
    Samsung Philippines officially launch the Galaxy Tab 2 tablets, starts at Php 12,990

    Remember Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 that the Korean firm outed during Mobile World Congress last February? Well, it seems that the entire family has landed on our shores, as evidenced by the fanfare from Samsung Philippine’s Facebook page. Two variants of the 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 will be made available to the public, with the basic, Wi-Fi version priced at Php 12,990 and the more expensive, 3G version costing Php 16,990. The larger, 10.1-inch version of the Galaxy Tab 2 will cost you Php 22,900. Specs-wise, you’re looking at a dual-core, 1GHz processor for both the 7- and 10.1-inch variants, and a screen resolution of 1280×800 for the 10.1-inch version. The smaller, 7-inch version will have a lower, 1024×600 resolution screen. Both devices will have ICS right out of the box.

    Source: Samsung (Facebook)

     

     

    Google Search, visualized.

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    Google Search, visualized.

    Ever wonder what happens when you point your browsers to Google and start searching the web for an obscure word, band or movie? Well, the folks at Google has sent us a cool infographic that gives you an idea of what happens behind the scenes. We’ve attached the infographic for you to enjoy, just click on it to view it in its original size.

    Kim Dotcom: “MEGA will return. Bigger. Better. Faster.”

    Gadgets Team
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    3
    Kim Dotcom: “MEGA will return. Bigger. Better. Faster.”

    Five months after being shut down, Kim Dotcom, owner of controversial website Megaupload, has taken to Twitter to announce its eventual return. The tweet says “SOPA is dead. PIPA is dead. ACTA is dead. MEGA will return. Bigger. Better. Faster. Free of charge & shielded from attacks. Evolution!” For those not in the know, SOPA (and in some respects, PIPA) is a highly controversial piece of proposed legislation that aimed to curb piracy by introducing a host of measures, which was not welcomed by the internet, culminating in protests and blackouts like the one Wikipedia conducted. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a multinational treaty for the purpose of establishing international standards for intellectual property rights enforcement which some believe is the spiritual equivalent to SOPA and PIPA.

    Currently, Kim Dotcom is out on bail, and Torrent Freak has reported that New Zealand’s High Court has declared that the order used to seize Kim Dotcom’s assets “null and void”. The entire case leveraged against Kim Dotcom is looking pretty shaky, and it seems that he might just be able to make good on his promise.

    Source: Twitter

     

     

    Review: Samsung MV800

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    Review: Samsung MV800

    [This review originally appeared in the December 2011 issue of Gadgets Magazine]

    By Paolo Toledo

    A quick glance at most of the photos on your favorite social network will reveal a simple truth: not everyone is a serious hobbyist or professional photographer. The majority of the snapshots are by average camera users who just want to point and click at anyone and anything. They just want the basics—nice and clear photos. Simply put, they just take photos for the sheer fun of it. And that’s exactly what the Samsung MV800 multiview compact digital camera is. It’s the perfect fun-to-use camera.

    Put away any impressions of a DSLR or hopes for a pro-ready machine. This is not what the MV800 is all about. The good thing about this camera is that it seems to address a nice old niche for just having a good time taking photos. It’s compact, very easy to use, and is packed with a deep set of features, presets, and extras to play around with.

    This is not to say that the MV800 is a toy. In fact, by appearance and overall performance, it’s far from any basic digital camera. Its minimal sleek design is both fashionable and well-made. Textured black metal finish is always a beautiful thing and it gives the device the right balance of sophistication. In terms of size, it clocks in at 3.5 inches long, 2.5 tall, and just a little above half an inch thick—making it handy and just the right size to fit any pocket.

    Perhaps the most striking innovation of the camera is its adjustable 3-inch flip-out touchscreen display that allows for taking photos at (almost) any desired angle. Connected by a single hinge, the LCD can rotate from zero to 180 degrees, or can fold out to the front of the camera for the perfect self-portrait shot.

    Of course, mastering the art of taking one’s own photo at arm’s length takes a great amount of skill, aim, and experience, but the MV800 renders the job simple and enjoyable. There’s even a second shutter button tucked away behind the screen that provides a more natural grip and operation for those narcissistic moments.

    Everything else about the MV800 is in the usual Samsung quality and performance that we’ve all grown to love. It boasts a Schneider-Kreuznach 26mm wide-angle lens, with 5x optical zoom and 16.1-megapixel resolution that produce clean and crisp images with stunning color. There may be a few focusing issues in some scenes, and the lack of a full manual mode is rather limiting, but still doesn’t hinder the fun and features that this device can offer.

    Operation is pleasantly simple with just three buttons on top: power, shutter and zoom; and two at the back: home/menu and play. All other navigating happens in the touchscreen menus and the UI is also well-designed (think apps in an iPod) and features are all easily accessible without having to weave in and out of confusing groups and subsets. The touch response is also pretty decent, but tends to lag when viewing photos.

    Driving into the camera features and photo possibilities proves to be one creative joyride. As mentioned previously, this camera is all about having fun and creating as many photo options as possible. The menus are packed with more extras than a zombie army movie. Aside from the usual presets and filters, there’s also the option to shoot 3D images, live panorama, different lomo-style effects, Funny Face, and even a cool Magic Frame feature that lets you place your photo within different settings like on a billboard, on the moon, or in an antique frame (just to name a few).

    Actually, the depth of the photo possibilities on the MV800 can be quite daunting and tends to overwhelm a user during initial usage, but after steadily trying it all out in different situations and taking the time to see each one, it becomes a lot more comfortable. I found myself picking out my personal favorite effects and sticking to those in certain situations (i.e. the fisheye effect had me going for a whole weekend).

    With all things said and done, there really is no huge contention against the Samsung MV800. It does not try to be a serious professional camera. It knows its role as a fun compact point-and-shoot, and it plays it well. It’s simple, sexy, and savvy enough to amaze and delight the everyday user.

    TECH SPECS
    Design
    Black Design
    Point and Shoot, Rotating

    LCD Image sensor
    Approx. 16.15 Mega pixel
    CCD Image Sensor Type

    Lens
    Schneider Lens
    5x Optical Zoom
    4.7~23.5mm Focal Length

    Shutter Speed
    Program : 1 ~ 1/2,000 sec. Smart Auto: 1/8~ 1/2000 sec Night : 8 ~ 1/2,000 sec

    Exposure
    ±2EV (1/3EV steps)
    Program AE
    Multi, Spot, Center Weighted, Face Detection AE Metering System

    Focusing
    Multi AF, Center AF, Face Detection AF, Object Tracking AF, Smart Face Recognition AF, One Touch Shooting AF
    Normal: 80cm ~ infinity(Wide), 150cm ~ infinity(Tele)
    Image Stabilization
    Dual Image Stabilization
    Smart Settings
    Smart Auto / Smart Filter / Smart Album / Smart Face Recognition / Smart Movie

    Storage
    Micro SD Card(up to 2GB guaranteed)
    Approximately 10MB Internal Memory

    Audio
    Stereo Microphone / Mono Speaker

    Inputs & Outputs
    HDMI 1.3 / USB 2.0

    Dimensions
    Product Dimensions: 3.62″ x 2.21″ x .72″

    Power
    4.2V DC Power, BP70A Battery

    WHAT’S HOT
    • Packed with fun shooting modes and scenes
    • Sleek and compact black metal design
    • Flip-out 3-inch touschscreen LCD

    WHAT’S NOT
    • Touch response lag when photo-viewing
    • Not all features are useful
    • Focusing issues in some shooting modes

    BUY METER: 9.4

    BOTTOMLINE
    If you’re not the serious hobbyist or professional, the Samsung MV800 is definitely one to consider. It’s downright one of the most complete and compact point-and-shoots out there, and will definitely provide the fun and creativity for any situation—especially when taking self-portraits.

    Alcatel launches new smartphones in the Philippines, prices inside

    Gadgets Team
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    1
    Alcatel launches new smartphones in the Philippines, prices inside

    A couple of months back, Alcatel launched the Glory X 918N and the Sapphire HD 995—two affordable smartphones under its One Touch series. Just yesterday, they’ve added to that list with 4 new affordable dual-sim smartphones.

    There’s something for everybody in the One Touch line—from the tiny Glam 810D (the only one not running Android) that’s shaped like a pocket mirror that opens up to reveal a physical qwerty keyboard and display, to the larger Inspire 991D that features a 4-inch display, 3G and HSDPA, an 800 MHz processor, and Android 2.3. The latter also has a “little brother” in the form of the Blaze 985N that features a smaller screen. In between that, there’s the Spark FB 916D that is similar to BlackBerry phones and features a tactile qwerty keypad, 3G and HSDPA, a 5-megapixel camera, and Android 2.3.

    The prices for Alcatel’s smartphones are as follows—Glam 810D at Php 3,599, Glory X 918N at Php 5,999, Spark FB 916D at Php 6,999, Blaze 985N at Php7,999, Inspire 991D at Php8,999, and Sapphire HD 995 at Php 13,999.

    For more information, you can visit http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/ph/.

     

    The All-New Ford Focus is finally here!

    Mika Fernandez-David
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    0
    The All-New Ford Focus is finally here!

    The all-new Ford Focus has finally been launched, and dealerships are now accepting reservations for September deliveries.

    The new Focus features a completely new Duratec 2.0-liter Ti-VCT GDi engine that utilizes the lates powertrain technoligies to deliver more power while delivering improved fuel economy. It is packed with smart and affordable technologies that are segment-first, including  Active Park Assist and Active City Stop systems which aid the driver automatically; it is also equipped with Ford’s voice-activated SYNC® connectivity package.

    The 5-door hatchback is available in Frozen White, Ingot Silver, Panther Black, Winning Blue and Candy Red for the 5-door hatchback, while the 4-door sedan comes in Frozen White, Ingot Silver, Panther Black and Lunar Sky.

    The all-new Ford Focus will officially be available in September starting at PhP 859,000 for the 1.6L Focus Ambiente Sedan MT, PhP 929,000 for the 1.6L Focus Ambiente Hatchback and Sedan, PhP 989,000 for the 1.6L Focus Trend Hatchback and Sedan, and PhP 1,199,000 for the top-of-the-line 2.0L Focus Titanium+ Sedan and the 2.0L Focus Sport+ Hatchback

    Read more about the Ford Focus here http://www.ford.com.ph/cars/new-focus here  All New Ford Focus Debuting at the Bangkok Motor Show here All New Ford Focus Revealed in Bangkok here 33rd Bangkok International Motor Show and here  Ford Literally Cuts Out The Noise In The All New Focus

    A behind the scenes look at the Apple app review process

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    A behind the scenes look at the Apple app review process

    Apple’s app application process has always drawn flak from the media and customers. If you didn’t know, the people behind the app review process are the people who test and check if a new app from a developer does what it says it does. Basically, they’re the people responsible for making sure that the Apple app store is free from bad or exceedingly crappy apps. Mike Lee, a former senior engineer at Apple who worked on the company’s Worldwide Developer Relations team shared his experience in an interview down by Business Insider. He reveals that the core team that works behind the app review process is extremely small, due to the requirements of Apple’s upper management on the quality, not the quantity, of its team members. What really surprises us though is the main reason why Apple takes such a rigid stance on (excuse the pun) anything that may be even slightly pornographic – male genitalia. Or more specifically, hundreds and hundreds of apps that depict male genitalia. We’ll let Mike Lee explain it:

    It’s a very serious problem, trying to filter out things that no one is there to see. Somebody has to sit there and filter out all those d*cks. You can’t let all those d*cks get through. You have to err way on the side of safety. You have to have people sitting there looking at things that may or may not be d*cks all day long. Apple refuses to farm stuff out to massive groups of people. They insist on having actual smart, educated, well-trained people doing the job. So that means they have to have some of their actual employees sifting through a pile of d*cks. The only way to deal with it is to set the bar so far away from d*cks so that even a picture of a cucumber gets blocked by accident. Because if you don’t, you have people spending hours and hours of conversation on whether something is a pubic hair. It’s a huge waste of time.

    Source: Business Insider

    LG Optimus 4X HD hands-on, first impressions

    Gadgets Team
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    2
    LG Optimus 4X HD hands-on, first impressions

    While LG has fleshed out its mid-market smartphone offering in the form of the LG Optimus L7, we were wondering when the Korean firm would introduce their top of the line Optimus 4X HD to the Philippines. It seems that the Korean firm would be introducing the device sooner rather than later, as evidenced by a demo unit popping up in our office today. Let’s take a closer look at it, shall we?

    It seems that everyone’s upgrading the size of their top-of-line devices, and LG is no exception. The LG Optimus 4X HD uses a 4.7-inch True HD-IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen that boasts a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, and is protected by Gorilla Glass. The overall look and feel of the device closely mirrors that of the L-series of devices, which isn’t a bad thing – the LG Optimus L7 was nice to look at, if a bit boring.

    On the bottom lies three touch-sensitive buttons.

    The overall construction of the device is pretty good, and the back of the 4X HD is textured, which actually improves grip. For some reason the overall design of the device makes it look smaller than it actually is. The overall dimension of 4X HD is 132.4×68.1×8.9 mm.

    Imaging-wise, the Optimus 4X HD uses an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash. We haven’t had the chance to completely explore the camera yet, aside from the requisite test shots in our office. At this point it time we can conclude that the Optimus 4X HD is a pretty decent shooter, with very minimal shutter lag. We did see a pretty cool feature in the form of the Time Catch shot mode. Basically, the mode starts taking shots even before you press the shutter, and presents these shots to you right after you shoot. If you end up missing the right moment, you can review the rest of the pre-cached shots in the memory of the device and use those instead. Storage-wise, you’re looking at 16GB of internal memory, which can be expanded via the microSD slot.

    Prying the back of the device reveals a large, 2150 mAh battery – which is a step up from the usual 1700 mAh batteries that we see in previous generation devices.

    Hardware-wise, you’re looking at a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor chugging along at 1.5GHz, which incidentally is the same processor powering its smartphone rival, the HTC One X. As a result, the device is pretty responsive, without much of the hangups that we saw in their other, underpowered unit, the L7. The L7 and the 4X HD both share LG’s UI overlay dubbed Optimus 3.0, but the difference here is that the 4X HD has enough horsepower under the hood to actually power the experience. We’ve run two of our basic benchmarks on the device, which you can see below.

    As you can see, the 4X HD surpasses the Asus Transformer Prime in terms of performance by a large margin using AnTuTu which is odd, since both devices are powered by the same chip.

    Using Qudrant, it’s a different story – the 4X HD is beaten by the HTC One X – which is again a bit odd, since both devices use the same processor. As always, synthetic benchmarks is a good gauge of what a device can do but it’s not the only gauge of performance. In fact, actual use is a better gauge of a particular device’s performance, something that we’ll be looking closely at as we review the device in the days ahead.

    That’s it for now, we’ll be posting a review of this particular device as soon as we finish with it. Stay tuned.

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