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    Haier Electrical Appliances inspires Filipino Homes

    Gadgets Team
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    Haier Electrical Appliances inspires Filipino Homes

     

    Haier Electrical Appliances Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of Global home appliance manufacturer Haier Group, officially announced the start of its operations at a press conference held at the Marriott Hotel in Paranaque City. Following the press conference, the grand launch event of Haier, themed “Now Inspiring Filipino Homes,” provided a first glimpse of Haier’s product lineup for the Filipino market to the over 300 distributors, dealers and media in attendance.

    “Acquiring the white goods business of SANYO is an important part of Haier’s global growth strategy. The acquisition has laid the foundation for Haier’s strategic development in Japan and Southeast Asia. Our two R&D centers, four manufacturing bases and six localized marketing centers can better cater to the ever-growing and dynamic needs of consumers in the region. As the No. 1 major appliances brand in the world, we are quite confident in the success of the Filipino market.” said Du Jingguo, Vice President of Haier Group and President of Haier Asia.

    The creation of Haier Electrical Appliances Phils., Inc. forms part of the completion of Haier Group’s acquisition of SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.’s washing machine, refrigerator and white goods sales businesses in Japan and select Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam over a month ago. Under the acquisition agreement, Haier’s dual-brand strategy is now in full operation across these markets. Locally, Haier Electrical Appliances Phils., Inc. will use the “Haier” brand and simultaneously use the “SANYO” brand in this market for a specified period of time.

    Haier will offer a diverse product line-up covering both white and brown goods in the Philippines market. These include the French Door, Side by Side, and Top Mount refrigerators, with features like LED back light, cooling tower air flow system and inverter technology; the Front Load, Twin Tub and Dryer washing machines known for energy efficiency rating and anti-bacterial treatment features; the Split-Type air conditioner, with the intelligent airflow and negative ion features and LED and LCD TV with the latest technology including energy saving, 3D and internet, etc.

    Combining Haier’s strengths in innovation, quality and design, the Group’s Vice President hopes that Haier can “bring additional high-quality choices to consumers in these markets to help them better enjoy their life.” Haier’s factories within the ASEAN region will ensure sufficient and prompt supply of products to meet local demand. Moreover, its strong R&D and marketing capabilities will help Haier to better serve the needs of Filipino consumers.

    “Through the transfer of our washing machine and consumer refrigerator businesses to the Haier Group, we will expand the businesses of Haier and SANYO brands, and capture a larger market share with our products. We have been able to retain employees who were already engaged in the business to maintain continuity, and ensure even higher quality service standards for our consumers in the Philippines,” added Mr. Hirota, President of Haier Electrical Appliances Phils., Inc. (HPI).

    Review: HTC One X

    Gadgets Team
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    Review: HTC One X

    While HTC did well enough at the start of 2011, the Taiwanese company took a bit of a pounding at the tail end of the same year. Some analysts attributed the loss to the company releasing too many phones aimed at too many markets. This year, HTC has bounced back to the fore with a new device strategy culminating in the One line which focuses on only three main devices: the top of the line One X, the mid-market One S, and the entry level One V. The subject of today’s review is their flagship smartphone, the One X.

    The HTC One X is a departure of sorts for the company design-wise, as it’s the first time I’ve ever seen HTC use a unibody polycarbonate body on a flagship device.

    Not that that’s a bad thing – the overall design and build quality on the One X is very, very good – the phone is solid as a brick without weighing like one (130 g).

    Comparison shot with the HTC Sensation XE

    There’s no skirting around the issue – the One X is huge. At 134.4 x 69.9 x 8.9mm, it’s one of the biggest phones available right now, save for Samsung’s Galaxy Note. The One X packs a 4.7-inch Super IPS LCD2 capacitive touchscreen, with a display resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. While I’ve been spoiled by Samsung’s Super AMOLED displays, I’ve got to say that the screen of the One X is one of the prettiest I’ve seen so far (though I admit I might be saying the same thing once I get my eyes on the Samsung Galaxy S III’s display). The bottom of the screen holds the three navigation keys – back, home and recent apps.

    The right of the device holds the volume rocker, while the USB slot (which doubles as a charging slot) sits on the left side. On the top lies the power and 3.5mm jack. The One X has an 8-megapixel camera that I’ll go into depth a bit later. There’s also a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front for video calls and the like.

    As impressive as the overall look of the device is, things just get better when you dive under the hood. The powerplant of the One X is a quad-core, NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor running at 1.5 GHz. There’s still Beats Audio technology in the HTC One X, though you won’t find Beats branded headphones this time around. There’s 32GB of storage on tap, with an additional 25GB of cloud storage courtesy of Dropbox. The whole experience is powered by Android 4.0 (ICS) with HTC’s special sauce on top, dubbed Sense. Contrary to the companies’ previous Sense offerings, the one that ships with the One X is simple and not overly complex, a far cry from what the bloated, battery draining mess Sense has become on their other, earlier smartphones not running ICS.

    One of the features that HTC is proud of in the One X is its camera.  The camera present on the One X has an 8-megapixel CMOS camera with a backside illuminated sensor which aids in low light performance, as well as having a F2.0 aperture, 28mm lens and a dedicated imaging chip. We were pleasantly surprised at how good the camera was because to be honest, I’ve pretty much given up on the cameras attached to smartphones nowadays. That’s not the case with the One X for a variety of reasons. For one, the One X takes pictures quickly, and exhibits almost zero shutter lag and minimal focus hunt. Another nice thing about the One X is that it’s able to take pictures continuously – as fast as some point-and-shoots – and allows you to choose the one you think is best (or just save them all for posterity). To put it bluntly – the camera one the One X is one of the best I’ve seen so far this year.

     (Click on the pictures below for the original image size)

    Performance on the One X was unsurprisingly good. During the time the One X was with me it never hanged nor had problems with any of the apps I ran on it. The quad-core Tegra 3 processor definitely comes into play here, and even with multiple apps open the device never did slowdown.

    The overall feel of the device when using it is fantastic as you can feel the snappiness in the UI, especially when you’re going through the apps and menu items in the device.

    Of course, no review of the One X would be complete without the requisite benchmark test, so here it is: using AnTuTu, the One X managed to score 10629 points, which is a few points higher than a similar, Tegra 3 powered device, the Asus Transformer Prime.

    The One X is a phone first and foremost, so all those fancy features wouldn’t mean diddly squat if you couldn’t speak to other people or send SMS messages, right? Well, I’m happy to report that the overall call quality of the One X is fantastic, with no problems in reception whatsoever. Calls are clear and crisp, with no problems in both outgoing and incoming calls. Sending SMS messages and general typing duties are a breeze to accomplish using the large on-screen keyboard of the One X, as even people with big digits (that includes yours truly) won’t have a problem typing on the large screen.

    Battery life is also pretty good, with the unit clocking in about a day and half on single charge with slightly moderate use (texting, calling and a few minutes on data). Of course, that number will vary depending on your use, and you’re probably looking at about a day’s worth of battery with heavier use.

    Of course, as lovely as the One X is, it does come with its own share of niggles. The unibody polycarbonate shell means that the battery is non-user replaceable, so if ever the 1800 mAh battery does decide to die on you, you will have to take it to a service center to have it replaced. Also, the HTC One X uses a microSIM, something that you need to be aware of if you’re planning to get the device as an upgrade.

    HTC has scored a slam dunk with the One X. The fantastically built body, the excellent performance of Tegra 3 and awesome camera all come together in a package that’s simply beautiful. To put it in simpler words: the HTC One X is currently the Android smartphone to beat. HTC has gotten its groove back.

     

    What’s Hot:

     

    Solid, unibody polycarbonate body

    Large, 4.7-inch screen protected by Gorilla Glass

    Fast, Tegra 3 processor

    Excellent camera performance in low light

    Burst shooting

     

    What’s Not:

    Uses microSIM

    Non-user replaceable battery

     

    Bottomline:

     

    The HTC One X is the best Android phone you can buy right now. Beg, steal or borrow to get one.

     

    Buymeter: 5/5

     

    Tech Specs:

    • Operating System: Android 4.0 ICS
    • CPU: NVIDIA quad-core Tegra 3 1.5GHz
    • LCD size: 4.7-inch Super IPS LCD2 capacitive touchscreen, display resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels
    • Physical Dimensions: 134.4 x 69.9 x 8.9mm
    • Band: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

     

    Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

    Gadgets Team
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    Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

    By Steven Vea

    Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1’s exterior is very sleek, albeit very similar to it’s more popular fruity counterpart. Its overall design is very minimal and when held in its prescribed horizontal/landscape orientation, the 2-megapixel camera is all that is visible.

    On the sides of the unit you will find the speakers which have been craftily designed as to be almost indiscernible. At the bottom, you will find the port to connect the USB/charger cable. On the top of the tablet, the buttons for power and volume, 3.5mm audio jack and slot for a SIM card can be found. Unfortunately, the 10.1 cannot make phone calls and is restricted to text messaging and 3G only.

    Once the Galaxy Tab is up and running, it is hard to resist toying with it without any technical oversight. The display is crisp, vivid and well illuminated which makes it quite pleasurable to use. Some users might find the extra large widgets shocking it at first, but since the 10.1 runs on Android 3.1 Honeycomb, widgets can be resized and arranged to your preferred taste.

    At the very bottom of the screen on the right hand side are the familiar info data (time, WiFi signal and battery life indicators). When touched, a menu will appear in which you can customize the Tab’s settings. On the left hand side, you will find the main navigation buttons (Back, Home, Running Applications, and Screenshot). Opening the Running Applications displays a graphic menu on the left hand side which shows all the open applications. It would have been nice to be able to shut them down from there as well, but this is possible via another shortcut bar that can be accessed by an subtle arrow on the bottom-center of the screen.

    The button to access the apps is a little difficult to spot in the beginning, but it’s located on the upper right hand side, next to a + button which launches an organizer for your homescreen. Opening the Apps will launch a graphic menu.

    The first app I launched was the already installed eBook reader, seeing that tablets initially cater to that specific need. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 came with two free eBooks (at least in our review unit): The Marvelous Land of Oz and A Christmas Carol.

    It was fun to read The Marvelous World of Oz because you could actually “turn” the pages, and the graphics were fluid and smooth. Several tools were available such as a highlighter and pen so that you could make notes on the digital “pages.” The Galaxy Tab 10.1’s weight does become a factor after some time however, and wrist fatigue made it necessary to place the unit down on the table. So despite this tablet’s thin and light form factor, it still isn’t suitable for prolonged one-hand usage.

    Upon opening the web browser, a notification appeared asking to download the Google Circles app. After agreeing to the request, setting it up was easy.  Once the Gmail account is synchronized, everything flowed smoothly. In tandem with Google, this author’s Facebook account was also synced to the Social Hub app, which provided a quick and intuitive way to view new posts. All Facebook events appeared in Samsung’s Calendar app as well, which makes this tablet a great way to organize.

    However, I did experience recurring “Force Close” messages. These notifications needed some investigating, so I mustered the courage to run a number of apps simultaneously. Launching the Gallery, camera, Angry Birds, YouTube App, eBook Reader and six other tabs on the web browser did not only cause the “Force Close” pop-up to appear. Rather, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 froze and required a complete reboot.

    It was now time to run the benchmark test, and it seemed that installing Advanced Task Killer was necessary, so that unnecessary apps/processes could be shut down. Two consecutive benchmarks tests were done using Quadrant Standard. In both benchmarks, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes out on top, with the Nexus One coming in second.

    A third benchmark test was supposed to follow, but unfortunately, the “Force Close” notification surfaced once again. Apparently, after some extensive research, there are other testers/users experiencing this issue, which seems to be recurring in Samsung’s tablets especially when multi-tasking. Whether this is a hardware-based issue or Honeycomb cannot be confirmed, but both consumers and Samsung should be aware of this.

    Fortunately, in the span of time that I was able to test it, the hard reboot only occurred once, but it can be assumed that if you don’t effectively manage your running apps with this tablet, it might be a frequent problem. Although the Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes with its own Task Manager, it is highly suggested that you avail of Advanced Task Killer (or something similar) from the Android Market.

    Specifications
    SCREEN: 10.1’ display @ 1280×800 WXGA screen
    OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 3.1 Honeycomb
    CPU & CHIPSET: Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor; ULP GeForce GPU, NVidia Tegra 2 chipset
    MEMORY: 1GB RAM; 16GB/32GB/64GB internal storage
    CAMERA: 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash (rear); 2 megapixel front-facing camera
    CONNECTIVITY: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0; 3G, HSDPA, HSUPA, GPS w/ aGPS

    What’s Hot:
     • Excellent display
    • Responsive touchscreen

    What’s Not:
     • “Force close” notifications

    Bottomline:
    The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is an excellent device and should be at the top of your list if you’re looking for an Android tablet.

    Buy Meter: 9.0

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

    FBI looking to get backdoor access to Facebook, Google and other social networks

    Gadgets Team
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    FBI looking to get backdoor access to Facebook, Google and other social networks

    It’s even easier than ever to keep off grid, as it’s now perfectly possible to fly under the radar and still keep the lines of communication open to the people you need to communicate with, which isn’t always a good thing (bad guys do this all the time). That’s probably the reason why the feds are asking social networks like Facebook and Google+ to provide them backdoor access through a proposed amendment to the 1994-era Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). The amendment would allow the feds access to not only Facebook and Google+, but other communication based websites with large userbases. The move is obviously not welcomed by a privacy advocates, which include the Electronic Freedom Foundation.

    Source: CNET

    Wicked Laser’s LaserSaber lets you re-enact scenes from Star Wars, free the galaxy from oppression

    Gadgets Team
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    Wicked Laser’s LaserSaber lets you re-enact scenes from Star Wars, free the galaxy from oppression

    Managed to pick up Wicked Laser’s eye blindingly powerful S3 Krypton series of lasers (you know, the one that’s visible even from outer space) and don’t know what to do it? Well, how about plugging in their LaserSaber attachment that makes it into a light saber of sorts. Yes, for only $100 (assuming you already have an S3 laser) you can buy the machined aluminum LaserSaber attachment and start practicing your saber skills. The LaserSaber attachment features an ultra smooth magnetic gravity system that can power up and power down the saber easily and smoothly.

    Source: Wicked Lasers

    Samsung beefs up software arsenal, starts hiring outside talent

    Gadgets Team
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    Samsung beefs up software arsenal, starts hiring outside talent

    Samsung has always been a firm believer in keeping everything in-house. But even juggernauts like Samsung need help in the fast evolving world of technology. That’s why the Korean company is now seeking to acquire top notch tech talent, as well as embracing acquisitions to shore up their pool of engineers and innovations to keep up with rivals like Apple. In light of this, the company has begun hiring foreign software engineers, with a large number of those hires hailing from India.

    In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the president of Samsung ‘s mobile business, J.K. Shin said that “The technology industry is growing very quickly and it is too much of a burden to try to do everything in-house. There are many qualified workers from India that are very skilled in software. And there are small companies that we can acquire that have good research and development capabilities.”

    Samsung sees the future of their mobile success in software, not hardware. Younghee Lee, senior vice president of sales and marketing said that while Samsung will continue to work with Android, their company’s strategy is to work with multiple software platforms, and to continue investing in Bada. Bada is Samsung’s own OS offering, and though the company has implemented the OS in several of its phones, the OS is nowhere near Android in terms of popularity and appeal.

    Source: Wall Street Journal

    Draw Something’s appeal is fading, Zynga left with 200 million bag

    Gadgets Team
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    Draw Something’s appeal is fading, Zynga left with 200 million bag

    It seems like the owners of OMGPOP had the right idea in selling their game company to Zynga when it did as there have been numerous reports that have said that the popularity of their hit game, Draw Something, is quickly fading. Business Insider did a check on the active users playing the social game and have found that the number of active players are quickly diminishing, and has dropped from a peak of 15 million down to only 10 million.

    Zynga’s purchase of the company for 200 million seemed like a good idea back then, but with the popularity of the game largely diminished, Zynga may be regretting it’s purchase. Comparisons to another casual runaway hit, Angry Birds, is not unheard of but unlike Draw Something, Angry Birds has managed to keep on the top of the downloads chart by offering new levels and content, something that Draw Something has failed to do so far.

    Source: Atlantic Wire

    Android malware uses drive-by downloads to infect devices

    Gadgets Team
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    Android malware uses drive-by downloads to infect devices

    If there ever was a reason to not set your Android device to accept programs from unknown sources, here it is. The H Open is reporting that malware writers have hacked several websites with the intention of delivering malware packages to Android devices that visit the pages. The malware has been dubbed NotCompatible by Lookout Security and embeds itself in the bottom of the webpage as an iframe. When an Android user arrives at the page, a file called update.apk starts downloading automatically.

    Here’s the catch though – the file is only offered up for installation if the user of the Android device has his/her “Unknown Sources” setting in the system preferences enabled. Otherwise, the installation would be blocked. The malware seems to be simple TCP relay/proxy which could be used to access private networks, which could be used to infiltrate private networks like those used in businesses and such.

    Source:  H Open

    LG releases Optimus L7 in Europe this May, landing in other countries soon

    Gadgets Team
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    LG releases Optimus L7 in Europe this May, landing in other countries soon

    LG’s just announced that the Optimus L3’s big brother, the Optimus L7, is hitting European markets this May and will be made available to Asian markets soon after. The Optimus L7 is LG’s top-of-the-line Android smartphone for its L family of devices, and sports a 4.3-inch screen, Cortex A5 1GHz processor, 5-megapixel camera, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a relatively large 1,700mAh battery.

    [album: https://gadgetsmagazine.com.ph/wp-content/plugins/dm-albums/dm-albums.php?currdir=/wp-content/uploads/dm-albums/[email protected]/Optimus L7/]

    Asus outs dual-GPU GeForce GTX 690 offering

    Gadgets Team
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    Asus outs dual-GPU GeForce GTX 690 offering

    Just like clockwork, PC parts manufacturer Asus has released their own take on NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 690. You get to enjoy the benefits of the massive computing power that’s given off by two GTX 680 cores in the card, while enjoying a relatively modest TDP of 200 watts. Other key features of this monster is the 4096MB GDDR5 of video memory, a base clock of 915MHz (that boosts up to 1019MHz), 3072 CUDA cores and a memory clock of 3004MHz (1502MHz GDDR5). No word on price or availability at this point, but you can expect this monster to burn a GPU sized hole in your bank book if you decide to get one.

    Researchers use laser light to create a 1Gbps wireless network

    Gadgets Team
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    Researchers use laser light to create a 1Gbps wireless network

    The wireless networks that we use to connect to the internet nowadays use radio frequencies to communicate. Researchers from the National Taipei University of Technology have created a network that bypasses radio frequencies entirely and makes use of lasers to transfer data.

    Although its setup and the science behind it are more complicated, here’s a basic idea of how it works. The model utilizes basic AAA battery-powered red and green laser pointers and some other components that are worth a mere US $600. The researchers pointed the laser pointers at photodiode receptors stationed about 30 feet away and strobed the lights on-and-off at a rate of 500 million times per second. With this, they were able to create a 500 Mbps data stream over each laser, thus adding up to 1Gbps in speed. That’s an incredible rate and way faster than our Wi-Fi routers can transfer data.

    The bit error rate was only about one bad bit per billion, which is extremely lower than the one bad bit per 100,000 on most Wi-Fi streams. Also, since the technology makes use of light, it isn’t subject to over-the-airwaves interference. The downside though, is that it’s susceptible to interference from actual physical objects blocking the path, including fog and rain. It can also only travel where it’s pointed, unlike radio frequencies.

    Because of these drawbacks, we doubt that this technology will replace radio-based data communication. It may become a feasible way to transfer data indoors, however, in places such as hospitals that can’t tolerate radio interference.

    LG officially launches Cinema 3D Smart TV line

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    LG officially launches Cinema 3D Smart TV line

    We’ve taken LG’s top-of-the-line Smart TV through it’s paces and have already reviewed the device so all that’s left is pricing and availability. We attended the official launch of not only the high-end LM9600, but also three other lower models destined for the mid-market and entry level categories. There will be four product lines: the LM9600, LM7600, LM6700 and the LM6200. The four TVs will come in 32, 42, 47, 55 and 65-inches.

    Aside from the obvious Smart TV aspects of the new TVs, there was one product that caught our eye during the launch. LG’s Pentouch equipped TV, the PM9600 can be used a huge writing board via the Pentouch controls included.

    The PenTouch equipped TV isn’t part of the formal product line launched during the day, though it still retains internet connectivity. The 60-inch version of the PM6900 retails for Php 169,990 while the smaller 50-inch version goes for 79,990.

    Since Samsung had a good lineup content-wise on the release of their Smart TV, we wondered what LG would bring to the table. Sadly, aside from the K-Pop content and 3D World line-up that we talked about during the review, LG won’t be offering anything more. They did talk about bringing in content from local content partners, but that pales in comparison to what Samsung did with their Smart TV.

    The 55-inch LM9600 goes for 299,990, while the LM7600 will go for roughly Php 60,000 lower, give or take a few thousand depending on the size of the panel used. No word on the pricing LM6700 and LM6200.

    An iPhone 4 unthethered iOS 5.1 jailbreak?

    Gadgets Team
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    An iPhone 4 unthethered iOS 5.1 jailbreak?

    This one might annoy Apple a little, but the hacking community has supposedly been able to create an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1 on the iPhone 4. It’s been a while since the release of iOS 5.1 and a jailbreak for it has not existed until now. The jailbreaking software isn’t out for public download yet but a lot of the more recent iPhone 4 users are hoping for it to be available soon. We did hear about a possible untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1 on the latest iPad, but that one is nowhere to be found either.

    Asiasoft launches LEGENDS in the Philippines

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    Asiasoft launches LEGENDS in the Philippines

    Asiasoft Online (“Asiasoft”), the videogame publishing company that brought the successful 2D side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) to the Philippines, has officially launched the MapleSEA LEGENDS patch.

    The LEGENDS patch is divided into four parts: the prelude, released on April 5, 2012; Cannon Shooter on May 16; Mercedes on May 30, and Demon Slayer in July. The interface changes, classes, and feature updates were formally announced this week.

    According to the game’s developers, the updates to the game include the launch of three new exciting classes, new 4th potential legendary tier items, quick move system, item re-purchase system and radical skills system. All of the above will also be accompanied by a faster and more intuitive user interface (UI).

    “The online videogame community constantly changes, but we aim to give our MapleSEA gamers consistency in quality.

    MapleSEA LEGENDS will cater to the clamor for new challenges in this hugely popular MMORPG. We will continuously strive to give only the best for the Singaporean, Malaysian, and Filipino MapleSEA gamers,” said Sherman Tan, chairman of Asiasoft Online.

    MapleSEA: LEGENDS is the first patch released in the Philippines. It contains three new classes that gamers can choose from, namely the Canon Shooter, Mercedes and Demon Slayer, among others.

    MapleSEA was first introduced to the Singaporean and Malaysian online videogame market six years ago from Korea. To date, there are over 4 million MapleSEA gamers in Singapore and Malaysia, making it the most popular 2D MMORPG in Southeast Asia.

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