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    Pre-orders for the iPhone 4S better than iPhone 4 last year – Globe

    Gadgets Team
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    Pre-orders for the iPhone 4S better than iPhone 4 last year – Globe

    Since Globe no longer has exclusivity over the iPhone, there have been speculation on the performance of preorders for Apple’s newest iteration of the iPhone from the telco. Apparently all those rumors are without merit, as Globe tells us that their online pre-orders for the iPhone 4S has exceeded the performance of the iPhone 4 despite being carried by their competitor Smart. The Philippines is included in the third wave of the release of the iPhone 4S, which is is expected to be carried by 100 telcos in 70 countries by the year’s end.

    “Globe is proud to be one of the first telecommunication companies in Asia to carry iPhone from the very start,” said Peter Bithos, Senior Adviser for Consumer Business of Globe Telecom, “We know iPhone from inside-out, we’ve had years to study the habits and patterns of our customers who use iPhone and we have great offers that combine mobile browsing with SMS and calls that really showcase the power of iPhone 4S.”

    Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus

    Gadgets Team
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    9
    Review: Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus

    Samsung was the first manufacturer to challenge Apple in the tablet ring. And while we’ve all heard the same denials that the original Galaxy Tab was a hybrid device, we all knew that it was a tablet first, smartphone second. With a couple of successful tablet launches under its belt (including the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9), the Korean company has sought to revisit the screen size that started it all with a new design, screen and OS. Does the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus have what it takes to be as successful as its big brother?

    With all the screen sizes available nowadays, it’s becoming more difficult to find a screen size that’s best for you. To be honest, I’m drawn to 10.1-inch tablets but after a few days of using both a Lenovo K1 and the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus, I found that I was stuffing the latter more than the former in my bag before heading out. I found the overall size of the tablet handier, and while it’s not a gadget that’ll fit in the pockets of your jeans, it still small enough that you’ll be able to stuff it down pockets and bags that are capable of taking notebook sized items.

    Visually, the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus looks like a miniaturized Galaxy Tab 10.1. The overall construction is plastic, and is built solidly enough. The back of the tablet is covered in white plastic, with a silver trim around it.

    There’s a volume rocker on the right side, along with the power button and an IR transmitter, which I assume is used by the Peel Smart Remote App (more on this later).

    The left side of the device houses the SIM and microSD slot. The top of the device holds a 3.5mm jack. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus isn’t what you’d call a device ideal for imaging – it only packs a 3.15 megapixel camera that’s only capable of  taking resolutions of up to 2048×1536 pixels. The display isn’t much of a step up from the previous Tab, but that doesn’t mean it sucks – the 7-inch PLS LCD capacitive touchscreen is bright and responsive, and has a display resolution of 1024 x 600.

    The Galaxy Tab 7 Plus is a step up (naturally) hardware-wise to the original and packs a dual-core, 1.2 GHz processor paired with 1GB of RAM. Our demo unit had an internal storage capacity of 16GB, though there’s apparently a 32GB model if you find that lacking. If you haven’t noticed it yet, the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus is capable of taking a SIM card for 3G connectivity, though I found that you can also send text messages with it and make phone calls – possibly making it the most unwieldy smartphone ever made by man.

    But thankfully, the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus isn’t a smartphone – it’s a tablet. And what a glorious tablet it is. Like any Samsung Android device, the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus comes with their own UI overlay called TouchWiz. The overlay adds additional functionality like more widgets and the like to the device, and changes up the ho-hum visual style of Honeycomb.

    TouchWiz also adds a nifty screen capture app that you can access anywhere, which I really appreciated.

    Like I said earlier, the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus comes with a nifty little app called Peel Smart Remote. The app is basically a huge universal remote app that allows you to control your TV from the tablet. Set-up was quite easy, and there’s a large list of supported devices that you can use it with, and you can even shoot off an email to the people who made the app if it doesn’t work with your listed device. Nifty, ain’t it?

    Like any tablet that comes through our labs, the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus was put through some synthetic benchmarks to try and figure out where it stands in relation to other similar devices. The AnTuTu benchmark has been our benchmark of choice so far, and the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus managed to post some surprising numbers. It scored a whopping 6040 points, surpassing the Samsung Galaxy S II and coming ridiculously close to the Samsung Galaxy Note’s 6348 score. The actual, real-life performance of the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus mirrors the benchmarks – the device never hanged and was still damn speedy even after I went through application after application in a vain attempt to crash it.

    Battery life was pretty impressive too, with the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus managing about 7 1/2 hours on a single charge with 3G on and some moderate use.

    Possibly the only thing that’ll stop you from getting one is this: is 7-inches the right size for you? A few months ago I probably wouldn’t have touched a 7-inch tablet with a 10 foot pole, but now I see the benefits of having a compact yet powerful device in my bag, and I’m slowly leaning towards this particular size if ever I get my own (I still like 10-inch tablets though). Ultimately, it’s going to be a personal decision, one that’s best answered by going to a Samsung concept store and trying one yourself. We currently don’t have an idea of pricing, but we guess it’ll  run in the same 21-25K price bracket that the Huawei MediaPad currently swims in.

     

    What’s Hot:

    Faster processor than the original Galaxy Tab

    TouchWiz UI bring extra widgets and functionality to the table

    Good performance

    Excellent battery life

     

    What’s Not:

    Camera is a little mediocre

     

    Bottomline:

    The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus is an improvement over the original Tab, and if you don’t mind the size, I’d highly recommend it to anyone.

    Buymeter: 9

     

    Tech Specs 

    • Operating System: Android Honeycomb 3.2
    • CPU: 1.2 GHz dual-core
    • LCD: 7-inch PLS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 1024 x 600 pixels
    • Physical Dimensions: 193.7 x 122.4 x 9.9 mm
    • Weight: 345g
    • Band: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100
    • Internal memory: 16/32 GB storage, expandable via microSD

     

    Samsung celebrates 300 million global handset sales for 2011, party in Korean HQ guaranteed

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    Samsung celebrates 300 million global handset sales for 2011, party in Korean HQ guaranteed

    Here’s another reason why Samsung has got to be pleased with itself – the Korean manufacturer has managed to achieve 300 million global handset sales this 2011, a first for the company.

    “We are incredibly proud of this record-breaking sales milestone and have exceeded the annual target announced early this year, which is testament to the enduring appeal of Samsung phones with consumers around the world,” said JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business. “Our performance in the mobile industry remains unrivalled. Samsung is the only manufacturer bringing such an exceptional choice of handsets to customers across a broad range of platforms including Android, Windows Phone and Samsung’s own bada platform — and on a truly global scale. We look forward to extending this success going into 2012.”

    The sales were fueled by the excellent performance of the company’s Galaxy line of devices, most notably the Galaxy S II, which managed to nab 10 million sales around the globe and is still a popular smartphone today. Cheers to Samsung – let’s hope they still have a lot of great devices in store for us in 2012.

    Plantronics MarqueM155 – your smartphone’s hands-free buddy

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    Plantronics MarqueM155 – your smartphone’s hands-free buddy

    Your smartphone has a new best friend. Meet the Plantronics MarqueM155, launched recently at Robot Restaurant and Lounge – a smarter and smaller headset that offers voice-guided pairing for iPhone and Androidsmartphones, voice recognition so you can answer or ignore calls completely hands-free, and stereo Bluetooth which allows you to listen to music, GPS directions or your email, all while providing great stereo quality in the smallest, lightest weight design yet at just seven grams.

    “Smartphone users want to harness the power of their phones to complement and simplify their busy lives,” said Elizabeth Hamren, vice president of Marketing, Plantronics. “The Marque lets them take advantage of the full range of their phone’s capabilities, even while talking or listening to music or a podcast, all in a  great looking, super lightweight device.”

    The Marque is Plantronics’ smallest headset ever and offers excellent sound quality in an amazingly lightweight design.  At seven grams it weighs less than most ball point pens. It is so small you’ll hardly know you’re wearing it.  Get the most from Marque and your smartphone with the MyHeadsetapp, currently available in the Android Market and Apple App Store. These apps will do a sound check and familiarize you with the added functionality of your headset, such as streaming music, with much more to come.  

    Marque M155 is available for Php 2,950 in Jet Black or Arctic White, and will be available by first quarter of 2012. 

    Meet the Electronic Drum Machine Shirt

    Gadgets Team
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    Meet the Electronic Drum Machine Shirt

    Designed by ThinkGeek, the Electronic Drum Machine Shirt  lets you play and create drum rhythms wherever you are.

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    LTE fragmentation means that your future LTE device will only work in your country

    Gadgets Team
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    LTE fragmentation means that your future LTE device will only work in your country

    LTE, the next evolution of cellular technology has everybody excited. Unfortunately, the emerging next generation technology is already getting fragmented this early according to Wireless Intelligence, which means that future LTE devices will only work on the carrier it was designed for. Wireless Intelligence estimates that there will be 200 LTE networks by 2015, with 38 different frequencies. Even if carriers use the same spectrum, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their devices will be compatible – AT&T and Verizon will both use the 700 spectrum, but AT&T will be using the 704-746MHz range while Verizon will opt for the 746-787MHz. It’s not clear if this will also be the case locally when both telcos roll out their LTE service, but currently all signs point to this trend.

    Source: GigaOm, Wireless Intelligence

    New Samsung Galaxy S II ad takes a not so subtle swipe at Apple fan boys

    Gadgets Team
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    New Samsung Galaxy S II ad takes a not so subtle swipe at Apple fan boys

    The heated rivalry between Apple and Samsung has produced lawsuits and some pretty amusing commercials, and the latest one from the Korean manufacturer seems to be the best of the bunch. The ad pokes fun at the Apple fanboys who lineup at every product launch, and demonstrates some of the multimedia capabilities of the device. Burn? Apple, it’s time for your rebuttal. Check out the whole spot below.

    Source: Samsung (Twitter)

    Command and Conquer Generals 2 revealed, will be made by Bioware

    Gadgets Team
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    1
    Command and Conquer Generals 2 revealed, will be made by Bioware

    Oh man. Gametrailers has just released an exclusive trailer for the newest entry in the Command and Conquer franchise: Command and Conquer Generals 2. While it’s just a short 30 second trailer, we managed to glean a couple of facts from it. One, it’s going to be made on the Frostbite 2 engine that currently powers Battlefield 3 and two, it’ll be made by Bioware, the same company that brought you RPG classics such as Dragon Age, Knights of the Old Republic and the Mass Effect franchise. While Bioware’s RPG chops is unquestioned, this is the developer’s first foray into real-time strategy games, which just makes us anticipate the game more. The game is slated to hit on 2013, so you have plenty of time to practice sending faceless soldiers to their deaths.

    Source: Gametrailers

    Motorola wins German suit against Apple, no more imports of iPhones into Germany for now

    Gadgets Team
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    1
    Motorola wins German suit against Apple, no more imports of iPhones into Germany for now

    Seems like Apple’s having a run of bad luck lately, what with a their request for an injunction against Samsung being denied by a judge in California. Now another brand, Motorola Mobility, has managed to score a win against the firm from Cupertino – Germany’s Manheim Regional Court has decided that Apple infringes on a patent held by Motorola Mobility (“core cellular communications patents related to data packet transfer technology (GPRS)”) which is used by several of Apple’s products, and as such, is now forbidden to import the infringing devices. The patent covers a whole range of Apple products, most notably its iPhone and iPad range of devices. This suit only affects future shipments from Apple into Germany, and the company is free to sell the devices it already has in-country. Apple has already appealed the decision, and if its appeal is denied, it’ll have to play nice with Motorola Mobility and pay them for the privilege of selling their products on German soil.

    Source: Phandroid

    Philippine PC market post record shipments for Q3 2011, netbooks still selling well

    Gadgets Team
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    1
    Philippine PC market post record shipments for Q3 2011, netbooks still selling well

    While the rest of the world seems to be heading to a post-PC era, it seems like pinoys still prefer PCs over tablets and other similar devices. According to IDC, the local PC market posted record shipments for Q3 of this year, which equates to 498,000 units. The portables segment grew 13% from the previous quarter, while the desktop segment remained stagnant, only shipping about 189,000 units. It seems that the main driver for notebook growth for this quarter has been mininotebooks (netbooks), with consumers responding favorably to aggressive price cuts like the Php 9,999 B3325N NEO notebook. Overall, the Philippines PC market increased by 7% sequentially and 25% year-on-year.

    Price sensitivity is still a huge concern when buyers consider notebooks. According to Ng Juan Jin, Market Analyst for Client Devices Research at IDC ASEAN, “The popularity of mininotebooks is evidence of end users prioritizing affordability over more advanced specifications. The surge in shipments indicates that first time users are content with the functionality of mininotebooks. And, given the relatively low adoption rate of PCs and the large low-income segment in the Philippines, there is still growth potential for mininotebooks provided prices remain low relative to other competing IT devices.” Sequential and year-on-year growth rates for mininotebooks are at 29% and 36% respectively. He adds, “AMD’s new processors are also increasingly popular among MNCs that are looking to diversify their model lineup while keeping prices low.”

     

    webOS goes open source, still no new hardware planned as of now

    Gadgets Team
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    webOS goes open source, still no new hardware planned as of now

    It seems like there’s still life after death after all, at least for webOS. After being killed by former HP Chief Léo Apotheker earlier this year, webOS is being brought back from the dead by HP. The company has announced in its webOS developer blog that the mobile OS will be going open source, with the resources of the company behind it. This means that the mobile OS will now be a viable choice for other companies to use in their products, and we may soon see smartphones and tablets running the once dead OS. Unfortunately, HP doesn’t have plans to make a new TouchPad (or any other webOS powered device), so if you’re one of the few people who absolutely love webOS, you may have to wait until new products crop up (assuming you weren’t able to get a TouchPad) to get your webOS fix.

    Source: HP, webOS developer blog

    Acer will stop making cheap, unprofitable products, hedging its bets on ultrabooks next year

    Gadgets Team
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    Acer will stop making cheap, unprofitable products, hedging its bets on ultrabooks next year

    Acer has not had a good year. The Taiwanese manufacturer has posted its first loss in a decade, and as a result its CEO has deemed that some kind of refocusing is in order. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Acer CEO J.T. Wang has said that the company will shift their focus from pursuing market share blindly with cheap and unprofitable products. The Acer head honcho wants to put a big focus on ultrabooks, saying that “Ultrabooks will become our key growth driver next year as customers want a lighter, thinner notebook with longer battery life. Selling more ultrabooks will also help improve our profit margins as they command higher prices.” It’s still unclear what products will get the axe, and Acer has gone on record that they’d never give up netbooks, so your guess is as good us ours on which products Acer will drop next year.

    Source: All Things D, Digitimes

    Beyond the Box officially open in One Rockwell, offering special promos

    Gadgets Team
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    Beyond the Box officially open in One Rockwell, offering special promos

    Beyond The Box, an Apple premium reseller, officially opened their second branch in One Rockwell in a fun-filled event hosted by MYX VJ JOaquin Valdes and Shiela Valderama, with entertainment provided by DJ Orocay.

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    Review: Asus Zenbook UX21

    Gadgets Team
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    4
    Review: Asus Zenbook UX21

    Anyone who has ever used an ultraportable notebook knows all too well the sacrifices that come with mobility. The rule of thumb was that the lighter and thinner your notebook was, the greater the hit in performance was. Road warriors had always had to make the painful choice between mobility and performance, and the results weren’t pretty. That’s why I was pretty skeptical of Intel’s ultrabook initiative, which basically promised to deliver extremely thin and light notebooks with performance that was close to those of mainstream notebooks. But after my time with the Asus Zenbook UX21, I’m a believer.

    I actually saw the UX21 way back in June during COMPUTEX in Taiwan, and my reaction, like most of the media present during the official launch event, was awe and amazement. At first glance, the notebook was so impossibly thin I swore that it was channelling chi from long dead supermodels.

    The whole thing is only 9mm thick at the deepest point (3 at the thinnest). The UX21 sports a beautiful 11.6-inch 16:9 HD (1366×768) LED backlit display which surprisingly, was very bright. Externally, the UX21 is beautiful – its chassis is made from aluminium, and the way the notebook just refracts light makes it look like something else other than a notebook. And while it looks like the UX21 would be a hefty notebook, it lightly tips the scales at 1.1 kilos.

    Of course, some sacrifices had to be made to make the notebook as thin and as light as possible. The keys are slightly smaller than the regular keyboards on notebooks, and you only get two USB ports though kudos to Asus on making one of the ports 3.0. There’s no optical drive (understandably) and no Ethernet plug either. You’ll also have to buy mini-VGA and HDMI ports if you want the image on the notebook to stream on a TV or projector. You also get an all-glass trackpad that’s clickable (like the one on MacBooks) with a subtle separator for the left and right mouse button.

    Internally, the UX21 uses an Intel Core i5 2467M Processor (1.6 GHz) with about 4GB of DDR3 memory. Storage is done by way of a 120GB SSD drive which, in theory, should speed up access and boot times and improve battery life.

    Because the UX21 uses an SSD drive, it’s able to post extremely fast boot times, both in cold boot (with the notebook off) and recovering from hibernation. The UX21 turns on quickly, requiring less than 20 seconds (18 seconds in fact) from switching the power on to actually seeing the Windows 7 desktop. Recovering from hibernation takes about 13 seconds.

    Overall performance was great. The UX21 was able to handle almost everything I used it with, from watching video to browsing several sites while covering the BlackBerry Developer Conference a while back. Streaming HD video wasn’t a problem with the UX21 and though it’s not the right device for hardcore gaming, it’s still capable of running casual and mainstream games at acceptable resolutions. And while I typically don’t expect much from notebook speakers (ultraportables especially) the UX21 managed to delightfully surprise me. Music and video clips played from the UX21 were loud, crisp and clear, and though it had pathetic bass, it’s still a leg up against other similar notebooks.

    Battery life wasn’t that stellar though, and the UX21 managed roughly 4 ½ hours on a single charge with constant use. Then again, there isn’t a whole lot of space in the UX21 to cram a large battery in, and we suppose that’s the price you pay for added mobility.

    Of course, being Asus’ first ultrabook, it’s not perfect. The keyboard for example has shallow travel, and as a result, the keys feel really mushy. The trackpad also exhibited some weird behaviour, and doesn’t recognize input right away – it actually felt like the same kind of lag I experience when using a wireless mouse.

    Possibly the biggest thing that potential users will balk at is the price – the UX21 retails for about Php 53,995, which pretty much puts it on par price-wise with the MacBook Air. Then again, the UX21 is possibly one of the most beautiful notebooks I’ve ever used so far for the Windows platform, and while I don’t necessarily hate Macs, I really can’t imagine myself using one. If you’re a person that values portability and mobility the most, and can’t imagine yourself using a Macbook Air, then you might want to take a look at Asus’ Zenbook offerings. I guarantee that you won’t regret it.

     

    What’s Hot:

    • Solid construction
    • Fantastic styling
    • Extremely thin and light
    • Good performance
    • Excellent sound

     

    What’s Not:

    • Keys are mushy and have shallow travel

     

    Bottomline:

    Looking for an absolutely beautiful, thin and light notebook that runs Windows? Well, you might want to pick up the UX21.

     

    Buymeter: 8.9

     

    Tech Specs

    • Screen Size: 11.6-inch 16:9 HD (1366×768) LED
    • Memory: 4GB DDR3
    • CPU and chipset:  Intel Core i5 2467M Processor (1.6GHz)
    • Physical Dimensions: 299 x 196 x 9mm
    • Warranty: 1 year on parts and labor

     

    Before 2011 ends, Gadgets takes you back to the future of technology

    Gadgets Team
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    0
    Before 2011 ends, Gadgets takes you back to the future of technology

    The Mayans have their predictions and we have ours and they look rather promising in today’s fast-paced, fast-growing high-tech world. NFC, 4G, SSDs – those are just a few things we see in our very reliable crystal ball for 2012. Of course, what would Gadgets Magazine be without the latest innovations, gadgets, and lifestyle must-have filling our pages. And helping us usher the year ahead is no less than the beautiful and talented Iza Calzado herself who takes on Raquel Welch’s classic look in One Million Years B.C.

    So don’t wait for the world to end. Grab your copy of our December/January issue of Gadgets Magazine out now!

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