Archos officially launched their brand new Gen9 tablets, and you know what? They look pretty impressive.
Gadgets Magazine officially releases its exclusive Nokia Ovi App
The Philippine’s first tech-lifestyle magazine goes mobile
GADGETS Magazine, the Philippine’s first tech-lifestyle magazine, has taken even greater strides to strengthen its online presence by offering loyal readers its very own Nokia Ovi App.
Nokia users can now stay connected for FREE and receive the latest updates from the Gadgets Magazine website, to stay up-to-date on breaking news, the latest devices, the best bargains and the hottest events in the luxurious world of technology and lifestyle.
Those who avail of the app will have complete access to Gadgets Magazine’s product reviews, which has been at the core of the publication’s unparalleled success. Users can now refer to the expertise of the Gadgets Magazine team wherever they are, providing them a mobile and reliable guide to the hottest and latest devices.
The Gadgets Magazine Ovi App is completely FREE and is available for download at the Nokia Store. Visit http://nokiaappwizard.com/app/
The Blackberry Market isn’t shrinking – 4 myths about the brand that isn’t true
Like any self-respecting tech outfit, we follow technology sites and blogs from the US religiously. As a result, we went into the BlackBerry Developer Conference in Singapore with the mindset that RIM was a company floundering and was in the precipice of losing relevance. But boy, were we wrong. Dead wrong. While BlackBerry may not be doing that well in the US, it seems that the Canadian company was flourishing in Asia, and has managed to grab a large share of the market in several countries which include Thailand and Indonesia. So why all the reports of the doom and gloom?
“To be blunt, it’s lazy reporting,” says Alec Saunders, VP of Developer Relations and Ecosystems Development for RIM. “If you sit down and looked carefully at RIM’s business, you can’t walk away with notion that the company is going nowhere. This is a company that grew its subscriber base from 50 million to 70 million – that’s a 44% growth rate in one year.” He adds, “We got no debt on the books and the business is profitable with no debt – it’s not in trouble. It just boggles my mind.”
Alec also compiled a couple of myths that’s usually associated with the brand and we’ve managed to include them all below. The key message that we felt RIM wanted to impart to the press during the whole conference was that the company may not be doing well in the US, but it’s doing a killing in Asia and in other, larger markets. Let’s just hope the love spreads everywhere, eh?
Smart Money rolls out NFC payments via Tap2Pay, one step closer to wallet-less transactions
After successfully conducting their first NFC-enabled project a few months ago, Smart is at it again with their NFC powered Tap2Pay initiative launched together with BDO. The new service leverages the Telco’s Smart Money service to power the new service, which will be used during Worldbex’s Services International’s World Bazaar Festival. Like the previous offering for NFC, only postpaid Nokia C7 toting Smart subscribers will be able to partake in the NFC party, who will be given free Smart Money accounts with a credit amount of P50. They can then use Tap2Pay to gain entrance to the Philippines’ longest-running charity event which will be held from December 10-18, 2011 at the World Trade Center in Manila. All they have to do is use their Nokia C7 handsets to tap on specially-marked posters located at the bazaar entrance to avail of their entrance ticket to the bazaar.
Before Nokia C7 owners can make use Tap2Pay, however, they must first update their phone software to activate the NFC feature. This can be done by going to the phone’s update menu or by connecting the phone to a computer using Nokia PC Suite (standard data rates apply).
Similarly, C7 users can also visit the nearest Nokia Care Center to have their phone software updated for free. Tap2Pay by Smart Money only works with NFC-enabled phones.
It seems that this particular event is a beta test of sorts for Smart’s NFC system, and it’s pretty certain that the telco will roll out a more comprehensive NFC program integrated with their Smart Money service, especially since NFC capability is showing up in more smartphones than ever before.
Adding social elements makes apps perform better – RIM
Word of mouth is a powerful thing. Recommendations from friends and colleagues usually sway opinions and convince people to try the latest restaurant, check out the latest film and influence purchase decisions on gadgets and applications. That’s the reason why word of mouth is being leveraged by RIM to help developers to get their apps downloaded more. RIM has said that apps that use their BBM Social Platform typically perform better than apps without during one of our sessions with the Canadian company during BlackBerry Devcon Asia. An app called Caro for example, enjoyed 4 million downloads in less than 3 months, thanks to sharing via BBM. Additionally, RIM has said that BBM Social enabled apps typically perform 15 times better than apps without it which is great news for developers, since it never hurts to have your apps absolutely everywhere.
HTC brings back music, art and fashion with 3 new phones
HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, unveiled 3 of their latest smartphones just in time for the holidays – the HTC Rhyme, HTC Explorer, and HTC Radar.
The elegant HTC Rhyme delivers a fresh approach of integrating distinct colors, HTC Sense and complementary accessories for a natural personal experience.
With a beautiful 3.7-inch WVGA, super LCD display and high-quality stereo sound, HTC Rhyme also offers advanced imaging capabilities that begin with its 5-megapixel camera that includes auto focus, power LED flash and instant shutter for capturing those memorable moments whenever they arrive.
In addition, the camera features a number of photo-taking and sharing elements, including face detection, which ensures that friends are always in focus, action burst scene, which automatically takes five consecutive shots of a scene, and panoramic mode, which lets users stitch several photos for those larger-than-life views. The HTC Rhyme’s locked home screen can be customized to display the most important content, making it quick and easy to see social updates, photos, snapping a photo or the weather forecast by simply turning on the display.
The HTC Rhyme in Clearwater color will come bundled with the HTC Rhyme Docking Station, HTC Rhyme Tangle Free Headphones and HTC Rhyme Charm and is now available at HTC authorized resellers at a suggested retail price of Php 25,000.
The HTC Explorer brings an advanced smartphone experience to first time smartphone customers. With a curved and compact design, a 3.2” HVGA touchscreen and 3MP camera, HTC Explorer offers smartphone performance in an attractive and affordable phone.
With HTC Sense integrated, customers experience sharp graphics, vibrant animations, a wide variety of widgets and a cinematic and immersive weather experience. HTC Explorer also includes a customizable lock screen that functions as a real-time window to the customer’s most important information and content, such as social updates, photos, weather or stock updates that are viewed by simply waking up the display.
HTC Explorer provides a complete web browsing experience with Adobe Flash support, and is the first in its class with a HVGA display, allowing you to run nearly all of the applications in Android Market. Smart URL prediction provides quick access to the top 100 websites, while automatic URL correction streamlines web navigation.
The HTC Explorer allows you to access multiple work and personal email accounts and combine different calendars into a single view. New calendar invites are also managed from one tab allowing you determine the best use of your time. HTC Explorer offers you control over your data and mobile services with a usage monitor that tracks your call minutes, messages and data to keep you on top of your spending.
The HTC Explorer in metallic black is now available at HTC authorized resellers at a suggested retail price of Php 11,900.
The HTC Radar features a dedicated hardware camera button which enables you to capture vivid images while the f/2.2 aperture lens and back-illuminated sensor provide improved low-light performance – making sure you never miss that perfect shot. With 28mm wide-angle lenses you can capture more of the scene in front of you while the new panoramic feature lets you create dramatic pictures of skylines and landscapes. HTC Radar can shoot bright and vibrant HD (720p) videos, making them perfect companions for family functions or a night out with friends. And with the HTC Photo Enhancer, you can quickly touch up pictures and upload them to Facebook, tagging your friends as you go using automatic face detection built in to Windows Phones.
Elegantly crafted with an aluminum unibody, HTC Radar brings you closer to the important things in life, with the new People Hub from Windows Phone. The People Hub keeps you up to date with your friends’ latest news showing all of your communication history with each person, as well as their recent social network updates and photos.
Utilizing Virtual 5.1 surround sound for a rich audio experience, the HTC Radar is your perfect entertainment on the go. Internet browsing is fast and smooth with HTML5 support. You also get an amazing mobile gaming with Xbox LIVE, giving you access to a great selection of games for Windows Phone, which include features like Leaderboards and Achievement that connect you with your friends and the Xbox LIVE community around the world.
The HTC Radar is now available at HTC authorized resellers at a suggested retail price of Php 21,500.
Review: Huawei MediaPad 7″ Tablet
Huawei sets off on an ambitious mission of entering the tablet market, sending a message that they dare to tough it out with the overwhelming competition.
Want to make money on your app? Why not BlackBerry
In a world where apps are a dime a dozen, developers face an uphill battle when it comes to getting noticed. The Android marketplace for example, has thousands of apps on tap which makes it hard for a single application to stand out which also makes it hard for developers to earn money. Well, George Staikos, VP Web Technologies said during today’s keynote at the BlackBerry DevCon Asia that developers make more money with BlackBerry, and enjoy more downloads and are discovered more often. George says that 5 months after opening up their BBM Social Platform API to developers, the first 325 apps that used the API has enjoyed 60 million downloads, with more happening every day. And according to Evans Data Application Distribution survey, developers selling apps through BlackBerry App World made significantly more money than developers of other app stores, with 13% of BlackBerry developers make over $100,000 from App World apps. Other stats impressive stats include 165 million BlackBerries sold, 50 million BBM users, 1 billion downloads in Appworld.
Blackberry is in “growth mode” in Asia – RIM
Analysts may be doling out doom and gloom to RIM in the US, but nothing could be farther from the truth when it comes to Asia. Gregory Wade, Regional Managing Director, East Asia said in today’s BlackBerry DevCon Asia that BlackBerry will outgrow the smartphone market compared to Android, iOS and Windows Mobile in Asia Pacific according to IDC. He was also very confident about their position in the Asian markets, saying that Blackberry is in “growth mode” in Asia, and is currently the number one mobile phone in Indonesia, and the number one smartphone in many other Asian markets like Thailand and our own country, the Philippines. RIM attributes this growth to a number of factors, but the one reason that stands out from our conversations with RIM executives is the social aspect of the experience that their devices bring to the table.
Special Christmas offer for AVT GPS Navigator
To feed the nomadic spirit in each one of us, there’s a special Christmas offer for the AVT Navigator PN-403, featuring the most advanced GPS map for the Philippines.
A 4-inch widescreen portable navigation system, the AVT Navigator PN-403 is preloaded with an iNav Philippine map that guides you to your destination with turn-by-turn voice direction, lane junction assist, 3D junction view and 3D building landmarks. The 3D landmark and junction view features provide better visual cues to help you immediately identify landmarks and stay in the correct lane when approaching an intersection. It even has a speed camera warning feature to alert you when you are near a speed radar or speed camera location.
Specifically made for the Philippines, the iNav map contains over 300,000 points of interest and house numbers. Its enhanced route calculation for Philippine road conditions provide accurate, optimized routes to reach your destination. Smart keyword search provides the added convenience of quickly looking up addresses and points of interest by just typing a few characters.
On the hardware side, the AVT Navigator PN-403 has a high-resolution color touch-screen. Its built-in high-sensitivity GPS receiver allows a location fix in about 2-minutes. It has an SD card slot, a high-speed USB 2.0 port for Activesync support, and is powered by a rechargeable 1000mAh lithium-ion battery. Multi-media functionality includes a photo-viewer, an MP3-player, and a movie player. Unlimited free map updates ensure that your AVT Navigator PN-403 is never going to be outdated.
Starting 01 December 2011 until 31 January 2012, the AVT Navigator PN-403 is available at participating automotive dealers and shops for just P 7,000. And to ease the purchasing process, you can charge it to your credit card — BDO, BPI, HSBC, MetroBank, RCBC and Security Bank — at 0% interest for 3, 6 or 12-months installment.
AVT (which stands for Audio-Video Technology) specializes in premium audio-visual entertainment systems for mobile applications. In addition to navigation systems, the company also markets mobile tracking devices for vehicle and personal security. AVT offers a wide range of in-car mobile electronics, including display monitors, DVD players, digital and analog terrestrial receivers, sound processor/high-power amplifiers, specialized speakers, and AV controllers and accessories to suit all types of in-vehicle installations. For the mobile entertainment market, it carries all-in-one LCD DVD players in various screen sizes to meet every budget and application. Aside from consumer products which retail in car dealer accessories shops, AVT is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for many of the country’s leading car brands. iNAV is a subsidiary company dedicated to providing mapping support exclusively for AVT navigation devices.
Standout Christmas gift ideas from urbanAthletics
You don’t even have to scratch your head for some great gift ideas. Just head over to urbanAthletics, the shop that has the freshest drops when it comes to standout athletic clothing and accessories.
New arrivals amp up club fashion, like the Dada Tribeca PE, part of the tennis-inspired line of sporty-chic sneakers. An even hotter commodity is the Dada Blade, a full-coated leather sneaker with a classic yet refreshingly eye-catching touch.
Classic casual shoe brand Vans turns on the action for attraction, as seen from its latest designs. There’s the Zapato del Barco, a vintage-style boat-deck shoe made from all canvas and given a worn, slightly roughed-up look. There’s also the new hybrid style called the Vans Chukka Del Barco, born out of the brand’s ever evolving skate shoe design labs while keeping elements of the laidback Zapato. Its deck shoe details emerge in the distressed edging and wraparound lace eyelets.
If you’re looking for something even more fashionably standout, try Radii, the edgy lifestyle shoe label from Southern California. Radii’s fusion of ingenuity, attitude and style can be seen in its mid-top line like the simple and timeless Hampton Brick Leather or the Hampton Black Suede made of leather and suede exterior. Even more high end and uniquely designed is the Radii Straight Jacket Brown Leather, a high-top model with prominent buckled straps, side zippers and ankle straps that hold its perforated leather upper together. Justin Bieber was seen sporting this pair on the streets.
Metro warriors must be ideally armed with a gear roomy enough to carry almost anything in. Topping off urbanAthletics’ range of urban labels is its exclusively distributed Manhattan Portage, the practical yet fashionable bag brand that has its roots in New York. It has laptop bags, shoulder bags, backpacks and the famously messenger bags like the Sputnik, which features a large main compartment and multiple pockets made durable by its double fabric reinforcements and waterproof vinyl lining. It’s as tough and trendy as its military uniform design conveys.
Now that Christmas is just round the corner, visit urbanAthletics at the second floor of Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City and at Toby’s Sports Arena at the second level of Shangri-La Mall in Mandaluyong City and Abreeza Mall, Davao. The alternative clothing and lifestyle store is a member of the Quorum Group of Companies. For more info, go to www.urbanathletics.com.ph or be a fan on Facebook and Twitter.
We’re at BlackBerry DevCon Asia!
Hey guys, we’re currently at the BlackBerry DevCon Asia event in Singapore today. We’ve been pushing updates to our Facebook and Twitter page all morning, so if you want to get real time updates, please go to our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GadgetsMagazine or follow or Twitter @gadgetsmagazine.
Android Market hits 10 billion downloads, offers app discounts to celebrate
The Android Market is celebrating enormous success lately as they’ve announced that they recently passed the 10 BILLION mark of downloaded apps. To celebrate this event, their having special discounts on selected apps.
Asus Padfone coming early 2012, will sport Tegra 3 and ICS
Remember Asus’ mold breaking Padfone? That integrated tablet/smartphone combo that we first spotted back in June during COMPUTEX? Well, it seems like we’ll be seeing it again real soon – according to Engadget, netbooknews.com’s Nicole Scott says that the device will make an appearance during the Mobile World Congress in 2012, and will come with NVIDIA’s blistering new Tegra 3 processor that’s currently in the Transformer Prime.
Source: Engadget
Time-Lapse and Traffic equals work of art
I was once asked the [trick] question “What time of the day can there be no traffic in the entire world?” and I answered the ungodly hour of “3am-ish, when people are asleep.” Of course, the answer is never because traffic is really all about movement be it 1 vehicle or a gazillion vehicles on the road. And in Asia, the “gazillion vehicles on the road” is particularly true (which contributes to the traffic’s “lack of movement” in a matter of speaking) something we undoubtedly hate but put up with on the daily simply because… we’re used to it.
But despite the unavoidable congestion of automobiles that fill Asian streets, one photographer managed to capture “traffic” in all of its anarchy and danger and put it into nothing short of a work of art. Rob Whitworth, a Vietnam-based photographer from the UK gives us “Traffic in Frenetic HCMC” which features Ho Chi Minh City’s hustle and bustle. Using time lapse and over 10,000 individual 16.2-megapixel RAW images captured on Nikon DSLR cameras, the film showcases the speed and “life” of the city.
I’m wondering if we were to feature Manila traffic… we’d definitely need more that 10,000 images and a whole lot of time to lapse.
Traffic in Frenetic HCMC, Vietnam from Rob Whitworth on Vimeo.