This November, Gadgets Magazine brings you The Next Big Thing, an issue full of the latest innovations in technology and more! Cop an issue and peep the freshest devices! Still wondering what to get yourself (oh yeah, and others) for the holidays? You’ll have trouble keeping that list short after a look at the November issue.
One of the biggest surprises of the Office for Mac 2011 launch wasn’t directly connected to the launch. Alan Chou, Microsoft’s Senior Category Manager, SEA Emerging Market just happened to have a LG Optimus 7 that he literally just uncrated out of the box. It was so new it still didn’t have a SIM card yet , and being the tech lover that I am I just had to get my grubby mitts on the thing and fondle Microsoft’s latest and greatest for a few minutes.
One of the most striking feature, or non feature, of Windows Phone 7 devices is the lack of custom skins. Alan says that while there’s not going to be manufacturer skins on top of the OS, manufacturers will be able to put custom tiles on the device.
The minimalist design of the UI is nice and pleasant, and the transitions between screens are fast and zippy.
The new OS has heavy XBOX Live integration, and while you won’t be able to play Gears of War on the thing, you’ll at least be able to see your achievements and avatar. There’s also games slated for Windows Phone 7 devices, so gamers on the go can have their fix wherever they are.
Alan also demoed one of the features that the Optimus 7 had – the Panorama Shot. It’s essentially an easy to use panoramic shooting mode where the phone gives users visual cues where to point the 5 megapixel camera to for near perfect panoramic shots.
So that’s it for the Optimus Phone 7. While we’re jonesing to get some real hands on time with Windows Phone 7 devices, realistically we won’t be seeing a lot of them this holiday season as they are still slowly trickling down to launch regions (Alan got his from Singapore).
As further proof that Microsoft’s spreading the love across all platforms, Office for Mac 2011 has just been officially released at the press event thrown by Microsoft’s local distributor, MSI-ECS at the M Café in Makati. The new version of Microsoft’s long running productivity suite brings over a ton of familiar elements from the Windows version to the Mac, including the ribbon interface. The new version is also completely compatible with old versions of Office, and has all the features of the Windows version to ensure cross compatibility.
Mac users also have the distinction of being able to enjoy the dynamic reordering feature that’s present in PowerPoint, wherein instead of clicking on arrows to prioritize layers, users will get a Windows Aero-like UI and will be able to arrange the layers visually. Potential buyers of Office for Mac 2011 will also be able to enjoy relatively lower prices as there will be single user licenses available for purchase. Sadly, there was no retail pricing announced locally as of yet, but MSI-ECS assures us that there will be one soon.
LG wants you to enjoy Android for less, and its newly released LG Optimus One running on Android 2.2 Froyo is a serious contender in the local smartphone arena. Retailing at only Php 12,900, the Optimus One delivers serious value for money, and it was only natural that we’d finally grab one for review. Big thanks go out to LG Philippines for supplying the demo unit, and providing fodder for today’s unboxing.
The Optimus One arrived in an alarmingly unassuming and positively tiny box. Inside held the unit and the accessories that come with it.
The design of the Optimus One is very minimalist, and as such there are only a few buttons littered at the bottom of the unit and to the side.
There’s also a 3.5mm jack to plug your own headphones in if you don’t like the included ones.
The back view of the unit. The camera is a 3.0 megapixel deal.
Here’s a perspective on how the Optimus One looks while being held. I do admit that my hand is a bit on the large side (it’s slightly bigger than the average pinoy) but the Optimus One still feels fantastic to hold.
And the most important bit of course, the Android version. The Optimus One runs on the latest build of Android, namely 2.2, so all the features and goodies that’s associated with it (WiFi tethering and the like) is good to go.
The capacitive screen is easy to use and is very responsive. Texting and composing messages is easy, and the screen automatically switches from a keypad to a full QWERTY keyboard depending on the orientation of the device.
The accessories that come with it.
Alright that’s it for this unboxing. If you want to find out what grade the Optimus One gets, you’ll have to wait for the December issue of our mag as EA Danee Torres takes it for a spin. Or if you don’t want to wait and grab one right away, LG is discounting the price of this beautiful little smartphone during the blast off sale on Nov. 13 at their concept stores all over the country (SM North EDSA Annex, SM Megamall, SM Cebu and Gaisano Davao) at a massively discounted price of Php 6,495. You’ll have to be quick though, because you only have a 1 hour window before the sale ends, and once that hour is up, the price is back up to the regular, Php 12,900 tag. The sale happens on 2-3 PM only, so mark your calendars people.
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The latest My Passport Studio is one gorgeous looking portable hard drive. This model is the successor to WD’s Studio line, which specifically targets Mac users. There are three variants for the My Passport Studio: 320Gb, 500GB, and 640GB. The one I have right now is the 500GB model.
Unlike the My Passport Essential, the My Passport Studio only comes in one color. It couldn’t be more perfect as the metallic silver finish of the hard drive closely resembles the Aluminum Unibody of Apple MacBooks. One the bottom, there are 2 connection ports available: micro-USB 2.0 and FireWire 800. Included inside the box is an adapter which converts FireWire 800 to FireWire 400. Underneath the sleek exterior rests a 2.5-inch hard drive with 8MB cache and 5400-rpm.
Probably the biggest upgrade from the previous generation of My Passport Studio is the e-Label panel located in front of the device. It displays a personalized label of up to 12 characters long, a bar which represents the remaining capacity, and a lock icon which indicates if the drive is password protected. The color of the display can be inverted from black-on-gray to gray-on-black. The e-label uses the e-ink technology so it stays on even though the drive is unplugged.
All of these features can be accessed and modified using WD’s proprietary software: the WD SmartWare. It comes pre-loaded into the device as an auto-loading Virtual CD. It’s an all-in-one software which lets you update the label, add a security password, or even diagnose your hard drive. There’s also a backup software included that neatly categorizes the contents of your computer, which could be synced to your hard drive. The backup software is limited such that you can’t exclude individual files/folders from the different categories. If it’s documents or movies, it’s ALL documents or movies. There’s also no option for automatic scheduled backup.
If you’re like me and you don’t want any of the extra clutter from the SmartWare VCD, there is also an option to switch it off. You can only do this if you’re My Passport Studio is not password locked and you’re not using any of the features of SmartWare. This may be reverted back on anytime using the Virtual CD Manager.
For benchmarking, I used the AJA System Test, one of the very few benchmarking programs available for Mac. With USB 2.0 (left), I got a very unimpressive write speed of 27.4 MB/s and a read speed of 35.8 MB/s. However, with FireWire 800 (right), the performance got boosted up to twice as fast with a write speed of 62.1 MB/s and a read speed of 73.6 MB/s.
I also tried copying a bunch of files just to verify the benchmarking results with real life files that I store in My Passport Studio – my World of Warcraft installer, and seasons 1 to 4 of How I Met Your Mother. With small files, the difference is hardly noticeable but when transferring over 50GB of data, the FireWire 800 just blew USB 2.0 out of the competition. It was indeed almost twice as fast. Too bad not a lot of non-Apple devices has a built in FireWire 800 interface.
Just keep in mind that using different computers may have varying results. For this particular test, I used a Mid-2009 MacBook Pro with 2.26Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB ram, and 160GB SATA HDD.
You can follow Francis on Twitter.
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Payday is coming up and our Online/Digital Editor, Francis Tan and our Editorial Assistant, Danee Torres are both thinking of getting new smartphones! We did our research – we read blogs, watched YouTube videos, tried out different devices, but it’s still a tough decision for a big purchase (well, for us it is!) Before we make our final decision, we want you guys to help us! Please vote in our poll and post your thoughts in our comments below.
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It will be greatly appreciated. In fact, we’re giving away a pair of Philips SPA 1250 USB Speakers to those who give us quality comments, also to say thanks to all of you guys for making us hit the 5,500 mark in Facebook fans. We’ll collate your answers after so if you or your friends are having the same dilemma, you’ll know where to go!. :)
Fuji Xerox recently held its media conference last Oct-18-21 in Yokohama, Japan to introduce two of their latest technologies that will revolutionize printers and printing in general: the Self-scanning LED (SLED) and the EA-Eco Toners as Fuji Xerox continues to make sure that they provide better quality products, that are not only good for your business but mother earth’s as well. Catch Gadgets Magazine’s November issue to find out more about what Fuji Xerox has coming up for the Philippine market.
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Globe officially launches the GCASH Card, a customizable ATM card that is linked to your GCASH. This service gives more accessibility to GCASH by enabling users to have 24/7 access to their GCASH wallets via any of the 9,000 Bancnet, Megalink, ExpressNet or Encash Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) nationwide. It is customizable in the sense that subscribers can use any photo on their ATM card either by uploading their own or choosing among preset templates.
Be wary that there is a P20 charge per transaction that will be automatically deducted from their GCASH wallet.
You can get yours today by going to www.globe.com.ph/gcashcard
It’s a weekday and I’ve sneaked out of the office to pamper myself with a much-needed make-over at my favorite beauty salon. I’m enjoying the undivided attention of my beauty attendants in a peaceful and quiet environment — so different from the weekend crush of matrons and their teenage daughters getting their hair and nails done.
And I don’t feel the least bit guilty about taking a beauty time-out as I can keep working on my iPad while enjoying a foot spa. Powered by Smart Bro’s micro-Sim, I am able to stay connected and can receive and send email, check office reports on my DropBox folder, and even chat with my staff for important concerns.
And what’s really great is that the salon’s Makati location means I get excellent 3G speeds — check this out: a whopping 3.07Mbps on Smart 3G!
Thats pretty much the gist of Sony Ericsson General Manager Dennis Manzano’s message during the launch of their newest Xperia device today, the X8. With a retail price pegged at Php 11,600, its certainly the most affordable Xperia out there.
Aside from the usual smartphone specs (3-inch touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, 600MHz Qualcomm processor), the X8 will also come with their own UI layer called Timescape and a 3 month trial version of McAfee Wave Secure, a complete mobile security solution that lets users back up their data including SMS, call logs, contacts and media such as photos and videos to their secure server where it can be accessed and viewed, and this can be restored on any smart phone of their choice. It lets users remotely lock the phone and wipe data from a lost phone, and tracks the missing phone through map locations and through a patented track SIM feature. It works even if the SIM card in the phone has been replaced. The application functions fully protect the user’s information when the phone goes missing, and can work to help get a lost phone back.
It has to be said though, that the X8 was a bit of a letdown not because of the hardware, but because of the software. It’s still going to be running Android Cupcake 1.6 when it hits the stores, which Sony Ericsson says can be upgraded to Eclair 2.1 come November. That still is a version short of what their competitors are flaunting, and there will definitely be stiff competition come the holidays and any edge will come in handy.
Here’s a few more pictures of the X8. It’ll be available for Php 11,600 once it hits stores.
Hi guys! Sorry for the delay but here’s the winner of our Philips SHE775 Contest, and a couple of announcements from our Editorial Assistant-slash-Future YouTube Celebrity, Danee Torres. The winner of the contest has a chance to double up his/her prize! Watch the video to find out how.
Also, we are giving away another Ocean Adventure GC for 4, worth P2,000! Simply click share on this post and tag us. For those who don’t know how, just add the “@” then type Gadgets Magazine. Make sure it’s set to public so it’ll appear on our wall. Winners will be announced on Friday. What are you waiting for? Share now!
This video was shot with Sony HDR-CX110. Thanks Sony! :)
