Motorola Dext on Android OS

Motorola has finally announced its own Android-powered smartphone. Officially dubbed the Motorola Dext, it will be sold int he US under a different name (Motorola Cliq).

This capacitive touch screen phone also has a sliding full qwerty keyboard.

Motorola Dext/Cliq Specs:
320 x 480 pixels, 3.1 inches
1 GB storage, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM
up to 32GB on microSD
3G/HSDPA 7.2Mbps
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
5 MP autofocus camera @ 2592 x 1944 pixels
Qualcomm MSM7201A 528MHz CPU
GPS with AGPS support

Dext will have a customizable homescreen powered by MotoBlur that continuously syncs your phone and email contacts with your friends from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Looks like Motorola is banking on a social smartphone.

Battery is rated at 1420mAh, the Motorola Dext will have a retail price of about $400.

Globe Tattoo Prepaid drops to Php895

Globe is doing a promo on their Tattoo Prepaid Kit. Get a Php1,000 discount for every purchase of a kit — that’s just Php895 from the regular price of Php1,895.

The catch — well, promo period is only until October 31, 2009. The Globe Broadband Tattoo prepaid kit still comes with free 5 hours of mobile 3G worth Php100. Kits are available at Globe Stores and authorized dealers nationwide.

Note: SmartBro Prepaid kit also costs Php995 now.

Intel launches new Core i5 and i7 Processors

Intel Philippines yesterday unveiled a number of new processors under its Core i5 and Core i7 brands. Most interesting feature is the Turbo Boost that automatically overclocks the CPU when you need more juice.

Intel introduced the Core i7 920/940 last year but those were intended for hardcore gamers and enthusiasts. The new ones they’re bringing in is an attempt to make it more mainstream and affordable. But unlike the i7 900 series which is Socket LG1366, the Core i7 800 series is on another Socket LG1156.

Most interesting is the Turbo Boost technology — a capability of the CPU to add extra horsepower when it is needed. For example, a 2.66GHz Core i5 750 can go up to 3.2GHz clockspeed. However, HT (hyper-threading) has been disabled on the i5.

The Core i7 800 series comes in 2 clock speeds and has HT enabled — i7-860 @ 2.8GHz and the i7-870 @ 2.93GHz. With Turbo Boost, the 2.93GHz i7-870 can go up to 3.6GHz.

There’s no final price yet but OEMs who attended the the launching say that the Core i5 750 will cost somewhere between Php10k to Php11k while the i7-860 could be between Php15k to Php16k.

I asked Intel Philippines President Rickey Banaag if this will mean they’re shelving the Core 2 Quad since the i5 and i7 are also 4 cores. He says no and Intel will keep them separate for market segmentation. In short, expect the prices of Core 2 Quads to go down in the next couple of months.

5th Gen iPod Nano with Video and FM Radio

As the iPod nano is the world’s most popular music player (hitting 100 million units), Apple today bumped up its specs along with some minor upgrades on the iPod Classic, Shuffle and iPod Touch.

The 5th-generation iPod Nano now comes in 9 different colors and gets a video camera and FM tuner to boot (they should have added WiFi too if you asked me).

Still at 8GB and 16GB, the Nano retails at Php8,790 and Php10,490.

The iPod Touch, on the other had, was bumped to 64GB. Apple dropped the 16GB model and retained the 8GB for just Php11,490. The 32GB costs Php17,490 and the 64GB at Php23,490. People were actually expecting that it’s the iPod Touch that will have the video camera.

The iPod Shuffle now comes in various colors aside from black and silver — they’ve got green, blue, pink and a special polished steel version. The 2GB starts at Php3,290 and the 4GB at Php4,390 (special edition costs Php5,490). Weird that the 4GB Shuffle got a price increase here.

The upgrade from 120GB to 160GB of the iPod Classic is confusing since Apple already had 80GB/160GB before, dropped it then re-introduced it.

Cruising with the Honda Jazz

When I was asked to bring home a Honda Jazz and take it for a spin in the next couple of weeks, I thought I should start creating a car or automotive category.

But then again, I am no car expert. So if ever my review comes out at the end of the month, it should be from a point of view of a regular or newbie driver.

I thought of doing some sort of an unboxing post by wrapping the car in a dozen makeshift balikbayan boxes but decided against it for environmental reasons.

This entry is just a sort of fair warning to my regular readers here that some time in the near future, they might bump into a lousy review of a Honda Jazz in this blog. But hey, cars are like tech toys for the big boys (that’s why this is under the Tech Toys and Gadgets category). My biggest problem so far is finding it a regular and safe parking slot.

Anyway, the photos here are of an Alabaster Silver Honda Jazz 1.3 5-speed AT. This 5-door hatchback costs about Php760,000.

Sony-Ericsson XPeria X2 to make a comeback

Sony-Ericsson is finally coming up with the next generation Xperia phone. The SE Xperia X2 has a design not far off from the first one, and hopefully, not priced as much.

3.2″ TFT resistive touchscreen @ 800×480 pixel resolution
Qualcomm MSM 7200 528 MHz processor
HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 2 Mbps
110MB storage, 256 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM
up to 16GB with microSD expansion slot
8MP camera with LED flash, AF and IS, WVGA @ 30fps video recording
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
GPS receiver with A-GPS
TV-out
1500mAh Li-Po battery

I liked the form factor of the X1 but the WinMo OS wasn’t something that I fancied (and I’m not sure if it sold well in the Philippines). The X2 will come with the latest version, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 Pro.

11.6″ Gateway EC1801i MiniNote

Gateway dropped the AMD Athlon CPU for an Intel SU3500 on their 11.6 inch mini-notebook. The Gateway EC1801i SU3500 MiniNote has almost the same look as the Gateway LT3102i Ultra Slim Laptop.

This is more like a version of the 11-inch Acer Timeline. See specs and price below:

11.6″ CrystalBrite HD 1366 x 768
Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 1.4GHz
2GB DDR2 RAM (max 4GB)
320GB HDD
Intel GMA X4500 Video Graphics
64MB dedicated video RAM (up to 1,759MB shared system memory)
Bluetooth 2.0
Webcam
WiFi 802.11 b/g
Windows Vista Home Premium

Weights about 1.43kg so it’s still light. Expect to shell out Php35,995 for this ultraportable notebook (in black and red colors).

Modu: World’s Lightest Phone has arrived

At only under 43 grams, the modu phone is the world’s lightest cellphone and it’s now available in the Philippines thru Globe Telecom.

Listed in the Guinness Book of Records, this fully functional phone is just 5 grams shy of the iPod Nano’s weight.

Aside from a music player, it’s also a mass storage device (with 2GB internal memory). If you looked at the keypad, it doesn’t seem to be the regular alphanumeric one we’re familiar with. I’m curious how the navigation works.

Nokia X6 and X3 revealed

The new X-series mobile phones of Nokia has now been formally revealed and they started it with the Nokia X6 touchscreen a slider Nokia X3.

Not sure how Nokia will differentiate this from the N-Series or the XPressMusic but these two handsets looked cool (and reminds me of an Ericsson phone before).

The Nokia X6 has a 3.2-inch touchscreen, 32GB of storage, and boasts of 35 hours of music playback. Not really that slim at 14mm but nonetheless looking sexy. It has 3G/HSDPA, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and a 5MP Carl Zeiss optics.

The Nokia X3 is a slider phone with a smaller 2.2″ screen with a 3.2Mp camera, and Bluetooth but has no 3G or WiFi.

Edimax NS-2502 SATA NAS Server

If you’re looking into some home network storage and is always craving for more space, check out this dual-bay Gigabit NAS Server from Edimax.

Been looking for some network storage solution for some time now but since I already got an external HDD, an Apple TV and HDX 1000 NMT (that’s a total of 1.5TB of storage), I never found any more use for a NAS.

However, the Edimax NS-2502 SATA NAS Server some some pretty nifty features that’s making me reconsider. Not only is it a network storage device, it’s also an iTunes Server, Media Server and BitTorrent client. That means you can download your torrents directly into the server without the need for a computer.

The NS-2502 has two drive bays so you can get as much as 4 terabytes (2×2TB) in there. The NAS hooks up to your router via RJ45 (LAN cable). The device can be managed via the browser in a password-protected local IP.

It also comes with a USB port in the front so you can actually attach another USB device there and copy the entire contents into the NAS with a single push of the button. It supports a number of file formats –CIFS, NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, ext2, ext3 file systems.

The NAS isn’t cheap by any means and retails for about Php7,350 without the HDD.

The 500GB Freecom ToughDrive

Portable hard disk drives have reached half a terabyte these days and this Freecom ToughDrive 500GB isn’t only big in capacity, it’s also tough and ruggedized.

This 2.5″ mobile hard drive is encased in tough plastic mold and rubber (silicone) so it’s pretty well protected from bumps and even long drops (I think the plastic end might suffer from cracks if that ever happens). Freecom claims it can withstand drops of up to 2 meters.

The attached USB 2.0 cord is also covered in soft rubber and can be tucked/concealed into the drive’s side. The hard disk drive itself is manufactured by Samsung (total capacity is 499+GB so computation is on base 10 instead of the previous base 2). Also comes with a USB cable extender.

An NTI Shadow backup software is included and there’s built-in password protection too. This one retails for about Php5,530 in stores for the 500GB model.

Apple’s Snow Leopard Officially Released

Today, we got to see and try Mac OS X 10.6 . Apple representatives from Singapore today showcased their new operating system, codenamed Snow Leopard.

• Snow Leopard comes as 32-bit and 64-bit out of the box and system applications such as Finder, Mail, iCal and Safari are also on 64-bit.
• Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) provides new ways for to create applications that’s optimized for multiple core processors.
• Introduction of the OpenCL (somewhat derived from OpenGL) to maximize the power of the GPU.

Apple is finally ditching the PowerPC so Snow Leopard can only be installed on an Intel-based Mac system. Almost half of the Apple presentation was dedicated to bashing Windows 7.

Existing Leopard users will only need to pay a Php1,690 license fee to upgrade to Snow Leopard. A Family Pack costs Php2,790 (up to 5 users) and a Mac Box Set that includes iLife and iWork will have a suggested retail price of Php9,490.

Canon 7D leaked, EOS 6D skipped?

Photos and specs of the upcoming Canon EOS 7D has been leaked and proving to be some kick-ass mid-range DSLR. Why the EOS 6D label has been skipped is understandable.

The rumored 7D can shoot still photos up to 8 frames per second and will have an ISO range from 100 to 6400 and a special 12800 ISO mode. It has an 18 megapixel sensor and dual DIGIC 4 processors.

The dSLR comes with a 3-inch LCD display and will have the full 1080p HD recording inherited from the 5D, according to Engadget.

If you’re wondering that a Canon 6D should be out first before the 7D, the number 6 connotes bad luck and even if the Japenese aren’t that superstitious, most Chinese might not buy a camera that has the number 6 labeled in it.

Blackberry Storm 9500 Review

The Blackberry Storm is the first full touchscreen smartphone by RIM. Research in Motion (RIM) has made its mark in making great mobile devices for the business segment with its Blackberry handsets. RIM’s signature work in most of its devices include a very dependable full qwerty keyboard and the push email technology that’s geared towards the corporate crowd.

It was then not surprising when RIM announced the Blackberry Storm with a full touch screen interface — an arena that competing manufacturer Apple is making big waves with its iPhone. It was a move that RIM needed to do in order to slow down if not stop Apple’s attempt at eating away its long-dominated market.

The biggest challenge for the Blackberry Storm when it shed the physical keys was the virtual keyboard. The screen itself is recessed so you need to press down on the display panel instead of just tap. Users familiar with other touch screen phones may find this mechanism a bit odd but for first timers, it only takes a little while to get used to (I still often forget to press down a bit harder every once in a while).

Only four physical buttons are found at the bottom of the display panel that’s dedicated to Send, End, Menu and Return. The virtual keyboard also rotates automatically in landscape mode when the device is positioned sideways.

The Storm sports a large 3.25-inch screen with a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels of up to 65,000 colors. The display delivers bright and crisp details especially when playing video and multimedia files in MPEG4 format. The user interface is very similar to other previous versions of the Blackberry but the touch navigation becomes a bit frustrating especially when scrolling webpages.

For connectivity, the Storm is equipped with Bluetooth and 3G/HSDPA. RIM completely skipped WiFi functionality which could turn off a lot of data-heavy users expecting this feature to be there. As such, 3G (including GPRS) connectivity is practically essential as the Blackberry relies on it for delivering push email. But as I said in the TV interview for QTube last week, the lack of WiFi is a deal-breaker.

The built-in autofocus camera is 3.2 megapixels with 2x digital zoom and coupled with a flash. It takes good pictures under decent lighting conditions although the shutter is a bit slow and could result to blurry images even with the flash activated. The handset has a 128MB flash memory and a 1GB internal storage that can be expanded to 16GB with an external microSD card.

The Blackberry Storm has a 1400mAh battery with a capacity of 6 hours talktime and 15 days on standby. My experience with the push email set to “On” gave me about 2 days worth of usage. To maximize and use the push email functionality, the device requires a Blackberry service subscription with a RIM partner telcos (both Smart and Globe offer Blackberry Personal Plans).

Nokia Booklet 3G gets official

I didn’t expect Nokia to join the netbook bandwagon since they’ve been touting the N97 as a handheld personal computer. But it doesn’t hurt to have one more competitor in this segment so we’ll surely see the Nokia Booklet 3G soon enough.

Aside from sporting a 10.1″ screen and HDMI output, the Booklet 3G will also have 3G/HSDPA ports with hot-swappable SIM card and assisted GPS so you can run Ovi Maps on the mini laptop.

The biggest advantage I guess would be the 12-hour battery life that Nokia claims it can squeeze off of a single full charge. Now that’s gonna break Asus’s record with the 1000HE.

The mini laptop will be powered by an Intel Atom (the Z series I assume) and will run Windows 7. Wonder what happened to their Moblin plans. As for the price and the rest of the specs, expect the full details during the Nokia World 2009 on September 2.

See the promotional video here. (Update: the video indicates it will be made of aluminum with chiclet-style keyboard, weighs at 1.25kg, under 20mm thin, WiFi and Bluetooth. This is not going to be cheap (Nokia calls it a mini laptop and not a netbook). Could be north of the price of the N97.)

Freecom claims Smallest 2.5″ External HDD

External mobile hard drives are pretty common nowadays and to get some attention, Freecom claims it owns the world’s smallest external HDD in the 2.5″ category.

Actually, most mobile hard drives have the same size and dimensions. What’s making them lighter, bigger or smaller is the casing so Freecom made the simplest casing — a touch rubber jacket.

This mobile HDD sent in by PCTrends has a capacity of 320GB, covered by a rubber case and comes with a USB cable. Compared to my old WD Passport 160GB, the Freecom XSS is about 25% smaller.

The Freecom XXS mobile HDD costs about Php3,550 in stores.

Asus Eee PC T91 Tablet Review

The Eee PC T91 is Asus’ first tablet netbook and while it’s not really the first one in this category (Gigabyte did the M912 tablet netbook last year), Asus is looking to revive the trend of the tablet PC.

At 8.9 inch, the Asus T91 is an appropriately sized tablet — pretty light but not too small. It has a glossy, black finish that makes it look elegant and classy (in the same league as the Asus Seashell series).Think of this as a smaller, thinner and lighter 1000HE with a swivel hinge instead of stilts.

The keyboard is tightly packed and though the keys a bit small, they’re the chiclet-type so touch-typing isn’t too hard to do. The trackpad has been improved as well although there’s no separation between the left and right click buttons.

Powering the Eee PC T91 is the cooler Atom Z520 running at 1.33GHz (same CPU as the Sony Vaio P VGN-P13GH and the Acer Aspire One AO751) with a 1GB DDR2 RAM (upgradeable to 2GB) so don’t expect it to be speedy when launching programs. Good thing it’s pre-installed with Windows XP rather than Vista.

The 8.9″ touchscreen has a resolution of 1024×768 pixels and not the usual 1024×600 in its class. Asus should also make its other 10-inch netbooks in the same resolution. The tablet also comes with a stylus tucked at the front side corner.

The LED screen is supported by a single hinge at the center that swivels a full 180-degrees and flips down to transform into the tablet form. The touch sensitivity is good enough but not that pretty accurate (you’ll need to do some calibrations first).

The T91 also comes with a separate Touch UI which you can launch from XP or via a dedicated slider button at the bottom left side of the screen. It’s a collection of softwares (TouchSuite) that’s made for specific touch functions like notepad, memo, photos and browsing.

The storage is a 16GB SSD and not the typical big-sized hard drives (the 80GB to 160GB) and while that might have contributed to the lightness of the netbook, I still think the 16GB is big enough.

There’s Bluetooth 2.1 and WiFi 802.11n but did not see the optional GPS, TV Tuner of 3G modem Asus say you can equip it with. As for the battery life, I think I’m getting around 4 something hours although Asus claims it tops at 5 hours, which is not bad.

No word on the final retail price yet but my guess is that this one could fetch a price tag of around Php25 to Php30k.

Why do Filipinos still think 3G is expensive?

Even today, I still hear a lot of people saying or commenting hat 3G internet in the Philippines is still expensive. Yeah, it’s not that very cheap but I don’t think it’s expensive either.

Let’s skip comparing our local 3G internet rates to the rates in other countries and look at some domestic parallels.

Let’s look at Netopia, the most popular internet cafe chains in the country, and see how much they charge for rentals. Members get a discounted rate of about Php30 while non-members pay Php45, right? (or is it higher)

Regular internet shops (the mom-and-pop’s type at the street corner) charges Php20 for gaming and Php25 for surfing.

Pay-for-access WiFi Zones provided by Airborne Access and Globe WiZ charges Php100 per hour.

If we compare 3G internet at Php20 per hour, it’s not that bad. Actually, if you compare it to the examples above, it’s the cheapest. So, why there’s still the perception that 3G is expensive?

• The WAP-era trauma. About half a decade ago, when WAP was first introduced, they cost an arm and a leg. I remember viewing my blog over WAP and posting a comment back then — those 3 page loads costs me Php100!
• Reliability. If you surf on a net cafe, you’re pretty much sure you’d get a good if not fast internet speed. Over 3G, it’s a hit and miss.
• Over-charging nightmares. Either your prepaid loads get drained up real fast or your postpaid bill is thru the roof — any one of these incidents could happen to you.
• Coverage. Even if you’re subscribed on 3G, there’s no telling if your area is covered only by GPRS or EDGE.

The only compelling reason why I think 3G is cheap for me is because of mobility. Maybe someday, we’ll have an alternative option with mobile WiMax.

Edimax nLite WiFi USB Adapter

I got about 3 or 4 WiFi USB dongles at home to hook up desktop PCs and media players to the wireless network. This one sent in by PCTrends is way smaller — it’s the Wireless nLITE Mini-size USB Adapter — probably the smallest out there right now.

The Edimax WiFi USB dongle is compatible with wireless 802.11n standard with a data rate of up to 150Mbps (as long as your router also supports it).

The ones I have at home are from LinkSys and TPLink (the only model compatible with my HDX 1000 NMT) and one can clearly see the difference in size. The problem with my existing WiFi dongles is that once you plug them in one USB port, you can’t use the adjacent port as it covers it. This one by Edimax doesn’t get in the way.

Haven’t seen these in stores by they should sell for around Php1,500.

Zune HD now on Pre-Order at Amazon

The new Zune HD will start shipping on September 15, 2009 and is now ready for pre-order at Amazon for just $219.99 (~Php10,500).

I just pre-ordered one today at Amazon. Hopefully, it will arrive here before end of that month.

The Zune HD comes in 16GB ($219.99) and 32GB ($289.99) models. Some feature highlights:

Touchscreen - the Zune HD has multi-touch navigation, a 3.3-inch screen and 16:9 OLED display (480×272 pixel resolution) screen.

HD Radio - the Zune will have an integrated HD Radio receiver so you can tune in to HD radio content (too bad we ain’t got one in the Philippines).

HD Video Out - it will support 720p HD movies via the AV Dock (dock sold separately). Downscaled to 480×272 on the player.

WiFi - synchronize your song collection wirelessly or stream music over WiFi. Also has a full web browser for surfing.

Available colors in black and platinum.