Apps and Gadgets

Please click here to read the post on my new domain - Tita Techie

Please click here to view this post on my new domain - Tita Techie

Please click here to read the post on my new domain - Tita Techie

Please click here to read the post on my new domain - Tita Techie

Please click here to read the post on my new domain - Tita Techie

It is projected that more and more content will be consumed from mobile devices. According to a Nielsen report in 2014, viewing online video content has become a pastime for digital consumers in the Philippines, with 85% watching at least weekly, the second highest in the region. The same report also revealed that 7 in 10 digital consumers in the country report watching TV content and movies via online sources such as video-on-demand, the second highest penetration of internet TV in the region at 71%. Enter HOOQ , Asia's video-on-demand subscription service which will debut first IN THE PHILIPPINES in late February before it rolls out across Asia.  HOOQ is an app that allows you to stream thousands of movie and TV series from your mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops). Its partners are Singtel, Sony, and Warner Bros.

Globe subscribers, this is how Globe wants you to start your wonderful 2015. From January 13 to February 13, 2015, Globe is bringing back their FREE FACEBOOK promo and bundling it with FREE VIBER as well. Just in time too, as we lead up to Valentine's Day!

Quick! Tell your family and friends abroad to download the Line app! Many won't be able to make it home this Christmas for various reasons. Both Globe and Line realize this, especially for the Philippines where millions of Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) come from. So for a limited time, Globe and Line have teamed up to make the separation during the holidays more bearable for OFWs and their loved ones here in the Philippines. For nine days, from December 24, 2014 (12 AM) to January 1, 2015 (11:59 PM), Manila time, all Line users worldwide will be able to call Globe/Touch Mobile (TM) subscribers for FREE. Globe's SVP for International Business Rizza Maniego-Eala of Globe with Line's Greg Kim

There was a time when kids' schoolbags weighed a ton, filled with thick books and numerous notebooks, giving parents like me angst about our kids' future posture and shoulder problems.  There was a time when teachers manually graded school work and orally gave exams, when grades were painstakingly computed, printed out on paper report cards, and mailed out to parents or given to students.  There was a time when textbooks were limited to textbook authors and teachers had to select the best (and the least likely to have errors) textbooks to include in their syllabus. Those days are almost over if integrated educational ecosystems such as those being offered now by Globe Education Solutions become the norm in most schools. At a recent presentation, Globe announced their partnership with three other international companies that offer tech solutions for the academe: D2L Learning , Globals and Flipside .

Today, Globe's President & CEO, Ernest Cu, announced before media and bloggers that Globe has finally achieved 100% network coverage with 3G signal and that in another 90 days, it will be able to provide full HSPA+ (LTE) coverage. Globe's Cu says the rollout of both 3G and 4G HSPA+ infrastructure for its entire network is part of its transformation efforts to deliver the most modernized telecommunications infrastructure in the country. With this transformation, they say subscribers should expect enhanced coverage in major points of convergence and a more reliable network not just for texts and voice calls but also for fast internet connection.

Spotify is the music streaming app that is taking cyberspace by storm nowadays. If you've gotten tired of listening only to your own music playlists over and over again, Spotify now lets you hear streamed music from different genre collections as well as from friends and celebrities.   Now you can enjoy Spotify with Globe's GoSurf promo . Globe Postpaid and Prepaid subscribers, TM and Tattoo subscribers can subscribe to GoSurf with Spotify. This means you get a plan that combines surfing time as well as Spotify music streaming. 

As my friend Noemi and I were approaching the Globe Tattoo LTE event, we were met by this really fancy orange car. Of course, being a woman who has no idea what models these cars are, I simply ooohed and aaahed at how fancy, sporty and expensive it looked. It was covered all over with Globe's decals announcing the arrival of their Tattoo LTE devices and clearly, on it's door was a brave announcement that LTE speeds go up to 42 MBPS. It was only when I sat down inside it for a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to actually sit inside these thingamajigs that run into cool millions that I saw the model. Yes -- a Lamborghini! I beat my car-loving son to the punch!

Viber and other VOIP (voice over internet protocol) apps are slowly gaining ground and eroding revenues of telcos from calls and texts. In the case of Viber, one can send free text messages, photos, videos, share locations and make free, HD-quality calls on iPhone, Android Windows Phone, Blackberry, Windows, Mac and other devices over 3G/4G or Wifi. I use Viber a lot. If I am on wifi, why should I even send a text or make a call when I can contact people via Viber? I've also sent pictures using Viber while inside the messaging feature. It is so convenient instead of sending an MMS or emailing a photo. This is besides all the emoticons and stickers available to Viber that make chatting even more fun. And the best thing about Viber? I am not constrained by networks. For as long as the one I wish to contact is on Viber, we can communicate! But...when I am NOT on wifi, how can I still use Viber if I need to contact people all day? I could subscribe to an unlimited data plan. But th...

You'd think a Globe MySuperPlan could not get any better. It just did... The operative word, I think, in this newly launched best-ever MySuperPlan of Globe's is... CUSTOMIZATION. Now, subscribers can choose plans with plan values that are almost twice what they pay for. Each plan now comes with a corresponding 'peso value' (PV) based on the value of prepaid load. This PV can then be converted into a combination of call, text and/or surf services, free or discounted gadgets, and a monthly consumable amount for even more calls, texts and surfing. I went to www.globe.com.ph/postpaid to try it out. Here's a sample plan I designed for myself: Step #1: I clicked on the link "Create My Plan" to begin.

Globe officially launched its Samsung Galaxy S4 today. At a press briefing, Peter Bithos, Globe's Senior Adviser for Consumer Business, and Debbie Obias, Head of Postpaid Acquisitions, bared the postpaid plans for the much-awaited smartphone. To know more about the smartphone's cool features, read my post "My firsthand experience with the new Samsung Galaxy S4" Globe said that My Super Plan got even better because this time, they are allowing the subscribers to customize their contract period (from 6-30 months) instead of fixed contract periods. The plans are bundled with peso value amounts that are almost double the value of the plans. Because of its flexibility feature, the My Super Plan lets that peso value amount be allocated among combinations of call, text and surfing services, consumable amount and gadgets.