Apps and Gadgets

Have you ever used Flickr to store photos before? I have. I began with the free version but when I maxed out the 200 photos it could show at any one time, I decided to buy Flickr Pro ($24.95) for 2 years. Flickr had a great photostream widget for blogs and I loved it. But somewhere along the way, I stopped using it. There was Facebook. But now, there is a huge reason to reactivate my Flickr account. You now get FREE one terabyte of storage! If you still have your old Flickr account, it works. I just logged on to my old one and immediately got a notice that I had 1 terabyte worth of storage. Wow! Of course, new sign-ups get the same storage too. And what is new? User interface - Flickr has an entirely new interface. The homepage shows you pictures recently uploaded by your contacts. For every contact, you see one photo enlarged with 4 other thumbnail photos on the lower left corner in case you want to browse more photos of that contact. You can now put a cover photo and a ...

If you have held off this long from buying an iPad 4 or an iPad Mini, with wifi and 4G, you may no longer do so once you check out Smart's new LTE plans for both devices. At a press briefing at Smart's Jump Center inside SM Megamall's Cyberzone, the LTE postpaid plans were unveiled. The best thing about all these plans? Smart is slicing off a whopping P8,000 discount on all postpaid plans on Plan 999. The 16GB iPad Mini, for example, is only P13,990 (after discount). The 64GB retina iPad 4 is only P31,990. On the other hand, Plan 499 carries an anti bill shock feature. After the free first 65 hours of internet connection, it defaults to the P10/30minutes charging. But when your bill reaches P999, you will be shifted to unlimited surfing. So no matter how long you surf, you only pay a maximum of P999 a month. Here is a synopsis of the plans (taken from Smart's website): iPad Mini * Plan 999 subscriptions on a 24-month lock-in period come with unlim...

Before inheriting my first Android phone from my husband, I had always been a Nokia user. From my first Nokia 2110 in the early 1990s to the last Nokia E71 which I still carry around with me because I just love its QWERTY keyboard, I have always had a Nokia mobile phone. The menu drilldown was very user friendly and easy to learn. Then somewhere along those years, Nokia changed business strategy and it turned out to be a grave misreading of the mobile market. Nokia's market share began to nosedive and it was a big question whether they would survive for much longer. But their current Lumia line of smartphones seem to finally get it. And that makes me happy. Finally, I think the Lumia series is how Nokia is going to be truly back in the ballgame. I have had the chance to use hubby's Lumia 720 a few times and was really impressed with how improved in terms of usability, richness of features, and feel-and-look Nokia has become. They have 5 variants of the Lumia now. At the l...

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.

Today, April 13, 2013, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 comes to Philippine shores! I had the chance to hold and play around with some of the features of this new phablet (phone + tablet), which looks and feels like the giant version of my Galaxy S3. First, some general specs: Screen size: 8" diagonally Processor: 1.6Ghz quad core Memory: 2GB RAM, 16GB capacity expandable to 64GB with a micro SD Cameras: 5MP (rear), 1.3MP (front) OS: Jellybean 4.1.2 Battery: 4,600 mAh Weight: 340g (Wifi), 345g (3G/LTE) Built-in accessory: S Pen The Galaxy Note 8 appears to be Samsung's answer to the iPad Mini but Apple fans will dispute that. Critics of Samsung devices refer to the housing as "plastic" but I think that is why they could make devices that are so light (first time I held my Galaxy S3 I thought the battery was not attached because it was that light). It also makes the back cover that much easier to remove to change battery.

The new Samsung Galaxy S4, a successor to my Galaxy S3 mobile phone, is out. It just launched at the Radio City Music Hall, New York City, a couple of days ago. I was one of the lucky people in the Philippines who was able to try out almost all of the new features. Seated with several tech bloggers in the club lounge of a local hotel, we watched the livestream of the entire launch on a flat Samsung TV. The hype was all there, Broadway style. I guess holding it in Radio City Music Hall, New York, famous for the Rockettes, meant you could do no less than a Broadway introduction. The whole shebang began with a short video of a boy, about 10 years old, carrying a small box labeled "Unpacked". He does a short tap dance on the steps of his home before getting into a limousine and drives to Radio City. That video then segues into the actual launch, which began with Mr. J K Shin (President and Head of the IT Mobile Communication Division of Samsung Electronics) doing the op...

The Great Samsung Mobile Sale Now's your chance to get your favorite Samsung phone at a much lower price or with a freebie! "The Great Samsung Mobile Sale" is here and it runs from March 8 until April 14, 2013 . (click image to enlarge)