Apps and Gadgets

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!

Most postpaid plans now can get too complicated for us. There is the Monthly Service Fee (MSF) but when you buy the plans with gadgets, there is a separate layer on top of the MSF that represents the amortized cost of the gadget also charged to you. To many subscribers, this can get confusing. At the same time, the habits of telco subscribers are morphing already such that more and more are connecting to the web in different ways. So now, Smart is packaging a group of postpaid plans where you won't need to get separate devices and a data plan. Smart just launched its postpaid Gadget Plus Plans that combine a laptop or tablet with Internet connectivity (the Pocket WiFi can be shared to up to 10 people) in just one affordable package with an all-in price. You don't even need a credit card to get these plans. Here are their different plans and the gadgets that you get with them. Take note: Each of these plans comes with a gadget, a wifi device, and an Anti-Bill Shock feature ...

Just recently, I opened a Bubbly account after I heard great things about it from blogger friends Noemi and Jim Paredes. At first I thought it was just another nice medium for social networking that had an audio component. But today, I learned it had the potential for doing more. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you first what Bubbly is. Bubbly is a voice app. It's sort of a hybrid between Twitter and Instagram. Like Twitter which has a limit of 140 characters, it's got a 90 second limit to audio recording. And while its picture quality is nowhere near Instagram's with all its filter options, Bubbly is handy as a talk-and-publish-on-the-fly app, just like Instagram which lets you snap a picture and post immediately. It's so simple to record anything. Just pull down on the bottom icon with the microphone and there is a 3-2-1 countdown before the recording starts. At any time, if you make a mistake, you can start over. For iOS devices, cl...

At a recent lunch at Guevara's with the  SoMoms , we were introduced to a new, Philippine-made Android tablet made for kids aged 3-8 years old which was just recently introduced into the market - the  Enlight KiddieTab. Ergonomically designed, the Enlight KiddieTab is an 8-inch, HD-capable multi-touch Android tablet. The first thing I noticed was that it was covered in a yellow silicone non-toxic, ruggedized cover that gave a good grip to the tablet all over - perfect for small hands.

The successor to the popular, high-end Nokia Lumia 920 is now here - the Nokia Lumia 925. At a previous Nokia launch of Lumia models, I got to hold the 920 and was quite impressed with some of its advanced features -- motion stabilizer, wireless charging, and low light shooting capability. The Lumia 925 takes all the great features of the 920 and takes it a level up. My friend Noemi owns a Lumia 920 (which she loves) and I had the chance to do a quick check of both phones. One difference is that the Lumia 925 is lighter and thinner than the 920. It's only 8.55mm thin and weighs a mere 139 grams. That's because the Nokia's signature polycarbonate body is now encased in aluminium, allowing it to be lighter and more sleek looking. Here are some features of the Nokia Lumia 925 that I like. Low Light Capability. I love my smartphone but every time I need to take a photo in low light, I spend more time fiddling with the exposure settings. I also noticed that ...

Last night, we stayed up till the wee hours of the morning watching the Berlin Samsung Unpacked 2013, Episode 2. The launch of 3 devices was witnessed by a throng of people at Times Square in New York who gathered to watch the livestream together with the rest of the world. I was with a bunch of tech bloggers and avid Samsung users at a Makati hotel gathered around a wide screen Samsung TV. Over coffee (to keep us awake) and some midnight snacks, we talked about different Samsung mobile phones and their features while all the while trying to guess what new features would come out. The launch began just past 1AM Manila time. Mr. JK Shin, President and CEO and Head of IT and Mobile Communication Division of Samsung, announced the 3 devices that would be introduced: the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the Samsung Galaxy Gear, and the Samsung Note 10.1, 2014 edition. Initial Features of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Compared to Note 2 Physical dimensions of the Note 3 ...

TV will never be the same again after Cignal introduced recently its TV-to-Go , an over-the-top (OTT) service. Cignal subscribers can now watch real-time broadcast feeds from select Cignal channels on their broadband-connected smartphones or tablets - anywhere, any time. Breaking news come to you as it happens. You need not miss your favorite telenovela. Watch a favorite show while caught in traffic. These are just some of the things you can do with real-time TV! On-demand movies at home were the fashion some time back with Pay Per View. But with OTT technology nowadays, one can watch movies and TV shows on the go via the internet rather than through a dedicated network. So significant is OTT service that Cignal reports that at the recently concluded BroadcastAsia 2013 Conference in Singapore last June 2013, several experts in the field of communications are foreseeing OTT as a worldwide trend in multimedia viewing. On hand at the launch were top executives of PLDT, Smart ...