Motorola A3100, tries to steal some of that pie!

Motorola, has been on a slump, and when I say slump I mean SLUMP! Motorola is trying to climb back, and now they announced their new smartphone - the A3100 (also known as MOTOSURF). The A3100 will hit the Asian market first, and it will have the following features:

Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band UMTS (with HSDPA)
2.8" QVGA display
3 megapixel autofocus camera (LED flash)
MSM7201A Qualcomm chipset 528 Mhz processor
128 MB of RAM
Built-in flash memory of 256MB
Wi-Fi (Finally!)
GPS
USB v2.0
Video Call Camera
Pocket Office
3.5mm jack

If you ask me, this is a great move by Motorola since nowadays majority of the consumers prefer a touchscreen device, but I must add that the price of the phone will decide whether or not this will be a success or not. Personally, I'm looking forward to this phone, but the price comes first!
Bluetooth

Sony Ericsson adds two new phones to their portfolio!

BEFORE CES HAD STARTED, Sony Ericsson added two new phones to their portfolio (well, at least for the Asian market because the spanking w715 is vodafone exclusive), the C510 and the w508. How well do these two fair off? Based on the features, I'd say not half bad, these two are a great addition to the portfolio. No non-sense, mid-tier phones packed with awesome features, and budget is taken into consideration (thanks SE!)!

C510 has been dubbed as the most affordable Cyber-Shot to date, it sports the following features:

3 megapixel camera (with Imaging shortcuts, sad to say it only has LED flash)
Face detection
Smile Shutter
2.2-inch QVGA scratch-resistant display
Quad-band GSM support plus tri-band UMTS/HSPA connectivity
Accelerometer
Threaded SMS/MMS
Svelte Camera Lens Cover
PhotoMate Application

While, the W508 revives the classic way of changing your looks - by changing the case. If you ask me, the w508 seems to be the little brother of the successful W980. When you purchase the w508 you will be given a free extra case with the package, features include:

Interchangeable StyleUp covers
external music keys
Shake control
SenseMe
TrackID
Accelerometer
Gesture Control
2.2-inch QVGA main display
Monochromatic scratch-resistant 1.1-inch external OLED screen (128x36)
Threaded SMS/MMS
3.2 megapixel fixed focus camera
Quad-band GSM support
HSDPA
FM radio with RDS
The device is also supposed to offer 24 hours of constant music playback.

Here are the promotional videos of the two phones, personally I like the W508 video more compared to that of the C510.

C510 Promo Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJL6hpSjqhQ

W508 Promo Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDxPvhWlLZE

C510 Smile Shutter at work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUZ0ABb6tdg&eurl=http://forums.se-nse.net/index.php?showtopic=37513

Enjoy!

Palm unleashes their beast! (do I see Iphone trembling?)

Palm recently announced their Palm Treo Pro, however, Palm seems to be on a rampage! Recently at CES (Consumer Electronics Show), Palm unveiled their beast, the Palm Pre, does Iphone-killer ring a bell? This may snatch the first-ever Iphone-Killer award, what awaits?
Palm's Treo devices have not been that successful, but Palm is trying to survive, and with the Palm Pre I'd say the company will be revived. Palm Pre is the first Palm device that runs on its own Operating System, WebOS. As stated by Palm executives, the main selling point would be the fast Web browsing and efficient multitasking. Also, Pre is the first smartphone with TI’s latest processor — “laptop-like performance.” So here's a summary of what the Pre is packed with:

Gorgeous 3.1-inch display (320×480 lcd with multitouch gesture area under the screen)
8gb of storage
3 MP camera with flash
GPS navigational capabilities
Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g)
slide-out keyboard
multi-touch display
USB Mass storage support
3.5 mm jack
Bluetooth stereo (A2DP)
Motion gesture
Variety of sensors (Accelerometer, proximity, ambient light)
EV-DO Rev
All basic navigation is gestures — flick, tap, swipe, no buttons cluttering up the screen
Touchstone (wireless inductive charging base)

“Our intention was never to build an iPhone killer but to build a killer Palm product,” Mr. Rubinstein said in an interview. He said he felt Palm had been fighting an uphill battle with outdated devices and software, and was doing so no longer. "The Pre allows us to get back in the game,” he said.

Source: NYTimes

pics of the Palm Pre:

Nokia's Roadmap

This is quite a late news already but it seems like its worth mentioning. You might have been disappointed with Nokia lately, with the late release of the Nokia N96 and the not-so-super-phone 5800 Tube (by the way, if you want to read a review on this check out my fellow BNCer's review here http://bncxe.org/showthread.php?p=399821#post399821). But wait a minute, there was a not-so-recently rumor spreading about Nokia's roadmap for the smartphone category, here's a summary of it. Reminder, these are just rumors, some say that these are early prototypes so if this does hold true, there may be slight changes to the features as there are many prototypes!

IP08:
Widescreen touch, Naviscroll, QWERTY, AGPS, FM radio and transmitter, 5MP AF camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, TV-out

Corolla:
3.0-inch VGA display, non-touch, 8MP camera, half QWERTY keyboard, 128MB RAM, 8GB ROM, WiFI, UPnP, HSPA, AGPS, FM transmitter

Eitri:
Landscape candybar with QWERTY, 3.5-inch 640x350 display, minimum 8GB ROM, microSD, pressure sensitive touch UI with tactile feedback and gestures, charging via USB, 5MP AF camera with dual LED flash, integrated compass and accelerometer, proximity sensor, FM transmitter

According to a reliable source, Corolla's features have encountered major changes, so the features mentioned above were based on the old prototype. Have fun with the goodies that Nokia has to bring! The full list of phones along with their codenames, status, and OS can be found here, enjoy guys!
http://img2.abload.de/img/nokia-smartphone-roadmhnpn.jpg

Red Mobile, will you go Red?

This is one topic that I wanted to share to you. Let's see if Red Mobile ends up King of the Hill or not.

Red Mobile was first owned by Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise (CURE), the 4th network in our country, and was named Umobile before being named Red Mobile. However, this did not get the attention of the consumers, in tagalog "hindi nag-click". So SMART, wanting to expand its network coverage, bought CURE and rebranded Umobile to Red Mobile. SMART now has a wide netwrok coverage, not only in GSM networks but in 3G networks as well, I must remind you that Red Mobile Subscriber Identity Modules only work in 3G handsets. Now, Red Mobile is starting its ad and it seems like a worthy opponent compared to other network couriers. Let's see what Red Mobile has to offer:

-Sim Card is sold at PHP 39.00 (Each SIM is pre-loaded with Php10 or an equivalent of 20 minutes of RM-RM calls)

Voice Call rates:
-RM-RM at PHP .50/min
-RM-Other Networks at PHP 6.50/min

Short Message Service rates:
-RM-RM at PHP .50/text
-RM-Other Networks at PHP 1.00/text

Multimedia Messaging Service rates:
-RM-RM at PHP .50/MMS

Video Call rates:
-RM-RM at PHP .50/min
-RM-Other Networks at PHP 6.50/min

WAP Browsing
-PHP 7.50/15min

You do the math right now and compare it to the other networks, some rates Red beats the other networks without a doubt BUT that is if you use it with another Red Mobile, while some rates other networks just beat Red Mobile hands down. Qouted from Red Mobile "We are committed to delivering the best rates through our lowest per minute call rates and affordable text/mms rates."

Tips on Buying a New Phone

Hey guys, I'm back with some tips, but now it's on to the buying side. Here are some simple tips when you're about to buy a phone:

-Check the Price and the Features
Mainly, when you buy a phone, the first thing that comes into your mind would be the price. If your budget maxes out at 15thousand, don't go more than that and find ways just to get there, but instead just find a phone worth the money. Next would be the features, if your not really into business then don't go for phones such as e90, x1, Bold, and the like because these phones are targeted mainly for those who are business minded, that's why they are called "Business Phones".

-Know what you're looking for
This is what I always tell people when they buy phones from me, know what you're looking for. Some always say, what's the best phone to get with a budget of 15thousand, well tell me what you need. Is it a Multimedia Phone?a phone that snatches looks from by passers?a phone wherein you can text easily?a phone wherein you can browse the net on the go?There's a lot of categories to put them under, so be specific!

-Compare Phones always, Don't make up your mind!...yet!
For example, you want to buy a new phone, specifically a Nokia 6500 Slide, by this time that costs around 12-13 thousand, and you, being an impulsive buyer, bought the phone ASAP! When you got out of the store all jolly with your new phone, you see this phone so beautiful that it catches your attention away from your new phone and when you look at the price its the same, even cheaper! Then your vision turns dark and you collapse, just kidding! What I'm trying to point out here would be before buying your "idol phone", think of another alternative first. For example, the 6500 Slide, sure it's a nice phone, but with that budget you can go for a C902 (non-warrantied of course), n82 (non-warrantied as well), G800 (you know what I'm going to type), w960 (yes, you guessed it right!), E63 (Warrantied!), and a lot more, so think before buying!

-Time to be different
Lastly, when you buy a phone, try to be unique as much as possible. I always tell those who buy new phones, it's your chance to be different, don't buy those PNBs (Phone Ng Bayan), so as much as possible be unique!

Thanks and hope you learned from this!

THANK YOU

Thank you to Roland Resurreccion aka Rolandchok for buying a Sony Ericsson W880i and to Ryan Belga for buying a Sony Ericsson C905! Another satisfied customer!:)

Rolandchok comments:
"Up ko ito. Kuha na kayo, I just got a unit from him. Very accomodating. Murang mura na CP, brand new pa. Bakit bili kayo second hand my affordable na brand new!"

"Up for this. Order na po kayo while dami pa supply. Murang mura na phones. Original pa."

"UP for this. Order na kayo. Ang bilis kausap. No hassle. Kanila pa shipping. Ayos na ayos."

Ryan Belga comments:
"A very enthusiastic seller when it comes to promoting his products. He has a vast knowledge in gadgets which satisfies all of the queries of the customers. An excellent salesman! Trusted and Reliable!

:)