Maximizing your Gadgets

As a consumer I always have this motto “Get more than what I pay for”, when gadget shopping always pick the right gadget for you, also consider price tags that won’t stress your wallet, practice your freedom to choose there are other brands out there that offers the same features but at a much more reasonable price, like Samsung for instance. As soon as you got your smartly picked gadget, maximize it by learning all its’ embedded features from top to bottom, then install some free third party apps to further boost its’ full potential. Turn your ordinary phone into a smartphone, your android tablet into a gym trainer and more, now that’s getting your money’s worth. Here are some sites that will help you maximize your gadgets.

www.umnet.com = free apps and games, all platform supported

mobile9.com, zedge.com, getjar.com = free cellphone apps, games, wallpapers, etc.

www.apptrackr.org/ = a haven for jailbroken apple devices

www.getandroidstuff.com = free android apps and games

www.uiqwenru.com = free apps and games for the classic Sony Ericsson P-series

Alcatel OT980 android phone specs.

Android phones are getting cheaper by the year, but to some average pinoy it is still out of reach, some of the cheap branded android phones in the Philippine shore are the Samsung Galaxy mini (7,990Php) and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 (7,780Php), until I came across the Alcatel OT980 android phone (5,900Php), the cheapest I've seen so far. I got a hands-on experience with this device in a cellphone store at Robinsons Metro East, although, the sales lady didn't allow me to take snapshots of it, company rules; it seems. It is one of a few Android phone that has a physical button, basically, it's a slider phone with qwerty keyboard, it's a bit chunky, but then again, it's typical to all sliders. As I go deeper into testing the device, I find myself satisfied with its' performance. For 5,900 pesos it is affordable to consumers who are in a tight budget, like me. The phone is not as good looking as to some Android phones out there, but the built quality of it is solid, and posses a business-like look. I'm planning to put this phone on my wishlist and hopefully buy it before Christmas, I'm very much aware of the consumer rule that Price equals Quality and Features, so I won't expect much from it than that of the more expensive Samsung Galaxy S.

Alcatel OT980 Specifications:

NETWORK: 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900
3G: HSDPA 900/2100
SIZE: Dimensions: 108 x 60.4 x 15.9mm
Weight: 152g
DISPLAY: Type: TFT resistive touchscreen, 256K colors
Size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches
- QWERTY keyboard
- Accelerometer sensor for UI auto rotate
SOUND: Alert types: Vibration, MP3 ringtones
- loudspeaker
- 3.5mm jack
MEMORY: Phonebook: practically unlimited entries, Photocall
Call Records: practically unlimited
CPU: 600Mhz
Internal: 194 MB
Card slot: Micro SD, up to 32GB
DATA: GPRS: class 12(4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots) 32- 48 Kbps
EDGE: class 12
3G: HSDPA,7.2 Mbps, HSUPA,5.76 Mbps
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g
- bluetooth
- micro USB v2.0
CAMERA: Primary: 2MP, 1600 x 1200 pixels
- video recording
FEATURES: OS: Android 2.1 Eclair
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, IM
Browser: HTML
Colors: Black soft touch, Steel gray
GPS: A-GPS support
Java: via java MIDP emulator
- Digital compass
- MP3/WMA/AAC player
- MP4/H.263/H.264 player
- google searc, maps, Gmail
- youtube, calendar, google talk
- organizer, voice memo
Battery: Type: Lithium 1150 mAh
Stand by: 245 hrs.
Talk time: 10 hrs.
Music play: 35 hrs.

Gadgets on the go.

Every time I travel, I always carry with me, my gadgets, whether be it, work, leisure or out of town, and it’s always a question what gadget is to bring. I always have two kinds of every gadget I own, like two handhelds, PSP, NDS lite, two phones, a smartphone and an ordinary phone, two internet tablets like Nokia N800, and a 7inch android tablet, two mp3 players, Creative Zen and an ipod touch. Each of them have their own purpose; let’s say if I’m traveling out of town like a resort or a beach, its best not to pack too much weight in my bag. So instead of bringing a laptop, I’ll bring a tablet, and my Nokia N800 is best suited for the job, with its’ pocket friendly size, and long battery life, giving me less hassle by recharghing it less often, and in an instance, where wi-fi is unavailable my android tablet is an alternative, it can connect online using my Globe Tattoo broadband stick, don’t want to miss those live updates on my FB, twitter and blogger. Other gadgets will be my sleek and lite Samsung CorbyII, a digicam for those precious moments, and a PSP to keep my little boy occupied trough out our stay.

There are times that I travel from Manila to Laguna to do some business errands, and sometimes it is more practical and convenient to ride a bus than to bring a car, and one way of enjoying a long bus ride is with an ipod touch; listen to my favorite music, watch movies and play games on the go, and since my travel is business related my windows mobile smartphone is a good partner, afterall; my transactions and inventories are all recorded in there.

I’m also a motorcycle enthusiast and a member of a local biker group called T.O.C.S Riders Club, there are times that we organize long bike rides, like riding from Antipolo to Laguna, Batangas and Quezon Province. In these types of activities, size matters; carrying bulky gadgets in your pockets may restrict your body from moving freely to tight curves and may result to accidents, so it’s best to pack as light and as comfortable as possible. Riding a motorcycle is best appreciated when listening to music, my credit card size Creative Zen mp3 player will fit comfortably in my left pocket, and in case of emergencies communication is a must, my right pocket is home to my light weight Samsung Corby II. My choices may vary from time to time, and there are instances that I carry more than three gadgets at a time, depending on my willingness to pack an extra load.

6 reasons why pioneer gadget shoppers always get the bad end of the deal.

1: You get to buy it at a high price.

2: You always get the bulky and least attractive design.

3: System stability is not 100%.

4: You regret buying it as soon as the 2nd gen is release.

5: You'll spend more cash if you trade your 1st gen to a 2nd gen.

6: Makes you look like you're holding a fossil as soon as the 3rd or 4th gen is released.


What!!! my psp (1st gen) and my ipod touch (2nd gen) is now a fossil!

If you got a 1st gen device there's no need to upgrade it to a newer version all you have to do is upgrade its' firmware, that's what I've been doing with my psp (1st gen) and my ipod touch (2nd gen) for the last 4 or 5 yrs, but if you have a deep pocket and lots of money to spend for, then go for it, that will make you the envy of the town.


BE SMART: The reason why I'm not upgrading my psp 1st gen to psp go is because it's just a cosmetic make-over, if ever I'm going to upgrade it, I'm gonna go for the PSVita and as for the ipod touch 4th gen, it didn't just get a trim down design but a different experience as well, with it's retina display, dual camera, facetime support, game marketshop, and a 1ghz processor, truly a whole new different experience from it's 1st, 2nd and 3rd gen brethren, I'll consider this as a future upgade, that is if a got the money....:-(

Dead Space Ipod Touch

Dead Space for Apple handhelds is a game developed by EA exclusively for the Apple platform, the storyline is unique for this device, it's a survival horror game in a third person view, and it's by far the best looking game i played on my ipod touch. The story took place in some kind of space odyssey wherein you take the role of Isaac Clarke codename Vandal a space miner who is also a member of a religious cult. Game begins by following orders from some high ranking religious cult member until you found out that you've been used. I won't tell the whole story or give details on how the game ends, coz, I don't want to ruin the elements of surprise; and with respect, to gamers who's not done with it yet; but the thing that bothers me in this game was; upgrading your weapons and armor is a bit complicated, you just have to give extra effort in reading all the in-game texts in order to fully understand it, but at least it rewards you with awesome graphics and superb gameplay. I put a couple of screenshot on this blog to give gamers an idea on how the game looks like. For those who haven't got the game yet you can download it at http://apptrackr.org/ mind you applications and games on this site will only work on jailbroken apple devices. Dead Space is compatible only to iOS 3.0 or higher.


The GOOD: Graphics and scare factor will blow you away, music and sound effects are truly impressive plus you'll get an extra bonus of gaining wallpapers as you progress in the game.


The BAD: It runs sluggish on ipod touch 1st and 2nd gen when dealing with multiple enemies, I haven't tried it on a 3rd gen, but works perfectly well on the 4th gen ipod touch.

It's raining tablets

Tablet is the latest trend in technology today, probably because when it comes to mobile computing and internet on the go it surpass some features of a netbook and nothing beats its' compact size and mobility it is smaller than the smallest netbook in the market today, that's why more people prefer tablets than netbooks, specially those who are always on the go. Tablets are here since the mid 90's alongside with its' brethren the first generations of PDA that uses black and white screens but it suffered poor sales that's why it was never known to hit the market until tech giant Apple unleashed the iPad, that forever change the fate of this device, when iPad was first released it was as hot as summer, it was everyone's top 1 wishlist in their christmas shopping, other manufacturers notice the potential of the device and started making their own; thus begun the tablet war, Nokia had their N-series internet tablet, Samsung have their Galaxy, Archos, LG, Motorola's xoom and we're still waiting for Sony's mighty roar in the tablet war. I like what Nokia did to their N800 internet tablet, it is one of the few tablets that can fit in your pocket, truly Nokia live up to its' claim "full internet in your pocket" though it uses a very limited Linux based OS, for me android is still the best OS for tablets and in my opinion it was google's android that gave life to this device.

Almost everyone are spending money for their gadgets it doesn't matter if it will aid you in your everyday life or not for as long as it keeps you entertained it's a thing worth buying, after all it's your choice and your money.

Acer DX 900 Crash Tips

Acer DX900 is a smartphone that runs windows mobile 6.1 professional, formerly known as the Eten Glofish DX900, until Acer bought and took over the company (Glofish) then it was re release with the ACER brand. The phone is jam pack with features but unfortunately it has some issues; crashes and slowdowns, at first I thought it was the bad connection between the phone and the memory card, until recently I found out that the problem is in the today screen timeout feature. Here are some tips; problem occur when the today screen goes to sleep so you might want to deactivate that feature, here's how, go to settings then today, uncheck the box today screen timeout, you might also want to download Wizcode Defragment tool, regular defragging helps speed up your phone. This tips will not totally rid you of that problem but it will reduce crashes from 3x a day to 3x a week. Try it :-0

Globe Tattoo what a waste!

I was on my 7o'clock routine, laying on my couch and watching the news when i saw the globe tattoo ad. Globe claims it's the fastest broadband prepaid stick in the market, I've seen that ads hundred times but the thing that triggered me to buy it is the discounted price of 995 pesos, so immediately after seeing the ad I went to SM Masinag and bought one. After installing it on my laptop I got disappointed almost immediately; that fuck turned my laptop into a cellphone, I found myself carrying my laptop, finding a good position just to get a signal. (ala cellphone style).

We got an internet connection at home and a wifi, the problem is I still have to switch turn with my brothers just to get my time on the net, wifi signal can't reach my room so i have to go to the living room to connect via wifi, so probably the primary reason why I bought this broadband stick is to surf the net in the comfort of my room but it turned out it's just a waste of money but i don't give up easily, I find ways, and so i did! I put a long USB chord on my laptop and at the other end the broadband stick, i hung it near my window and believe me, it made my desk look stupid, but it works, so for now I'm going to keep this, for how long? I don't know.....and O ya! all the things that Globe claims they're all a bunch of lies....Fast my ass!!! but wait there's more if you loose a signal you'll be cut off and be charge for another 5 pesos if you try to reconnect or another option, is to wait for the signal to comeback while the clock is ticking and load vanishing. shame....shame