Band in America (Chinese Smartphones)

Apparently, the US government has band Chinese brand phones in the country (Huawei in particular) for allegedly spying on US soil, believe it or not, the government speculates on possible hacking software embedded in most Chinese made phones which eventually gives the Chinese the ability to spy on every Americans who uses it, like monitoring credit card transactions or eavesdropping on possible government projects or even top secret information that can be access through cellular communications. In stories like these, I can't help but think, was it over exaggeration or simply paranoia, if these things continue it might lead to another cold war.

As a result of this band, no Chinese phones are supported by US couriers and dealers aren't bold enough to sell it, let alone put it on their shelves, you might call it patriotism. However, Americans can still own one by ordering through the internet, once again the power of the internet is greatly highlighted, not even the most powerful government on earth can't stop its current from flowing as it pleases, though the US government still issues warnings from using such phones, think of it as a government warning on every cigarette pack you buy, and they even suggest to flash out the native android OS and replace it with stock android, that way all hidden spy software (if there really are!) will be deleted and be replaced by an American friendly OS, but in reality, was it the Japanese who had their dealings with, well, that's what history tells us, come to think of it, Sony just kicked out Ericsson, will Sony be band next.....lol

Sony PSP 3000 Review

Sony unveiled their third iteration of the Play Station Portable (PSP 3000) in the fall of 2008, with minor cosmetic changes and a few hardware add on and software tweaks as well. At first glance, the changes are hardly recognizable unless compared side by side with its predecessor, design-wise the PSP 3000 have better ergonomics than the PSP 2000 because of its well contoured edges, playing it on long period is much more comfortable. The addition of a recessed circular indentations on the buttons and D pad layout made the Playstation's patented circle, square, triangle and X buttons slightly protrude the surface and is more pronounced in the center lay out resulting to better and comfortable clicks to the thumbs, the design was so successful that Sony decided to use similar design on the PSvita’s button layout, only better.



There are also some hardware changes as well on the PSP 3000 the inclusion of a built in mic is one, its main purpose is to support voice chat with the built in skype application and other online enabled games, “call of duty in particular”. It’s a huge leap in my opinion for it eliminates further expenses on the gamer’s side, all you need now is a standard earphones which most of us already own, however you still have to worry about the expensive proprietary memory card. (Memory stick Pro Duo)



The most significant revamp on the PSP 3000 is the brighter and more vibrant screen, as a matter of fact, if you compare it side by side with its older brethren the difference is easily noticeable even from a far, Sony claims gamers can now play their PSPs outdoors without compromising visibility, thanks to the PSP 3000’s anti glare feature, and with an enhanced screen games looks more vibrant than ever before.

Sony did add a little more spice on the PSP 3000 by enabling gamers to play PSP games on their TV using the PSP AV out accessory, sounds promising, but in fact, it does work.



The PSP 3000 comes with the firmware (5.0) and with it Play Station Network (PSN) not only will the PSP 3000 play tangible games on its proprietary UMDs, it can also play downloaded materials on the Play Station Network, a huge advantage over its younger brethren the PSP go, which can only play downloadable materials from the Play Station Network, and its smaller screen is a major turn off.

The PSP 3000 now has increased contrast and wider color display that gets rid of a lot of the older PSP's ghosting side effects, however, gamers claimed that they’ve experienced jaggies and other graphic malformation in the form of lines during high speed game plays, some say it’s a cure worst than the disease, but I dare not speculate on that matter for I haven’t experienced it first hand, even if I did I think it’s barely noticeable and most importantly, it’s not worth the bother.



The PSP have had a hefty price on its debut release and struggled to get a foot hold in the electronics market in terms of sales, it took them merely two years to jump start their way in the hand held gaming market which was then spearheaded by the Nintendo DS, now on the late part of its life cycle the PSP has undergone a series of price drops and gamers who have yet experienced the PSP are now playing it first hand, it may be an old horse but the graphics and gameplay is still not outdated. The PSP has definitely carved its name as one of the best handheld console in gaming history.


PROS: Excellent game library, more vibrant screen.

CONS: Reduced battery life.

NBA 2k13 on Cherry Mobile Fusion Ice and Fusion Bolt (how to install for free)

NBA 2K game is the most popular sporting game on the planet, an ever present entity on every gamer’s wish list, that of course includes tablet gamers, NBA 2K13 in particular is the latest in the NBA 2K franchise and the demands for it is ever growing resulting into a never ending questions of device compatibility.

One popular question in the local tablet gaming community lingers on top, transferring from one mouth to another and is in need of some serious answering --- Will NBA 2K13 work on cheap tablets like the cherry mobile fusion ice and fusion bolt? The answer is YES it will work on both device --- in this article I’ll be more than happy to share with you bits of information on where to download and how to install NBA 2K13 on both the fusion ice and fusion bolt for free.



I’ll be using a cracked version of NBA 2K13 “pirated” is a more universal term ---sshh! Don’t tell my mom! Surprised that’s why it’s free. Some cracked games will not work on a particular android device unless it has been rooted, that includes the cracked version of NBA 2k13, lucky for you, I won’t go on elaborating the complex world of android rooting, saves us both from the messy part of nose bleeding. The magic comes from the fusion ice and fusion bolt itself; both are stock rooted meaning they’ve been rooted since day 1, though I’m still not sure whose part had played a role in the stock rooting process. Ainol is the original manufacturer of both devices, it could be possible that they’ve deliberately released a stock rooted tablet, but then, I doubt it --- it’s most likely that cherry mobile is responsible for such act, or a blessing of sort.

All cherry mobile devices are re-branded products coming from a wide array of OEMs, like Konka and Ainol. CM had then created a habit of tweaking their entire product line to give it a convincing cherry mobile looks and feel, most evidently, on their android devices. Some software alterations on an android device may require root access in order to perform such tweaks, i.e. start up animation, UI tweaks, tethering, embedded built in app, and USB 3G dongle brand compatibility. All of these modifications are prominent in most cherry mobile android devices spearheaded by their tablet line, so I’m pretty sure that the stock rooting stuff was done in the part of cherry mobile itself. ----- without further a do let's get down to business.........

--------- DOWNLOAD PROCEDURES --------

Download the NBA 2k13 apk + data file, the download link is provided in my DOWNLOADS AND EXTRAS, click the link to redirect you to the download site, (refer to the image below).



First download the apk file, just click the "free download" icon (refer to the image below) the file is approximately 49600kb



Now it's time to download the data file, scroll down to the lower part of the web page until you see the highlighted "click here to download the data packet" (refer to the image below) click it to download the data file (rar), file size is approximately 827 mb, it may take some time to download so be patient ---- after a successful download, extract the rar file using winrar or any extracting tool you have on your PC after extracting, folder android will appear, open it until you get the folder "com.t2ksports.nba2k13android.




-------- INSTALLATION PROCEDURE ---------


* Copy the apk file in the root folder of your SD card, or internal memory (for users without SD cards).
* Copy the data folder "com.t2ksports.nba2k13android" to your SD card/android/obb, or internal memory/android/obb, (for users without SD cards).
* Install the apk file then run the game......ENJOY!


"something to bear in mind for Fusion Ice owners, when playing NBA2k13"

* never use live wallpapers.
* kill all task using ES task killer or any other task killer app.
* kill all recent apps running in the background.
* deactivate your anti virus (optional)

LG Optimus L3 E400 Review and Specs.

LG may not be as charismatic as Samsung, though it's fair to say that it is one of the most recognizable electronic brands in the market today. The Optimus L3 is LG’s attempt to enter the budget android market with style and functionality but does it have what it takes to spar with other budget android phones that have flooded the market lately?



At first release it has already out-sold most of its competitions, you may wonder why? Well, as an owner of the optimus L3 it’s the design that caught my eye and I’ll stick to my words that the L3 is the best looking budget android phone out there, as always design play a great role in the success of a product.

A hefty part of the optimus L3 is made of plastic but LG did a great job in the design of their L style series and the Optimus L3 is a member of that product line, it may be plasticky but it is well crafted, it has a simplistic design with a touch of class and the well lit icon (touch button) below is a marvel to look at.



The optimus L3 looks good on the inside as well as the outside, during use, there’s an easy to navigate UI, LG didn’t stray away from the stock android too much, the L3 uses optimus UI 2.0 lite on top of gingerbread and have ignored to add bloatware and needless apps which I think should be the norm for android phones, every person’s needs varies from their lifestyles, so it’s just fair to let the users decide what’s best for them, it is also crucially vital for most entry level android phones, for they natively lack the ability to store that many apps.



Obviously, there are compromises from its 4,890 peso price tag, one is the low res LCD, top up with bad viewing angles and there are times when small letters appear jagged and blurry, however the 3.2 inch screen with LG’s L style design, somehow have managed to cope up with the poor resolution, you get more room for your fingers to move around and the screen appears wider, which give users better visuals, not bad at all.

The Optimus UI 2.0 glides smooth on the L3 especially on the homescreen, touch response is ace thanks to its 800 mhz processor with Adreno 200 GPU, though, opening and closing apps is somewhat in the mediocre level but I do noticed occasional lags on the text messaging app especially when currently engaged on other tasks like music and Liveview, as a frequent user of entry level android phones, I've noticed that such performance has become a culture, regardless of the brand, but for as long as I’m below my irritating threshold such lags are acceptable for a budget phone.

You’ll be surprised to see that facebook and twitter produced fast results, which made this phone a good choice for social networking fanatics, who’s sole purpose is to have fun without spending too much, and thanks to its fast processor mobile internet browsing is like second nature on the optimus L3, most importantly, you may not have the need to install alternative browsing tool like opera mini, because the stock browser itself can cater pretty much everything you need.



The optimus L3 features a 3 megapixel camera which produces average results and has limited shooting modes but snapping is surprisingly fast it only takes 2 seconds to ready your next shot, though some might ask for a better and higher resolution but in my opinion a 3 megapixel camera is an acceptable sacrifice for owning a 4,890 peso smartphone.

The battery is the star feature of the Optimus L3 it lasted for almost two days of intense use with wifi on, the low resolution screen and low power processor help in conserving battery consumption, while the 1500 mAh battery still keep the phone lightweight at 110g.



BOTTOM LINE: LG has successfully converge high end design and affordability on the Optimus L3, a cheap yet a good phone to own which you won’t feel embarrassed to reveal in public.


PROS: affordable high-end design, social networking ace, long battery life.

CONS: low resolution screen.


SPECIFICATIONS

OS: Android 2.3 gingerbread (optimus UI 2.0 lite)

DISPLAY: 3.2 inch, 8.1 cm QVGA, 240 x 320 resolution, capacitive.

CPU: 800 Mhz with Adreno 200 GPU.

RAM: 512 MB, 384 MB usable.

STORAGE: 1 GB internal, expandable 32 GB micro SD.

CAMERA: 3.0 MP (back)

BATTERY: 1500mAh

Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt Quad-core Tablet Review and Specs.

I admire Cherry Mobile for their continuous effort to offer and serve cheap but quality products to our plates, and they’re on it again with their latest offering the Fusion Bolt, just to give you a glimpse on the specs it is a quad-core tablet with 1gig ram and on board is android’s latest iteration “jellybean” if that wasn’t enough, then hear this because the best is yet to come, amazingly! CM gave it a staggering price of just only 3,999 pesos, sounds impossible but CM stands their ground and strongly pushing their campaign for the fusion bolt as a true and legit quad-core device.

The fusion bolt is cheap in deed, however the idea of it producing quad-core processing results may seem far fetched, and if you truly believe that a 3,999 peso device can live up to its claims, well I guess this review will knock some of your senses back.



The Fusion Bolt is powered by Jellybean and on board is Project Butter, for all I know project butter is some kind of OS optimization software that makes the UI run faster on any device regardless of hardware specifications, the fusion bolt, being a jellybean device makes use of it, sadly you’ll still experience slight lags and occasional hiccups, bear in mind that the fusion bolt is a 3,999 peso tablet, so I advice not to expect too much on its quad-core processing abilities, as to all cheap device we should always learn to accept the issues that goes with it, or otherwise settle for the more expensive ones.

The fusion bolt may be sub par in comparison to other quad-core device like the Nexus 7, however, at 3,999 pesos, it definitely has all the advantages of a stable device, it’s so obvious that the price is the fusion bolt’s greatest ally.



At first glance you’ll be impress by its well built design, slightly resembling the Nexus7, the back is tattered with what seemed to be a snake skin covering, which personally I consider useful and ergonomically designed, for one, it wards off fingerprints and smudges, and it’s comfortable to hold even on long period, at the right side you’ll see all the basic ports of a traditional tablet including the HDMI out, an extra feature in which as far as my test concerns, works well on flat screen TVs, at the top right you’ll see the power button and the volume rocker which somehow I find it awkwardly placed, the buttons are deeply planted making it harder for users to touch-locate and press, though it does not appeal to me as a major setback. All in all the fusion bolt is a handsome and solid beast, except for the warped indentations on the sides of the screen.

One thing that stands out on the Fusion Bolt is the 5 point touch 7” inch HD super IPS capacitive touch screen (1280 x 800) resolution, its High Definition for the masses a sure value for money, the screen is so sharp and crisp that even the smallest text can be read with ease, since it uses IPS technology the screen remains sharp even when viewed on different angles, who says cheap products can’t offer high-end features, oh! And did I mention that it can also play HD videos up to 2160p with great results.



Internet browsing may be the primary reason for owning a tablet, nowadays internet users demands faster connectivity on their device in which only a quad-core tablet promises to offer, fortunately, the fusion bolt guarantees fast browsing speed, it may not be as fast as other quad-core brands but for its price I can definitely say that it is still a fast tablet. The fusion bolt is powered by a 1Ghz quad-core processor ATM7029 (Actions Semiconductor) with a Vivante GC1000+ GPU, top up with a 1gig DDR3 memory, the chipset may be the reason why the fusion bolt can’t spar with other quad-core brands, but given the reason as an entry-level device, Ainol actually did a good job, no other quad-core brand can compete in this price range. The 1 gig DDR3 RAM, however will provide users adequate memory for multitasking, and yes! It is still priced at 3,999 pesos.



Benchmark result using Quadrant Standard: The fusion bolt got a fair score of 2,766 which earned its place on the top 3 position, as a quad-core device it should have bag in more scores but nevertheless, it's a fair catch and to see the fusion bolt beat the living daylight on some expensive well known brands is heart warming.

The fusion bolt is equipped with two cameras, one at the back and the other on front, the primary camera is a 2megapixel shooter (back), don’t expect good results from it though, in fact even the fusion bolt’s vivid screen can’t fix the bad photos taken from its camera, nor made it look an inch better. The front VGA camera is used primarily for online features, like skype and other video calling services, you’ll be surprised that skype works well on the fusion bolt, another neat feature that you can fancy on this 3,999 peso tablet, of course it all depends on your preferences, mine just happens to fit the fusion bolt’s skype overall performance.

Battery life: The Fusion bolt manages to squeeze-in 3 to 4 hours of non-stop use, with 2 to 3 days of stand-by time on a 60% brightness level, a bit short for a device advertised of having a 4,000Mah battery capacity, perhaps the Fusion bolt’s high definition screen has taken its toll on battery performance, it’s an acceptable trade off in my opinion.

When you think quad-core you think gaming, the fusion bolt is no exemption, fortunately, it can handle graphic intensive games but only a few of it, some might work and some might not, or some will just simply run sluggish on the fusion bolt, I think it’s the weak GPU who’s to blame (Vivante GC1000+ GPU). Arnova tablets use these types of GPUs and they are known the world over as a bad gaming tablet, if it not for its quadcore processor the fusion bolt would have suffer the same fate, but don’t get me wrong the fusion bolt is a capable gaming device, just to show off a bit, here are the list of games I currently have on my fusion bolt; NBA 2K13, Dead Trigger, Anomaly Korea, Deadspace HD, Virtua Tennis. These games all run smooth on the fusion bolt.



NBA 2K13 an all time favorite comes to mobile, back then it was only playable on high-end tablets but now you'll be surprised to see that most Cherry Mobile device can handle this game, the fusion bolt is by far the cheapest tablet that can handle NBA 2K13 the way expensive tablets do so.



Anomaly Korea is a real time strategy game with PC like graphics, the game looks great on the fusion bolt's high definition screen details are excellent and there are hardly no visible frame drops during game play, a must have for fusion bolt owners.


Bottom line: The Fusion bolt is the only quad-core tablet under 4k that does its job well (in relation to its price), it may not go head to head with the Nexus 7, but given the price, it is definitely a good tablet to hang around.


PROS: Affordable quad-core tablet, fast browsing speed, vivid High Definition IPS screen

CONS: Occasional hiccups, Sluggish keyboard


FUSION BOLT SPECIFICATION:

OS: Android 4.1 Jellybean

PROCESSOR: 1Ghz quad-core ATM7029 (Actions Semiconductor)

GPU: Vivante GC1000+

DISPLAY: 7"HD IPS, 5 point touch panel, 1280 x 800 resolution.

RAM: 1GB DDR3

MEMORY: 8GB internal expandable micro SD 32GB

CAMERA: VGA front, 2MP back

PORTS: 3.5 mm audio jack, micro USB 2.0, HDMI

BATTERY: 4000mAH

Sony Ericsson Liveview watch review

Smartwatch is the next trend in consumer electronics and there's no better way to join the trend than to have one, I got my smartwatch in an online store known as Lazada in a very tempting price of only 1,489 pesos. Immediately seeing it as a good offer, without any hesitations, I ordered one, then in less than 48 hours it was delivered "talk about express delivery" I bought this product with a sole purpose in mind, to pair it with my Cherry Mobile W500 Titan, a large phone who is in dire need of the Liveview's services and guess what? it turned out fine.



The Sony Ericsson Liveview or some call it the Sony Smartwatch gen 1, is like an extension / remote of your android device and will only do just that, straight forward, you'll find it useful if you own a large android smartphone or tablet, but then, you need bluetooth in order to communicate with it, sadly, that's one thing my Arnova tablet couldn't provide, so it's basically of no use with my Liveview watch, though, the Liveview will make a good partner for my Cherry Mobile W500 Titan, the main reason why I bought it in the first place. The Liveview can connect with multiple device, however it can only do so one at a time, provided a liveview app is installed on each device, the Liveview app can be downloaded on Google Playstore for free.

Pairing it is easy all you have to do is turn your bluetooth on, start the liveview app and press connect, then your phone will automatically sync with your liveview watch, your phone's time settings, incoming messages, missed calls and even podcast will all show up on the Liveview's home screen.



The Liveview is no more than a remote controller to your android phone and a limited one, in deed, example, if someone sends you an SMS the Liveview will notify you by vibrating then you can instantly read the message on your Liveview watch without having the need to take your phone out, but replying to an SMS is out of the Liveview's boundary, the same thing can be said on incoming calls, the only way to do all that, is do it the old fashion way, take your phone out of your bag.

I find the Liveview quite amazing when using the phone's music player, it's like having a remote on your wrist with all the music info on it, imagine the comfort it could give on a daily commute, you can play, pause or skip your favorite tracks on a long bus ride without the struggle of pulling your phone out of your tight jeans.... Holding the right shoulder button for 3 seconds will take you to the Liveview's music player feature.



The Sony Ericsson Liveview is not for the outdoor seekers and adventurers alike, for one; you're pretty much stuck on its current brightness level, no display settings here! Under direct sunlight you can barely see what's on the screen, resistance to water is highly questionable too, but then again at 1,489 pesos we really can't complain.

You may have heard about the Liveview's disconnecting issues, almost all users do complain about that, to tell you the truth I do encountered it a dozen times but recently I noticed, it do happen most frequently if you insist to use plug-ins that doesn't work well with the Liveview watch, it seems that the only way to prevent it from happening is to stick with the Liveview's basic features, but where's the fun in that ! well in my case I only use plug-ins that works perfectly well on my Liveview watch, plug-ins like ringer mode and contacts call, a useful app, by the way; it allows you to call from your contact list directly on your Liveview watch.... By doing these simple steps you can minimize the chances of disconnections, except if it goes out of range. F.Y.I. the Facebook plug-in doesn't work with the Liveview watch, it's ironic to see that the liveview's internet photo ads has Facebook written all over it, marketing can sometimes be deceiving.



The strap that you see here is not the original strap that goes with it, I bought this one from Timex, an original replacement for their ironman watch series, I got it for 400 pesos, my Liveview watch looks good on it, so I think its worth all the penny I spent. Some of you may wonder why did I bother spending 400 pesos on a strap, well, because the strap that goes with it looks more like a Chihuahua strap than a watch strap, if you are the conscious type, you'd probably do the same thing, and honestly in my opinion the Sony Ericsson Liveview watch is not quite a looker, but it might be, with an extra add-on, that is.

All in all I find this device useful specially if you own a 5 inch android smartphone like I do.

Huawei Ascend Y200D Review and Specs.

Huawei a Chinese brand is starting to make a name for itself worldwide, infact it already had made its mark in the UK, the Huawei ascend Y200D in particular is beginning to gain popularity here in the Philippines, some local cellular network actually offers the ascend Y200D in one of their postpaid plans, luckily, I got mine free from my Sun Cellular subscription line. The ascend Y200D is not exactly an enticing phone, for one; it uses an older version of android (gingerbread) nothing wrong with it, its just that with the uprising of the ICS and Jellybean it somehow made the gingerbread inferior, but for someone who just wanted an android experience, gingerbread still has a lot left to offer and the Huawei ascend Y200D maximizes the gingerbread’s potential in a 3.5 inch screen.



The Huawei ascend Y200D is a dual-sim phone with dual standby feature and is powered by an 800mhz Qualcomm MSM7225A processor with 512 mb of ram, I was impressed the first time I use it to browse the web, it’s fast and responsive the way an 800mhz processor should be and the 512 mb ram allows you to open more apps, the best I’ve seen so far in its class, most android phones that fall in this criteria only have 256mb of ram. I have no idea on the exact price but I’m guessing it ranges somewhere in between 4,490 to 4,990 php competing with the Samsung Galaxy Y….. Advantage once again favor the ascend Y200D from its competitors, the 3.5 inch IPS capacitive touchscreen is something you don’t normally see to a phone falling under this criteria, it’s large, it’s sharp and it’s affordable. Huawei’s choice of hardware ensures system stability for the ascend Y200D, a thing that keeps them apart from the stigmata that Chinese brands are made out of volume not by quality.



In terms of design the ascend Y200D is a thing of beauty a master craftsman’s masterpiece, it is ergonomically designed to fit the user’s hand without stressing it and the materials used are high quality plastics. Huawei incorporates their proprietary Emotion UI in all their smartphones to make it distinct to other brands and even more so, to make navigation easier. The ascend Y200D handles the Emotion UI very well I’m guessing it’s the Adreno 200 GPU that kicks in to action, and I’m pretty sure it will handle games seriously, but to my dismay the ascend Y200D had a flaw, a very small internal rom, only 79 mb is available for use, so installing games in it seems near impossible, to make things worst it doesn’t come with a Facebook app, it needs to be downloaded via google play and will consume a lot from that precious 79 mb of realty, not to mention viber, skype, and IM+, who needs games when space is at a premium. It’s just a small blimp it might seem but it causes a domino effect, a large amount of points taken away from this would have been excellent phone.



The ascend Y200D features a 3.2 megapixel camera with fix focus lens, the first snapshot I took from it was clearly amazing, it’s sharp and vivid, another bonus you can get from this phone, sorry no front camera here, though it supports 3G connectivity, a deliberate move from Huawei to keep the phone glued to such a low price. The battery life, however is reliable even with moderate use it will last you for more than a day and a half, it also comes with a built-in power saving app, activate it and you’ll see a big difference in battery performance….. I’m beginning to speculate that this phone is designed for the business people, no games, long battery life, sizable screen and a clear call conversation courtesy of its dual-mic noise reduction feature, clearly the way a businessman would want it.



Bottom line: The Huawei ascend Y200D is one of the best in its class, however shortage in application storage prevents it from rising up, a good phone though, in relation to its price.

PROS: affordable, sizable screen, excellent built quality, good browsing speed.

CONS: low internal storage, slight lag on the home screen.


HUAWEI ASCEND Y200D SPECIFICATIONS:

3.5 inch IPS capacitive touchscreen 320×480
Qualcomm MSM7225A 800MHz processor
Adreno 200 GPU
512MB RAM
2GB ROM
HSDPA 14.4Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Dual-mic noise reduction
3.2MP camera, fix focus lens
proximity and light sensors
GPS w/ aGPS support
Bluetooth 2.1
Android 2.3 Gingerbread
1250mAh Li-Ion battery

Project Butter comes to Cherry Mobile (Omega)

Cherry Mobile has gone a step further into the android world, welcoming yet another new breed of android OS "the Jellybean" once again CM had made a ground breaking event as the first local brand to introduce Jellybean in the Philippine market and they did it the best way possible "Jellybean for the Filipino masses". No surprises there! for they were also the first local brand to release ICS (Cherrypad Paladin) in the local market and one good way of retaining a good name is to continuously be the first.

Project Butter comes to Cherry Mobile in the form of the "Omega" an android smartphone with a 5.2 inch capacitive touch panel and a 1Ghz dual-core processor which retails only at 6,699 Php. The Omega was such a success that during its first week of release it was almost completely sold out, who wouldn't be tempted to a phone with this caliber and with a price already bargained to the lowest point possible, affordability has never been this flexible. Watch videos of the Cherry Mobile Omega on my Video Bar for more tech specs.

CHERRY MOBILE OMEGA SPECIFICATIONS:

GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-band)
3G/HSDPA Capable (UMTS 850/1900/2100)
Dual SIM / Dual Standby

5.2" WVGA (800x480) capacitive display
179ppi with 5-point multi-touch feature

1GHz dual-core MT6577 Processor
Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean)
PowerVR SGX531 GPU
512MB of RAM

4GB of internal storage
microSD slot up to 32GB

5MP autofocus camera with LED flash
720p HD video recording
VGA (0.3MP) front-facing camera

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n / Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth v2.1 / GPS with A-GPS support

microUSB 2.0 / 3.5mm audio jack
MP3 / Multimedia Player / FM Radio
Motion Sensor, Light sensor, proximity sensor

2,300mAh Li-Ion battery

PRICE: 6,699 PHP, AVAILABLE NOW.....

Cherry Mobile Fusion ice ICS tablet review

Cherry Mobile has launched, yet another low-end ICS tablet that's light on the budget but heavy on features, it sells at around 3,690php, now that's low-end at its lowest, a price tag that directly compete with the generic no name tablets that you can buy at your local tiangge.

The Fusion ice as CM named it is actually known as the Altina A600 in China, in fact the Opera app store still recognizes it from its former brand, a product originally manufactured by Ainol, which was then re-branded by Cherry Mobile then was reintroduce thereafter as the fusion ice........ I bought this tablet for my 4yr old son basically to aid him learn the alphabets, numbers, colors etc. until recently I found out that it was me who was reaching for it more. The Fusion ice is anything but flawless, something that you'd expect on a cheap device, the browser is a bit slow and it's not what you'd call a smooth web browsing experience, lags are visible too, but at such a low price it is almost forgivable.

CM Fusion ice, Arnova 7 G2 comparison

The CM Fusion ice and Arnova 7 G2 both clocks at 1Ghz, Fusion ice using A13 processor and the Arnova 7 G2 with Cortex A8 both having the same amount of RAM (512MB). Based on user experience and live side by side comparison, the Arnova 7 G2 out-perform the Fusion ice in almost all aspect, except gaming, the features highlighted the most was browsing speed, stability and responsiveness, the Arnova 7 G2 clearly was on top of the Fusion ice, but surprisingly, benchmark results using Quadrant Standard tell a rather different story; results shows that the Fusion ice have better overall performance than the Arnova 7 G2, scoring a total of 2,128 while the Arnova 7 G2 only got 1,021 barely half of what the Fusion ice had scored.

Fusion ice benchmark result

Surprisingly, with an emphatic lead over well known brands like HTC Desire HD and Samsung Nexus S, scoring a total of 2128.

Arnova 7 G2 benchmark result

Lags far behind the bottom position with a total score of only 1021.

LCD on the Fusion ice is sharp and is capable of playing HD videos up to 2160p, unfortunately it suffers from poor viewing angles, "a catch from the price" it's kind of cliche` to see a 7 inch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio it became the norm for most tablets, however, the Fusion ice is unique, it is the only 7 inch tablet with 4:3 aspect ratio that I've seen so far. The square screen provides better room for your fingers to move around and give better visuals on your documents and presentations, it also did great in displaying web pages; in a tablet's perspective. Music on the other hand is great on the Fusion ice I was completely blown away by the audio quality that this cheap device could give whether on speakers or headset. The mono speaker at the back of the tablet is loud, loud enough to fill up a mid-sized room and is great in watching online videos and playing games without the hassle of a headset wire.

The battery life is a tablet user's must-know feature and has great effect on the device overall ratings, fortunately the Fusion ice dealt with it with flying colors, the 3700mAh battery lasted for more than 4 hrs of non-stop use and gave me at least 2 days of standby time, though charging time is frustratingly long, still, fare enough for such a cheap device.

Internet browsing may be full of disappointments on the Fusion ice but Skype on the other hand will greatly exceed your expectations for a device as cheap as this, I did a lot of Skype calls with this tablet and so far it handles it well, conversations between two parties are well understood, all features of Skype are in working order including video calls, I actually prefer using the Fusion ice for Skype calls rather than my W500 Titan mainly because of its bigger screen.

CM Fusion ice as a gaming console

The Fusion ice is quite a gaming machine, the combination of a 1Ghz A13 processor with mali 400 GPU and a 5 point touch panel did well in handling games of sort, but still not strong enough to handle games like Dead Trigger and the likes, but to everything else you'll find it amusing here on the Fusion ice.

Arcane Legends online RPG, I first had this on my Titan but later on I find the 5 inch screen a bit small for mmorpg games, so I decided to play it on the Fusion ice without any disappointments, honestly it did better on the Titan but the bigger screen put the Fusion ice on edge, you get to read the text and messages a lot clearer and see the mmorpg world in a bigger picture, more details on a sharp 7 inch screen.

Predators, not much of a game too much expectations from fans put this game down but still a nice game to play with, it runs smooth on the Fusion ice and the 7 inch screen with 4:3 aspect ratio added more spice to the game.

Call of Mini zombies, a zombie shooter game wherein you get to mingle with cute characters, even the zombies here are cute but not as cute as the zombie dogs, you'll have to fight your way a day at a time to finish a level, it is a fast pace full 3D shooter that feels almost at home on the Fusion ice.




Bottom line: The Cherry Mobile Fusion ice may have its shortcomings, but given a chance, it still has a lot of good features to offer. For those who just wanted an ICS tablet experience and doesn't want to burn holes in their pockets, this tab is for you.


PROS: very affordable, comes pre-loaded with useful apps i.e, viber, Kingsoft office, ES task manager, instagram, excellent multi media device, capable in gaming, works well with Skype, excellent slim design, decent battery life.

CONS: slow browsing speed, visible lags, screen is warped. long charging time.


CHERRY MOBILE FUSION ICE SPECIFICATIONS:

PROCESSOR: 1Ghz A13 with mali 400 GPU.

OS: Android 4.0 ICS.

DISPLAY: 7 capacitive screen, 5 point touch panel, 4:3 aspect ratio, 800x600 resolution, 16 million colors.

CAMERA: Front facing VGA 0.3 mega pixels.

MEMORY: 8GB(ROM), 512MB(DDR3), expandable via micro SD 32gig max.

USB: High speed USB 2.0, mini USB.

WIFI: 802.11 b/g/n.

BATTERY: 3700mAh.

Turn your DSi XL into an e-book reader (DsLibris)

The DSi XL is the 4rth iteration in the DS family, in 2004 Nintendo made waves when they release their first DS and now after a mere decade of gaming supremacy, the bell starts to toll on the DS's life, sadly Nintendo has plans of pulling out the life support on the DS anytime this year, infact according to my resources only a handful of DS games will be scheduled for release this 2013, after that its sayonara DS.

Cheer up! you can still make use of the DS by turning it into an e-book reader and what a fine e-reader the DSi XL can be, those massive dual 4.2 inch screen is an essential tool for book reading and no other e-reader could provide you with what the DSi XL could do; "you get to read it by holding it like a real book", but first you'll have to install the DsLibris homebrew app, the download link is in my DOWNLOADS AND EXTRAS, you'll also need an R4i (DSi/DSi XL) users or R4 (DS/DS Lite) users, after downloading the DsLibris zip file extract whatever is in there, then copy all the extracted files in the root folder of your sd card, when done insert the sd card back to your R4/R4i, turn the DSi XL on, press update and enjoy.

DsLibris MANUAL

E-book format = epub
E-book location = book folder

CONTROLS (in portrait mode)

Left D-pad = back
Right D-pad = forward
A button = forward
B button = back
X button = toggles screen mode day/night
Y button = brightness level
Touch screen left side = back
Touch screen right side = forward
Start button = back to main screen
Select button = bookmark
Up, Down D-pads = scroll trough bookmarks