Unboxings & Choosing Your Next Smart Device - II

Now this is what I'm talking about when I say there is a lot of quality material out there from Pinoys into tech reviews. Just take a peek at these 2 videos on the features of the Cherry Mobile Omega HD. The content is just so compelling, I almost want to run out and buy one of these phones.






Check out Rommel Manzano's channel at Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/rommelmanzano?feature=watch

Samsung Mega - Phones Just Got Ginormous...Again!

Samsung announced the Galaxy Mega last week in a press release. I've been waiting for videos of the product in actual consumer hands but they have been hard to come by. But here's a video that was apparently leaked, with commentary from the poster:



I haven't seen units yet in any local stores either. What is known for certain are the specs, as published in the press release. In a nutshell, the specs I find important are as follows:

• Display: 6.3-inch HD TFT  
• Processor: 1.7GHz Dual Core ARM Processor 
• OS: Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Camera: 8 MP rear-facing camera, 1.9 MP front-facing camera
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, WiFi Direct, BT 4.0, USB 2.0
• Memory: 8/16GB Internal Memory (microSD up to 64GB) ＋ 1.5GB RAM
• Battery: 3,200 mAh Li-ion Standard Battery

This thing is huge compared to the Galaxy Note II's 5.3 inches. It is just ever so slightly smaller that a 7-inch tablet. Aside from the pudgy-fat-fingers use-case and the i-can't-type-properly-on-a-small-screen issue with users like me, this is not a phone for everyone. However, personal opinions aside, right now it's Samsung that is forging ahead of the competition in terms of creating new niches in the market. Creating products like the Samsung Mega explores the possibilities. If you check stores, both online and brick-and-mortar, other lesser known brands like Starmobile, Cherry Mobile, Cloudfone, MyPhone, etc. already have their own 5-inch or slightly smaller screened phones. That niche was non-existent if we were talking about screen sizes before the original Galaxy Note was launched.

With the positive response from the way the Galaxy Note II got sold out when it was launched, only time will tell if the consumer market will embrace an ever bigger phablet. This is a gamble that I think Samsung will win though. But ultimately it's going to be the consumer who decides whether this niche deserves it's own line of products.

Unboxings & Choosing Your Next Smart Device

With the increasingly overlapping release dates of so many competing smartphone brands, it's been hard to keep up with the latest device releases. It's become harder to maintain a good grasp of what products give the best value for money, especially if you're on the lookout for your next phone or tablet. So reviews, specifically unboxings with demos, like the one below are really useful for evaluating products you may want to consider buying. The one linked below is for the about to be released Starmobile Diamond:



Increasingly, I find myself watching the feeds for sites like Rappler.com. You should look for local reviews when looking for a product to buy. The important thing is to see the Filipino perspective about a device before looking at it. Like other Asians, we don't necessarily have the same use-case scenarios that North Americans have. It's better to look for local tech journalists reviewing locally released products, so you get to experience a review that is as relevant to you as possible.

Also look for product information on stores you can physically go to to try the thing. It's common for stores not to give you hands on time with device, so walk away if the retail store does that. You should 'vote' with your money. Buy from the stores that give you the chance to test the product before you actually buy it. Let them know you appreciate the tinker time they give you.

So what will your next smartphone be? Where did you first hear about it? Did you watch a detailed review of it before deciding to go to store to check it out?

Dell's Upcoming Smartphones Leaked

After the purported 'lost' Apple iPhone4 development unit saw the light of Gizmodo, news of specifications and images of Dell's up an coming Smartphone line have been leaked. PCworld, FastCompany and Hothardware have all snapped up the news and come out with their own analysis of the Smartphone, pre release.Veritable Engadget has run a story on each of the new units starting with the Dell Lightning, then the Dell Thunder, the Dell Smoke and finally the Dell Flash.

According to the information had by Engadget the Dell Lightning is a Windows Phone 7 device. This will definitely occupy the high-end of the the line, as it has 3G, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor coupled with a 4.1-inch OLED touch screen. It also has a slide out QWERTY thumboard.

Next in the line-ups hierarchy is the Dell Thunder, an Android-based Smartphone with the same 3G capabilities, OLED screen and Snapdragon processor. It does away with the slide out keyboard though, but is as gorgeous (at least in the pics) as the Lightning. Aside from missing the keyboard, it also differentiates itself from the Lightning by bundling up apps for Facebook, Twitter, Hulu and Youtube in it's app arsenal.

The Dell Smoke is a bit of a departure, form-factor wise from the rest of the phones. It's candybar shape and QWERTY keypad reminds me of some earlier Sony-Ericsson Smartphone from years yonder. It has a 2.8 inch TFT screen, 3G and a 5MP camera. It also sets itself apart from the rest by having mutilple account support for Exchange and Active Sync, plus VPN support for secure connections. It has every indication, feature-wise, that is going to be positioned as a business phone.

The Dell Flash is supposed to be the  'mainstream' Smartphone of the line that will bring Smartphone goodness 'to the masses', meaning it will be cheaper than current Smartphones in the market offering the same function or feature set. Also Android-based, it will be powered by a 800MHz Qualcomm processor, come equipped with a 3.5-inch TFT screen, 3G connectivity, WiFi and a 5MP camera. The Flash is also being touted as having a better touchscreen keyboard better than what's currently available in Smartphones today.

With Smartphone news being leaked hear and there, the Smartphone manufacturers are obviously gearing up this year and getting as much press as they can to build excitement. As I have been holding out the last few months, wanting badly to replace my aging Treo 650, news like this makes me want to wait some more. I have been mulling over buying a Nokia E63 or an E72 (if my budget were a little more biggger). Now I realize waiting a few more months will give me more choices and the best bang-for-the-buck if all these exciting phones come to market soon.