Showing posts with label Android. Show all posts

A Writer's Best Friends: Gadgets For The Writer


A writer is a writer is a writer, as they say. Writers will be found carrying their favorite pens -- or a whole handful of them. They love fancy notebooks, and to be able to collect Moleskines is a treat for them. The more successful ones toted the first Macbooks in the Philippines, back in the time when Windows PC's ruled the market. And whenever they can, they will scribble their notes on anything. And I mean anything.

If caught in a coffeeshop without a laptop or even a pen and paper to capture their thoughts with, they'll resort to asking the barista for a handful of table napkins and the store's pen.

I know, because I never thought the day would come when I'd need to resort to that -- but then it did.

But these times mark the age when writing has become profitable (thank you Google and SEO!) and writers can now afford to invest in gadgets and machines that will make their lives and compulsive note-taking a whole world easier.

Writers may have said "hello" to the smartphones and helpful gadgets by now.

Here are some machines that I know would be handy for writers and other compulsive note-takers and thought-catchers:

iPod Touch -- The cheapest thing you can get to an iPhone, without the phone capabilities, the iPod Touch is the note-taker's delight. With a camera that can take pictures of handwriting pretty well, a writer and his pals will no longer need to run to the nearest photocopying shop in order to take copies of notes written. They only need to snap photos of those notes, and they will be able to share notes, and even pages off of books, on the fly.

The notes that can be taken by the iPod Touch's reportedly only 0.7MP cam.

You can even take pictures of pages off of books, which you can share with your other writer-friends.

Another method of recording one's thoughts is in the form of pictures. As they say, "A picture paints a thousand words." If the beauty of the sight that a writer is beholding is just too much for him to express in words, then a picture would surely beef up what he is meaning to write.

Lastly, voice recordings will never be able to replace the beauty, clarity and convenience of reading the written word, but it'll suffice as a way to record thoughts on the fly. With the iPod Touch's configurations starting at 8GB, a writer can certainly ramble hours of thoughts away.

Blackberry, any kind -- The Blackberry cornered the Smartphone market a few years ago, because it pioneered the handy QWERTY machine. Thanks to that, we now have Nokia's QWERTY's and even QWERTY Androids like the HTC Chacha and the Cherry Mobile Candy Chat.

But nothing really beats the Blackberry in how awesome its keys are engineered. They were built to be tapped on, for hours on end. That is why I completely understand why Blackberry users have been stereotyped as "Crackberry" addicts who tap away at their SMS or email even on dinner tables and family gatherings.

A writer can leverage a Blackberry by taking notes on the Blackberry's memo apps, or even on the Calendar. I find that it's very convenient to make notes on the Calendar, as it records the date when you had that thought. Thus, it's easier to go back to when you need to.

What is great about the Blackberry over an iPod Touch or even an iPhone or a touch-screen Android is that it is handy to type on even when you're in an uncomfortable situation. I mean, only crackpots will be writing their next articles on the commuter train while their in transit, right? But it happens, and thoughts and ideas can and will seize you, even when you're in tough spots.

Long bus rides are another thing. It would be hard to tap out a full-length essay or article on an iPod Touch on a bus ride, and it would be all the worse to start talking your thoughts into it, as other passengers may look at you funny for that. Thus, it is definitely quieter and easier to tap away a diary entry, an essay, an article, and even a short story or a novel chapter on one's Blackberry.

Samsung Galaxy Note -- Being a writer and an Android advocate, the Samsung Galaxy Note is definitely high up on my wishlist. As I said, I am attracted to the capabilities of its S-Pen, not to mention the fact that its screen is so wide, it can surely accommodate big fingers typing away.

One big irritation I have with touch screen devices is that I may get the hang of typing long messages on it when I really push myself to do it, but after a while, I find that I've gotten clumsy with typing on touch screens again.

One big promise that the Samsung Galaxy Note has for writers is that it's going to be an all-in mobile thought capture device: something to research with on the fly, something to take notes with, something to record voice messages (to oneself) with, and something that will allow for doodles, screenshots and diagram-making thanks to its S-Pen.

Check out the Samsung Galaxy Note, free on Smart's Unlimited Plan 2000.

While the writer-by-blood will always go back to his favorite tools of the trade: the trusty notebook and the ornate, colorful, or fine-writing pens, this age does favor him, with all the tools, gadgets and toys that will add to, but never replace, the writer's arsenal of pens and paper pads.

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An Android Is A Casual Gamer's Machine



There are three types of gamers, in my opinion:
  • The "Professional" Gamer
  • The Hardcore Gamer
  • The Casual Gamer
While all three may look the same to the non-gamer, these three are vastly different in their tastes, game choices and frequency of gaming.

All three types may come from all walks of life. Both may spend hours, even the equivalent of days, just gaming. But the similarities may well end there.

The Professional Gamer is stereotyped as the classic parents' headache. He or she may be the teen who goes home at 3AM because he just had to finish a game of DotA (Defense of the Ancients), Warcraft, or some other MMORPG, RPG or strategy game.

The Professional Gamer may choose a career that will allow for games for hours on end. In fact, there are cases that they never get a career at all. On the other hand, Professional Gamers based in the US do have a shot at success: game companies do hire Beta Testers for their game releases.

Professional Gamers tend to choose strategy games, RPG's and other games similar to DotA in gameplay and level of graphics complicity.

The Hardcore Gamer has similar tastes, but usually just uses games to relax themselves. They may play just as tough and as hard as Professional Gamers do, but they only do this for fun, and this is at the mid-level to the last of their priorities. They do this to de-stress, but that doesn't mean that they play in a mediocre manner. They may work hard, but they will also play hard.

I know of a high-ranking IT officer in a multinational company who may well be classified as a Hardcore Gamer. A CEO of a call center in Iloilo City may also be classified as such.

Lastly, the casual gamers.

Casual Gamers are those who loved Super Mario, Tetris, Battle City, Adventure Island, Twin Bee, B-Wings, and their ilk as kids. As they were growing into adulthood, DynoMite, Bejeweled, Text Twist, Chuzzle and Peggle caught their fancy. They have Nintendo DS', PSP's or iPod Touches. Today, they may have installed Plants vs. Zombies, Insaniquarium, and Feeding Frenzy on their PC's. And if they are Android users as well, their apps may mostly be games.

Many an Android casual gamer I know has Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and a permutation of a Match 3 Game (Bejeweled, Frozen Bubble/Bubble Shooter, Luxor). An Android could very well be an equivalent of an iPod Touch, with phone capabilities, or a more affordable equivalent of an iPhone.

However, The Android Searcher has noted that lower-spec Androids do have that "signature" lag, because a majority of entry-level to mid-range Androids do have only 600MHz in CPU speed/256MB RAM. If you want a seamless gaming experience, then higher-end Androids are recommended. Choose one with at least 1GHz in CPU speed, preferably a Qualcomm-powered machine, and at least 512MB in RAM. With that, you won't go wrong.

For those who are still on entry-level to mid-range hardware, however, we will have to find kludges for our handicap. For me, all I need to do would be to kill all the running apps then leave only the game. Removing or not even installing moving/dynamic widgets like a Facebook widget is also a good solution. Widgets tend to eat up resources, making the Android slower.

A friend once experienced having her Samsung Galaxy Y overheat and slow down, especially with playing Fruit Ninja. We cleared the memory using Android Assistant, killed all apps, and she even uninstalled nearly everything except for Facebook Messenger. Her Samsung Galaxy Y still stayed turtle-slow; until, she rebooted her Android. After the reboot, everything was back to normal. So remember, when all else fails, it won't hurt to reboot. It may well the fix-it-all solution for your Android's bugs.

But I digress.

While there are games that may cater to a Hardcore or even Professional Gamer's tastes on the Android, there is no doubt that it is a Casual Gamer's machine.

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Photo Credits: Design.inc
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Why Do Androids Get Obsolete Pretty Quickly?



Gadgets, as a rule, have a short shelf life. For one, the manufacturing companies are on the move to get people to constantly buy, upgrade, and buy some more. Mobile machine companies have one drive: to get people to upgrade, constantly, and then in the biggest, costliest way possible.

That is why none of us should be surprised that Androids are "obsolete" within a quarter of a year.

The reason is that companies follow release cycles and move towards releasing a new gadget by that deadline date. Apple has set the trend with that, and now, all the other tech companies are following suit.

One thing that holds up a company from releasing their machines on a speedy cycle would be dismal sales. Take a look at Acer. What once was a strong biannial release schedule has now become a fading, nonexistent release cycle. Credit it to the fact that they must have had quite a lot of refunds and repairs owing to the dismal quality of their products, or possibly, the fact that they are repositioning:
Either way, Acer is among those who are moving towards a more conservative outlook for now. For the big players, one trend seems to underline their operations: a speedy release cycle.

If you note, it was barely a month into the Samsung Galaxy Y landing with a blast onto Philippine Android shores when Samsung already announced the Dual-SIM version of the phone. We don't even have the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro in sight yet, and yet its Dual-SIM version is already announced for release, by Q1, 2012.

In other news, HTC is also playing the speedy-release game. Just close on the heels of each other, the HTC Sensation XE, HTC Sensation XL, HTC Rhyme, and HTC Rezound all got unleashed on different markets worldwide. While it will definitely take more time for the newer-release HTC Androids to reach Philippine shores, you can't help but admire the way HTC turns out its phones like pancakes, obviously working hard to keep up with Samsung, which has already flooded the market with its plethora of Samsung Galaxy models.

And we have barely even recovered from the craze over the Samsung Galaxy SII:


Next week, a note on why it would still rock if RIM hung around a lot longer. Like Motorola.

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Photo Credits: Children of the Nineties
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Three Types Of Droid Users


Most people have the impression that those who gravitate to the Android as an OS are only the geeks who love modding their phones. On the contrary, there are users who get attracted to the Android for other, possibly “simpler” reasons.

The Android partner companies have been working overtime to surpass the iPhone, so the new Androids that have been coming out have been looking pretty awesome lately. Thus, Androids are attracting users and prospective users from a varied array of backgrounds and perspectives.

We’ll try to capture their “cultures” in this post, and if you’re a friend of any of these, we’ve also put notes on how to deal with each kind of user so you guys can get the most out of your Droids and have the best Droid experience you can possibly have.

The Casual User.

Profile: This Android user bought his or her phone because it’s sleek-looking, the brand is making waves, and for some, they may have even bought the phone because it’s expensive. In short, the users who buy Androids with this mindset tend to not care that it’s an Android in the first place. They bought the phone first and foremost because it looks good and makes them look good. That it can call and text are the only things that are important for them. If they can Facebook using the phone, they’ll be happy. They probably haven’t even used up 50MB of their storage space. Heck, some of these users may even have 100+ MB left on their Androids.

What Now: If you’re a techie friend of a Casual Android User, sell them in on the idea of adding games and useful apps on their Droids. Let them know that you’d kill to have the remaining space they’re keeping idle on their Androids. Show them how your collection of GTD apps are simply awesome. Show them how the Facebook for Android app makes Facebooking simpler, faster and a whole lot more addictive.

Maybe when you’ve showed them the potential of their Droids, though, the next problem will be how to pry them from Facebook for Android.

The Power User.

Profile: This Android guy (or gal) probably has a Task Killer installed. If their Android has a huge ROM space, most likely, they also have a battery saver, a virus scanner and other system tools installed. These guys may have maxed out their ROM space and leave only the necessary 20 to 30MB free, to keep the systems from complaining of low space. These guys have their emails and social networking accounts perfectly synced, and may even work from their Droids. They’re on top of the trends and are already salivating on the next-generation Droids. They may even have upgraded their Droids’ Kernel Version, or even attempted rooting it. Short of re-coding their Droids, they’ve probably modded their Droids that these are almost extensions of themselves.

What Now: Since this breed of Droid users are the perfect balance of the n00b and the uber-geek, the only thing a Droid friend could do is to introduce this kind of user to a sales agent of a particular brand of Droid maker, and the friend could probably cash in on that referral. However, Power Users don’t get swayed easily, as they know what they want in their Droids and won’t compromise.

The Super User.

Profile: This is a Droid user who could write code from scratch. If he hasn’t done it yet, he must have tweaked and rewritten sections of the Android kernel code and suited it to his needs. His Droid has been rooted, and he probably has an app on the Android Market. As a consumer, he may not necessarily go for the biggest and baddest specs, but he will go for what will suit his needs: what he can modify and what will work with how he envisions his Droid to be.

What Now: If you’re the kind of friend who’s always on the lookout for the opportunity to make money, you can partner with your Super User Droid friend and ask him to build an app based on your ideas. Then, according to what’s fair in your estimation, split your royalties in percentages. You can go for 50/50, but if he’s fine with 65/35, with you getting the lion’s share, why not, right? After all, it was your bright idea in the first place. You can also agree on a project-based fee: ask your friend for his one-time rate for an Android App, pay that in full, and pocket all royalties thereafter. You may need to study how to monetize an Android app, however. AdSense has expanded to include app revenues, so you may want to look into that.

These are the three kinds of Android users. Hope you had fun reading this post, profiling your Droid-user friends and thinking about the ideas we brought to the table. Have a happy weekend!

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Photo Credits: C-Section Comics
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Android Has The Lion's Share Of The Market


The Android as a platform has had its share of fanatics and naysayers. For the most part, consumers who have jumped from the iPhone complain of its bugs and flaws, while the switchers from Nokia smartphones and other smartphone brands are pretty satisfied with what an Android-powered phone can do. The Android uptake has been a debate, but if there’s a detail that is definitely not debatable, it would be the numbers.

As of September 2011, The NPD Group, a consumer market research group of companies, identified these statistics surrounding the Android:


As you can see, the naysayers can say whatever they like, but the numbers don’t lie. The Android owns the lion’s share of the market.

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Smart Communications' Netphone: Brilliant Concept, Brilliant PR



Smart Communications seems to have its PR machine run tight. In just around 15 days after the Netphone was launched, we have seen not only the high profile bloggers tote their new Netphones, we've also seen friends colleagues wield brand spanking new ZTE Blades powered by SmartNet, or, as it is known by the brand, the Netphone 701.

Since the different high-profile bloggers have already said their piece about the phone, here is a collection of their opinions about it:


If there's anything we can just say about the whole Netphone 701 campaign, it's that Smart was very brilliant to lock its SmartNet service to the Netphone. While you can sign up for an account and even update your Facebook and Twitter via a SmartNet account on its website, you will not be able to enjoy the full benefits of SmartNet if you were on another Android. We tried using the service via a Cherry Mobile Nova, and, the website does not convert to a mobile site on the Opera Mini. It has the same proportions as the PC-based version. On the Dolphin HD Browser, the proportions are still the same, though it looks a tad bit more bearable. You may probably learn to like posting from SmartNet in landscape mode, but with Facebook for Android or even the mobile browser-based Mobile Facebook, we doubt you'd switch to SmartNet if you were on another Android.

What is more advantageous in having a Netphone is not just the dedicated app for SmartNet; it's really the free use of SmartNet. You can have only Php 1 in your Smart prepaid account, and as long as you keep the settings on "SmartNet" and not "Internet," you'll be fine. You can toggle these settings on the second panel of your Smart Netphone, as Karen Ang mentions in her post. 

Thus, the brilliance of the Netphone is really locked into the SmartNet system. However, the service will only be free until December 31, 2011. After that, expect to pay Php 999 per 1GB of data monthly. Smart also has other denominations in its Always On plan suite, so you may be able to take advantage of SmartNet at lower rates.

Did Smart Communications hit the jackpot by copying the big companies and their whole software/hardware ecosystem (think Apple's iTunes, the Android Marketplace and the Blackberry Internet Service)? Did they also hit a PR jackpot by creating an effective viral campaign with the help of local and influential bloggers? Will Smart Netphone users stay on the system after December 31, 2011? Only time will tell.


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Four Advantages Of The Android



Many smartphone enthusiasts complain of the Android as a buggy device. They always compare it with the iPhone, which has had a headstart in perfecting the way it works. These dissatisfied users forget that the iPhone is part of a closed system, which has the benefit of better QA.

On the other hand, the Android still has undeniable perks over the other smartphones. We'll give you a few:

1. Free Angry Birds. While Angry Birds, the phenomenal petrary physics mobile game that took the world by storm, is free on the Android. It costs $0.99 on the iOS, but for the Android, it's all free. It's also free on Nokia Ovi. It's still under development for the Blackberry, but it will be made available on the Blackberry Playbook first.

2. Most great apps and games are free. On the iOS, you pay at least $0.99 per app that you download. On the Android, there is a free app for nearly everything you need. Need a battery booster? A to-do list? More games than you can handle? There's a plethora of choices. The only thing you need now is more space and time to evaluate the apps so you can settle on the best ones that suit you.

3. Google Integration and painless email. This is possibly one of the best perks of being on an Android. Since the phone is basically a Google phone, Google services (GMail, Docs, YouTube, Picasa, GTalk, Google Earth) are better integrated than with, say, the iPhone or the Blackberry. Setup is painless. As opposed to the Blackberry, where setup could be a pain, all you need with your Android is your GMail address and your password, which you input upon the first startup of your phone, and you're all set. No need to look for your PIN, other numbers that may need time for you to wrap your brain around, no need to forward your GMail to your Blackberry account and other such setups, just your username and password. Upon startup. That's it.

You may experience a bit of a lag with email coming in, especially if your connection is not up to scratch. Unless you're in a high-emergency field where real-time email is a must, that shouldn't be a problem.

4. Customization is up to you, not your phone manufacturer. Ever got tired of how the buttons in the iPhone are just there for you to scroll through? Not much room for how you prefer to arrange things? With the Android, everything is customizable. Want to group your apps by dashboard? You can. Want to have accessible widgets to your to-do's? You can mount them on a dashboard of your choice. Want to keep one dashboard as a place where you can get to the e-Books you're reading with one click? You can. You can even replace the Launcher that manages your dashboard. There's no limit to what you can do with your Android.

Despite the OS's flaws, we find the Android a far better OS to power a smartphone than Symbian or the previous Windows Mobile OS versions. There's so much you can do with it. There's no limit to how you can modify your Android. It's the perfect OS for the user who loves tinkering with his smartphone.



Photo Credits: LindaBCool
Advantages of the Android
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Top Three Android Browsers -- An Overview



If you're looking for a good browser for your brand spanking new Android Phone, you'll find that you have quite a few choices. But let's narrow it down to the best we've used so far:

Opera Mini. Opera Mini must be the best mobile phone browser in the market. It's lightweight, compact, and simple to use. It's also very stable. One great feature of the Opera Mini is the Speed Dial, which you can set your most-visited websites on a grid of thumbnails which open every time you open a new, blank Tab. This way, all your favorite websites will be accessible with one single click.

Opera Link is also one feature that sets this browser apart. This feature is exclusive to Opera, and allows Opera users to synchronize their browser data across the devices they use. So if you're using an Opera browser on your Desktop, you can sync your bookmarks and Speed Dial from there to your Android, thanks to your Opera Link account. The setup is a matter of signing up (just like signing up for email) and then with a few clicks to sync, your Opera bookmarks are now merged across the devices you use. This is why it's awesome.

Dolphin Browser HD is highly recommended by the Android community because of its gesture-based shortcuts. You can set gestures to open certain websites or to perform certain actions like going to a subdomain or an inner page of a website. If you're the type who loves shortcuts, Dolphin Browser is something that you may adore.

We like Dolphin Browser because it tends to have better flash support and better video support than Opera Mini. While some websites may require Opera Mini to install Adobe's latest version over and over, Dolphin Browser just goes right on ahead and loads the website. For those who subscribe to video websites like Vimeo, Metacafe, Dailymotion or Revver, or if you watch video from CNN, ABC, Yahoo or even Beyonce's official website, this may be the answer to your mobile video-viewing needs.

Skyfire also comes highly recommended, especially by Tech Crunch. One great feature is how it has a dedicated pop-up section for Facebook and Twitter, which lets you post, share and tweet while you're in the middle of, say, reading through Huffington Post or New York Times.

Skyfire also lets you watch video from most sources, just like Dolphin Browser. However, the free version only gives you three days of free use for the video function. After that, you'd have to pay $2.99 to keep watching videos via Skyfire. There are other functions that are still free even after the first three days. You can Like and share pages directly from the Skyfire menu, without shifting to another tab for Facebook or Twitter. You don't even have to open the Facebook for Android app. There's also a nifty function, the Fireplace, which lets you view links from your Facebook and Twitter accounts all in one page. These innovations are the things that make Skyfire unique.

These are the top three browsers of the Android Market. In giving you their strengths and weaknesses, we hope to have helped you decide which to download and keep for your Android. Have fun!


Photo Credits: Electric Info
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Android Newbie's Guide To Buying An Android


Are you a n00b?

...An Android n00b, a.k.a Newbie, that is. If this is your first time to buy an Android, fear not. The decision-making process is pretty straightforward.

The dozens of Android models on the market may be intimidating for those who hate needing to compare and canvass for the best model to buy. That's why the iPhone is such a hit -- just one item on the list. The only decisions you need to worry about are whether you're getting the White iPhone or the Black iPhone, or if you're getting it in 16GB or 32GB.

With the Android, you'd have to decide which brand to refer to, which model to choose, what "flavor" Android you should get, among other crazy mind-bending questions to answer.

That being said, we created a simple process for you to filter out your Android choices:

1. Look at the tech specs before anything.

While 256MB RAM/512MB ROM/600MHz Qualcomm CPU is pretty decent and standard for an Android, higher specs will always be better, when it comes to gadgets. You'll come face to face with this truth when you're a rabid gamer and you acutely feel the micro lags during a furious session of Angry Birds or Pumpkins vs. Monsters.

Thus, first determine the tech specs that would make you happy, then start looking at the models that have this benchmark. We believe that around 768MB RAM/1GB ROM/1GHz CPU would be a decent starting point. If price is no problem, you can start looking at the Super Droids that are coming our way.

As for Android "flavor," never choose anything released earlier than Froyo (Android 2.2). That way, you will be able to move your apps to your SD Card.

Here's a quick guide to the Android Flavors in the order by which they were released:

  1. Cupcake -- v.1.5
  2. Donut -- v.1.6    
  3. Eclair -- v.2.1
  4. Froyo -- v.2.2
  5. Gingerbread -- v.2.3.x
  6. Honeycomb -- 3.x.x 

2. Form factor counts.

If you have big, chunky fingers (sorry), forget about the thinner and sleeker models. They'll only make you want to hurl your unit across the room. When you're checking and testing units in cellphone kiosks, try the soft keypad in portrait form. If you can type a whole 160-character message without mistyping, then you're in soft keypad heaven.

If you've reconciled with the fact that you absolutely hate touchscreen phones, forget about the models that are fully touchscreen. Think about the sliders or the Blackberry-type QWERTY models instead.


3. Now you can think about the price.

If money is not a problem, then, as we mentioned, a Super Droid would be a better buy than one of the regular droids. But if price is a major factor, then filter our your picks with this point.

Here are the low-end to mid-range Droids available on the market:



Here is the spreadsheet version of the list:



With this list, we've gotten you started on the low to mid-end Android phones with the best value for money. As you can see, Samsung has opted to keep its phone models with lower internal memory, possibly to keep price points lower. Since all of their models are on Froyo anyway, users can keep their apps in their SD Cards.

Judging from the specs, we believe that the HTC Wildfire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, Sony Xperia Mini Pro, and the Cherry Mobile Magnum offer the most bang for the buck. Also, we recommend the Cherry Mobile Magnum because of its screen size: texting in portrait orientation will be a lot easier because of its screen real estate. And if you're all for dual SIM phones, the Cherry Mobile Orbit is not a bad choice, either. But if the phone's camera quality is also a consideration, Sony Ericsson is known for having the best cameras on cellphones. The Smart Netphone could also be a great buy, if you consider the SmartNet perks. SmartNet services are free until December 31, 2011. So remember, specs first, form factor second, then let the axe fall with the price. And if you care about the brand, factor that in, as well. But the bottom line really is, after you try everything that catches your fancy, it's all about the total package.


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***We didn't include Android players like LG and Acer because of the dismal specs for their products. Neither did we include the Motorola line because they're not readily available in Philippine malls, but are available via online sellers.


Photos, specs and prices are available on the links provided. Go ahead, click on!



Photo Credits: Quantrimang
Affordable Androids
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Smart Communications Makes New Waves With The Smart Netphone



Smart Communications is undoubtedly the Philippines' biggest mobile network, with a subscriber base of at least 45 Million, as reported in June 2010. This 2011 saw Smart Communications make very aggressive moves, with the launch of Smart's 4G service via LTE in Boracay this summer 2011, the newsmaking purchase of the majority shares of Sun Cellular, and now, a heavy drive of venturing into the Android scene.

Close on the heels of summer 2011's major moves by Smart Communications, Smart drove heavily into the emerging Android smartphone wave by launching a particularly seductive postpaid line of HTC phones. And now, Smart Communications is making new waves with its own Android, the Smart Netphone.

Smart Communications is not new to the smartphone scene. It is not even new to launching its own smartphone model. Remember the Smart Amazing phone? It was one of the more affordable smartphones to hit the market. Smart made an attempt to make the smartphone readily available to consumers, and the Smart Amazing phone was their answer.

As they say, history repeats itself. Tomorrow's market launch of the Netphone is not a case of "history repeats itself," however. In our opinion, it is more about "Find out what works. Rinse. Repeat."

They say that the key to success is bumping into something that works or brings in results, and then repeating the formula until the results dwindle. With the Netphone, this seems to be seeing that the Android pie is selling like hotcakes at the moment, and wanting a slice of that pie. If it clicks, if it works, we bet Smart Communications will, indeed, "Rinse and Repeat."

Indeed, who wouldn't want a piece of the Android action? At 550,000 Android activations a day, that number alone spells a phenomenal profit. That number says that there's room for quite a few players. And if that isn't impressive enough, we're not sure what is.

The thing is, how do you seduce a brand-conscious Philippine consumer base? Filipinos have been known to have a preference for Nokia. But when Cherry Mobile, Torque and China phones entered the market on the low end, and the iPhone, the Blackberry and the Android posse made a scene on the high end, brand no longer remained relevant. Today, the Filipino cellphone-buying public is more concerned about durability and the gadget's specs. If the Netphone proves to be better than the Cherry Mobile Androids, it may be a viable midrange option for the Android aficionados.

For more information on specs, first impressions and unboxing, please visit these websites:


Here's the Netphone's Official Website:


Smart officially unveils the Netphone to the buying public tomorrow morning.



Photo Credits: Smart Netphone Official Website
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Can Too Many Androids Spoil Its Own Growth?


Image by eHow Money

In the world of tech, simplicity is key.

Steve Jobs apparently got it right when he figured THAT out. If you notice, from the iPad to the iPhone, and even to the Mac, an Apple product is meant to be operated by anyone from age 5 to 85.

It's not only the simplicity of navigation that Steve Jobs capitalized on. Apparently, he also realized that if a consumer were left with very few choices, it's easier to make a quick purchase.

That seems to be the reason why there is only one iPad and only one iPhone.

Apple can certainly make, say, an iPhone S, iPhone T, iPhone U, iPhone V, just like Samsung does with its Galaxy line. Samsung Galaxy isn't just one phone. There's Galaxy S, Galaxy Pro, and other mind-bending variants of the line.

This, then, is one concern that Android pundits are chewing on, at the moment. Some are saying that there are too many Android phones to choose from; this implies that with too many handsets being churned out by the different companies, there may be a lack of quality control for the platform, as well as too many incompatibilities between devices.

Another concern is that there are too many Android flavors out in the wild by now. And since it's open-source, anyone who can download the OS can very well modify and "fork" it as they please. Yet another problem of diversity is the issue of updating the OS. According to ZDNet, it seems that "Too many cooks [spoil the broth]."

Android is working towards putting standards on the devices that may carry the platform. However, with the new developments in the Android arena, from Amazon Kindle going into producing Android-based tablets, to Baidu planning on taking Android and modifying it to a point where it's no longer recognizable as Android, among other developments, cohesion for the Android seems to be a wish that may never be fulfilled.

Meanwhile, let's comfort ourselves that a new Android Market will be released soon.
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Android Industry News: Google Buys Motorola

 Image by TechEBlog

Last week was a phenomenal moment for Google, Motorola, and the Android: Google acquired 63% of Motorola shares for USD $12.5 Billion, effectively owning the company.

This certainly must be a well-thought-out move for Google, but one wonders what the different circles of people affected by the merger think:


So what does this mean for us consumers?

  • We will now have an Android product choice that is "Officially Google, Officially Android" in standard.
  • Motorola as a consumer choice will be expected to be at the forefront of Android innovations.
  • The Android OS we so love will be housed in machines that an 80-year-old mobile device manufacturer will produce.

Motorola as a mobile device company has created devices that have been used in the forefront of military battles. Their technology was the cream of the cellular phone industry's crop, until they hit obscurity prior to Android.

Maybe it was because their designs failed to catch on with the trends. Maybe it was because Motorola failed to find a way to keep afloat despite the onslaught of the Blackberry and the iPhone. Maybe because it was starting to lose its innovative edge.

But Motorola showed that it still had an eye for what could potentially save the company: they were among the first to jump onto the Android bandwagon. In the past, Andy Rubin also helped bring to life another innovative mobile platform: the "Magic Cap." The Magic Cap was developed in General Magic, a side company of Apple, in the early to mid 90's. Sadly, Rubin's innovation wasn't given the time of day by mobile companies back then. It was just buried into the archives of Apple's failure-to-launch casualties. When Andy Rubin launched the Android after being acquired by Google, Motorola was among the first to see its potential as an OS. Thus, the positive, even friendly business relations between Google and Motorola began.

Call it a favor for a favor, call it a shrewd act of goodwill and business sense combined, but one thing is sure: the Google-Motorola merger has been drafted, inked and announced, and will be completed end of 2011 or early 2012. Good things are coming to the Android industry.



 
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Note: This merger does not mean that the Android will now become a closed system like the iPhone or the Windows Phone OS. It will still remain free, Open Source and highly modifiable by the mobile companies and Android Partners who choose to implement it.
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