The Amazing Spider-Man Game by Gameloft Now Out On iOS and Android

Gameloft has released the official The Amazing Spider-Man movie game for iOS and Android.

On the game you play through the movie story-line as Spidey the Spider-Man as he web-sling, crawl, and fight against the lizard and gangs around New York City in 3D. The game offers 25 intense missions and revolves around the city’s 5 districts.

Game Description

Get ready for intense web-slinging action with the Amazing Spider-Man! Join Spidey in the official game app of this highly anticipated 2012 blockbuster! Play through the movie storyline as Spider-Man faces off against the Lizard and rampaging gangs. Web-sling and crawl your way through an open, fully 3D New York while using your amazing skills to save the city.

THE OFFICIAL GAME OF 2012’s HIGHLY AWAITED SUPERHERO BLOCKBUSTER
• Fight the Lizard and his minions to put a stop to his dark schemes.
• Play the Amazing Spider-Man through more than 25 immersive missions inspired by the upcoming movie's storyline.
• Climb, jump and web-sling from building to building for an aerial thrill like never before!

FREE NEW YORK CITY
• Explore the city through its five distinctive districts (Central Park, Business, Downtown, Pier and Residential)
• An exciting and enjoyable fighting system with melee, ranged, combo attacks and much more
• A wide selection of upgrades to customize your style, attacks and skills

A HIGH PRODUCTION-VALUE GAME
• Explore an open-world Manhattan, teeming with action. Discover random missions, collectibles and more secrets in the City that Never Sleeps!
• Fight in a fully 3D New York City with cutting-edge graphics.
• Advanced shaders and visual effects make Spider-Man more realistic than ever before!

The game is now available for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the App Store and for Android devices on the Google Play Store for $6.99. The game requires a hefty 694 Mb download for the iOS version and 595 Mb for Android. It is compatible with the iPhone 4, 4S, iPad 2, iPad 3rd generation, and iPod touch 4th generation.

 

 

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Google Chrome for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad now available on the App Store

Finally, the most used and popular desktop browser, Google Chrome, has made its way to the Apple’s iOS devices.

Earlier this morning, Google announced that it will release Google Chrome for iOS. And just hours after the announcement, the browser is now available for download at the App Store and we just had our hands-on with the browser.

Google Chrome for iOS is a universal app which means it will work on the iPad, too. It has a nice start screen which displays your most visited websites as well as the recently closed tabs similar to the desktop versions. You can sign-in with your Google account so you can have your browser data synced across your devices and computers. There’s incognito mode, request desktop site, and of course bookmarks. The tabs page can be accessed by tapping on the square box icon on the right. You can see your active tabs there as well as snapshots of those tabs. Swiping tabs away well, closes them.

Check out our photos of Google Chrome for iOS below.

  

  

  

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Google Nexus 7 7-inch Tablet for $199 Announced

So Google has finally announced their very first own Nexus-branded tablet, the Nexus 7.

The Google Nexus 7 is made in collaboration with Asus. It is a 7-inch tablet which runs on the new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean which features a lot of changes such as the Project Butter which makes everything running buttery smooth. It runs on NVidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor with a 12-core GPU.

What really puzzles me is why on earth does the UI layout look like a phone and not the tablet-optimized UI found on the other Android tablets. It makes it look like a giant Samsung Galaxy Note, no pun intended.

Google Nexus 7 Specifications and Features
7-inch backlit IPS screen with HD 1280x800 resolution @ 216ppi
Scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass
NVidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor
12-core GPU
8 / 16 GB internal storage
1 GB of RAM
Microphone
NFC (Android Beam)
Accelerometer
GPS
Magnetometer
Gyroscope
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
4325 mAh battery capacity, up to 8 hours of use
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS

What makes the Nexus 7 a compelling tablet is it’s extremely low price point – just $199 for the 8 GB variant and $249 for the 16 GB one. It is slated for a mid-July release. Availability here in the Philippines is not yet announced though there will be grey market retailers that will surely bring the Nexus 7 here.

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iTunes Store Opens in the Philippines and Eleven Other Countries

There are reports going on right now that Apple will have a launch event this day at Hong Kong where they will announce the expansion of it’s iTunes Store to seven Asian countries. And, here’s a good news – iTunes Store is already apparently live here in the Philippines as well as the other countries stated hours before the announcement!

Opening iTunes on your computer and clicking on the iTunes Store tab on the left will take you to the updated homepage which shows Music titles. With the opening of the iTunes Store in the Philippines, users can now purchase music, movies, and books and even rent movies.

Another good news is that the price matrix for the titles here in the country seems to be lower than that of in the US iTunes Store. For example, Maroon 5’s Walk the Moon album costs $6.99 in the US store, while in the PH iTunes Store it will only cost you $4.99. That also translates to lower price per song title, which is at $0.69 a pop in the PH store while it’s $1.29 in the US store. Movie titles have the same price matrix though with titles having a standard $14.99 price tag.

The opening of the iTunes Store in the country means that people who want to buy music, movies, or other contents previously not available in the PH iTunes Store can now do so without signing up for a US iTunes account. The countries included in the opening are the following: Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. We are just waiting for Apple’s press release which should be available later today for more details.

UPPDATE: Well it seems Apple has even added a dedicated OPM (Original Pilipino Music) section on the iTunes Store. Singles costs $0.99 each. Check it out.

UPDATE 2: Apple has already posted a press release and they are actually opening the iTunes Store to a total of 12 countries today including the Philippines.

UPDATE 3: iTunes Match is also present in today’s opening. Subscriptions cost $24.99 per year.

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Winners of Sun Cellular-Mister Jonjon Giveaway

Our giveaway of Sun Cellular items has already ended yesterday and we’ve already picked the winners! The winners are…

Jaff Grabriel - Sun Broadband Wireless E153 Stick + Sun Prepaid SIM
John Cabredo - Sun Power Text Unlimited 200 Call Card
Leo Rances Garcia - Sun Broadband 100 3 Days Unlimited Internet Card
Jhay Ramones - Sun Cellular Call & Text Unlimited 100 Card

Congratulations! Please wait for our e-mail later today for the prize details.

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Smart’s Piso Sale is back with the iPhone 4, HTC Mozart, Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 and more!

Remember Smart’s Piso Sale that happened back in March where they offered a couple of phones for just a single peso? Well it’s back and Smart is feeling a bit generous and is throwing away a few high-end devices for just P1 too!

The Smart Piso Sale, which started yesterday, gives you the opportunity to grab a device for only P1! Among the devices that are included in the sale is Apple’s iPhone 4, which you can get for a price of a piece of candy under the All-In Plan 1800. That’s the best deal for an iPhone that you can get right now from any carrier here. Along with the iPhone 4, you can choose from the business-centric Nokia E7 or the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1.

If you’re on a tight budget or just prefer a lower plan, you can choose from the iPhone 3GS or the Nokia E5 which is available at All-In Plan 1200. For the Plan 800, there’s the Samsung N150 netbook and the Nokia N9 in 16 and 64 GB variant, though if you’ll choose the N9, going with the 64 GB one is a logical choice of course. For the lowest All-In Plan 500, the choices are the Nokia E72 which is a great QWERTY phone, the Samsung Wave II S8530 equipped with Bada OS, and the HTC 7 Mozart which is running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango.

There are also phones that are available with Smart’s Unli Plan 599 which comes with unlimited calls and texts to the Smart network too – the Netphone 501, Nokia C2-03, and the Sony Ericsson Cedar J108. All of those phones is only P1 with their respective plans.

So if you’re looking to get a smartphone or even just a phone, this is just the best and only time to do it! Who knows if Smart will do a Piso Sale again or not in the future?

Visit Smart’s Piso Sale website or call their hotline 848-8877 or *887 using your Smart mobile phone.

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Microsoft previews the Windows Phone 8

Microsoft has lifted the curtain and has previewed the next iteration of Windows Phone at the Windows Phone Summit earlier today. They unveiled new platform features that are for developers as well as some end-user features. I’ll tell you more about the end-user features as that’s what matters here.

When Microsoft introduced Windows Phone 7 in 2010, the OS was only limited to supporting single-core devices and since then, the mobile technology has changed so fast. We’ve already seen dual-core and even quad-core smartphones in the last 12 months. It is worth taking note that Windows Phone runs buttery smooth on a single-core processor. But as you know, most if not all people look at the specs and numbers. Finally, Microsoft is bringing multiple core support on Windows Phone 8. What does that mean for the end-users? It means a more fluid, faster, and snappier Windows Phone experience.

Next, the screen. Windows Phone will be supporting HD screens from now on and there will be two new screen resolutions that will be supported – 1280x768 and 1280x720. That means devices with a sharper pixel density and more crystal clear screens for you.

Windows Phone 7 supports microSD cards, but they once it’s in, it becomes a part of the entire system. You can’t just remove and swap memory cards easily. With Windows Phone 8, that has changed. It will now support removable storage which is definitely more flexible. That means you can now easily transfer contents from your phone to your PC.

Windows Phone 8 will come with NFC support. You can now easily share contacts, Office documents, photos, and even use it on apps or games! Microsoft showed a demo where NFC is used to pair two devices to play a board game – one running Windows Phone and the other on Windows 8. How cool is that?

Windows 8 will come with Internet Explorer 10. As such, Windows Phone 8 will come with it too, and it is faster than ever. It uses the same web browser engine used on Windows 8 and includes new security features such as anti-phishing and SmartScreen Filter. Microsoft showed a SunSpider test comparison between Windows Phone 8, the Samsung Galaxy S III, the HTC One S, and the iPhone 4S. Just look at how fast it is.

Microsoft also revealed a new hub, the Wallet hub. It is a place where you can store all of your credit card info, coupons, boarding passes and more. Basically, it’s like Apple’s Passbook app for iOS.

Nokia’s mapping technology will also be integrated across the system on Windows Phone 8. It will bring turn-by-turn directions, offline mapping, and local listings for all Windows Phone devices, even a Samsung.

Native code support is finally here! That means easier development on the developers’ end and even more apps and games for the consumers! Among the upcoming titles are N.O.V.A. 3, Asphalt 7, Draw Something, Words With Friends, and more. I think I saw HALO too, for the hardcore gamers out there.

A new redefined Start screen is also present on Windows Phone 8. You can now resize and fill your whole Start screen with live tiles. And it is really more customizable and beautiful than before.

So that’s all? No. This is only a preview of what is coming on Windows Phone 8. Microsoft will announce more of it in the coming weeks and months. They have also confirmed that existing Windows Phone 7.5 devices will not be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 8, but they will provide a new 7.8 update to those devices which includes the new Start screen. But since this is just the new features that were announced, Microsoft can’t tell yet the other features that will be part of the 7.8 update.

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Microsoft Surface tablet unveiled

In a press briefing at L.A. earlier today, Microsoft finally ended all the rumors that were going on in the interwebs in the past weeks and days – they have finally announced their own hardware that will go with Windows 8, and they call it the Surface. Aptly. the Microsoft Surface.

It was a surprising move since Microsoft already have a bunch of OEM partners that are committed on producing Windows 8 machines. I hope Microsoft just didn’t made those OEMs’ mind change.

Moving to the Surface itself, Microsoft will be producing two variants of the tablet – the first one is the Surface for Windows RT, and the other one is the Surface for Windows 8 Pro. As obvious as it sounds, the former will be running on Windows 8 designed for ARM processors, such as the Nvidia Tegra 3+ which is suspected to be powering the device. The latter obviously runs on Intel processors which can handle legacy x86 PC applications that the former cannot.

The Microsoft Surface is built out of a vapor-deposited magnesium body, or what they call the VaporMg casing – that makes it tough and protects the internals of the device. Microsoft putted a 10.6-inch screen on the devices, Gorilla Glass 2.0 display for a touch and strong fronting to partner up the strong body. The former variant will have an HD resolution while the Intel-based version will have Full HD screen. A kickstand at the back is present for the lazy-movie-watching-in-couch times.

Microsoft will also offer accessories such as the Touch Cover and Type Cover. The Touch Cover is basically a cover a-la Smart Cover for the iPad but this one has a soft-press keyboard on it. The Type Cover on the other hand is for those who prefer tactile press feedback, the only difference is that it is a bit more thicker than the Touch Cover.

	Surface for Windows RT	Surface for Windows 8 Pro
Operating System	Windows 8 RT	Windows 8 pro
Screen	10.6-inch HD resolution	10.6-inch Full HD resolution
Processor	ARM Nvidia Tegra	3rd Gen. Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge
Storage	32 / 64 GB	64 / 128 GB
Thickness	9.3 mm	13.5 mm
Weight	676 g	903 g
Battery	31.5 W-h	42 W-h
Connectivity	microSD, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video, 2x2 MIMO antennae	microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort Video, 2x2 MIMO antennae
Accessories	Touch Cover, Type Cover	Touch Cover and/or Type Cover, Digital Pen
Price	~$400-$500	~$600-$700

Microsoft has not yet announced on when will the new Surface tablets will ship and for how much. I’m guessing it will mostly likely appear on store shelves sometime this Holiday season.

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Smart WiFi Plug-It Initial Tests

Smart recently released the newest addition to their wireless broadband lineup – the Smart WiFi Plug-It, and we’re taking it for a spin. Check out our initial tests below.

Smart used the Huawei E355 mobile wi-fi device for the WiFi Plug-It. It is not just your ordinary broadband stick – this device can also act as a wi-fi hotspot which can accommodate up to 5 devices. Check out the specs below.

Smart WiFi Plug-It (Huawei E355) Specifications and Features
WLAN: IEEE 802.11b/g/n
HSPA+/HSPA/UMTS
EDGE/GPRS/GSM
HSPA+ data service of up to 21.6 Mbps*
HSUPA data service of up to 5.76 Mbps*
microSD Card Slot (up to 32GB)
Equalizer and receive diversity
Data and SMS Service
*Depending on the state of network and environment

This is almost similar to Smart’s Rocket WiFi but this is just not powered by a battery – you will always have to find and connect it to a USB power source. It is also an advantage to battery powered device though, as you can just bring this for very long road trips instead of the battery powered ones.

The Smart WiFi Plug-It can have a maximum of 21.6 Mbps speeds when connected to an HSPA+ network, but Smart listed it’s just up to 7.2 Mbps. Perhaps they are trying to not to disappoint their customers by listing a very high maximum speeds when all they can get is mostly lower than that. Anyway, check out our initial speed tests below.

The test was conducted at around 1:15 AM when most users are probably downloading torrents *ahem* while their computers are left turned on. The average download speed is around 1.81 Mbps while the uploads are fast at an average 1.02 Mbps compared to the average 0.54 Mbps on our PLDT DSL connection. I will do more speed tests in our area and hopefully I’ll have time to go around the Metro too.

Stay tuned for our review coming up next week.

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Nokia 808 PureView Now Ready to Capture the Beauty of the Philippines

I just got home from my visit at the Nokia Philippines Office earlier to get a hands-on with the Nokia 808 PureView. I was also told that yes… it is now available at Nokia Stores.

As you know, the 808 PureView is Nokia’s imaging flagship for this year and is the successor to the Nokia N8. It has a massive 41 Megapixels camera sensor with Carl Zeiss optics. The specialty of the Nokia 808 PureView is that it has the ability to take 5 or 8 megapixel photos with lossless zoom. The device do this by oversampling the 41 megapixel image into a 5 or 8 megapixel photo. If you want you can even take photos ar 34 megapixels for 16:9 aspect ration or 38 megapixels for 4:3. Nokia has also upped the camera software and user interface and the feature I liked the most is the continuous auto-focus and touch-focus system.

The 808 PureView is still running on Symbian (Nokia Belle Feature Pack 1) and my initial impressions with the updated OS is, sorry… meh. I don’t know, after using Windows Phone I really don’t want to go back to Symbian anymore. Not much has changed from Nokia Belle to the FP1 version. What I noticed is they just added a couple of new widgets, some nicer transitions, and my biggest rant is the keyboard is still the same. But don’t hate on me because I understand the reasons for it, the 808 PureView was 5 years in the making - that’s why. Enough rants, check out our sample photos on this Flickr set. The photos turned out well but I had some focusing problems since the unit that I played was running on a pre-release firmware.

Now let’s move on to the device itself. The 808 PureView is pretty fat. It’s not that GALAXY S3-ish huge but it is really fat. There’s the 3 classic buttons on the front – call, menu, and end button. The screen is a 4-inch one with a somewhat disappointing 640x360 resolution which translates to 183.58 ppi.

Now on the back there’s the you know… the monstrous 41 Megapixels camera which really protrudes out from the body. There’s the large xenon flash beside it, and the bottom there’s a Nokia logo and a matte-like strip. The back cover is removable and it’s really thick and will not break easily. The NFC sensor is sticked on the cover. The cover really feels nice, it has the same polycarbonate build with ceramic-like finish – same as on that of HTC One X.

Enjoy these photos as well as some side-by-side shots with the Samsung GALAXY S III, Nokia Lumia 900, and Nokia Lumia 800.

Nokia 808 PureView Features and Specifications
41 megapixel camera sensor with Nokia Pureview Pro imaging technology and Carl Zeiss optics
f2.4 aperture
1.3 GHz single-core processor
512 MB RAM
4-inch AMOLED ClearBlack screen with 640x360 (nHD) resolution
Full HD 1080p video recording @ 30fps
Symbian Belle Feature Pack 1
1400 mAh battery capacity
Gorilla Glass
16 GB internal memory
HDMI
DLNA
USB on-the-go
NFC
FM transmitter

Will I get one? Yes, if it was on Windows Phone. I’ll pass for now. Nokia N8 users might upgrade to the 808 PureView or those who just want an awesome camera plus a phone in one. But for the sake of you my readers, I’ll try to review the Nokia 808 PureView. And if you’re really excited to get this, rush to your nearest Nokia Store now. Snag one for to the tune of P26,550. It will come in black, red, or white.

Oh by the way, here’s what’s included in the retail package:
Nokia 808 PureView
Nokia Battery BL-4D
Nokia Stereo Headset WH-209
Nokia Data Cable CA-190CD
Nokia Charger AC-50
Nokia Wrist Strap Black
Fold-Out Quick Guide
NFC info card

Additionally, you can buy these accessories which I believe will be also made available too.
Nokia Hard Cover CC-3046
Nokia Tripod Mount HH-23
Nokia Micro HDMI Cable CA-198
Nokia Portable Charger DC-16

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