Sony announces the Xperia SP, comes with HD screen, LTE, and Jelly Bean

A few days ago, Sony Mobile announced the Sony Xperia SP, which seems to be an upper mid-range smartphone with a not-so-high price point.

Design-wise, the Sony Xperia SP has quite the same premium looks as its bigger brothers, the Xperia Z and ZL. It’s made of precision-crafted aluminum, and boasts of the translucent bar (first seen on the Xperia S) at the bottom which can emit different colors for different notifications.

The Xperia SP sports a 4.6-inch LCD display with HD 720p resolution, a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8 Megapixels camera with Sony’s Exmor RS sensor, 8GB of storage, and packs LTE connectivity. It will run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Sony Xperia SP Specifications and Features
4.6-inch HD TFT LCD display with 1280x720 resolution at 319 ppi
1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro dual-core processor
Adreno 320 GPU
1GB RAM
8 Megapixels Exmor RS autofocus camera with LED flash
VGA front-facing camera
Full 1080p HD video capture at 30fps
8GB mass memory, expandable by 32GB using microSD card slot
GSM / HSPA+ / LTE
Bluetooth 4.0
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
NFC
Gyroscope
Compass
Accelerometer
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS

The Sony Xperia SP will hit global markets this coming Q2 and will have a price of around 399 Euro or more or less P21,000.

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Cherry Mobile lets out the Omega HD 5-inch smartphone for P7,999

Cherry Mobile has just launched their newest and greatest smartphone yet, the Cherry Mobile Omega HD.

The Cherry Mobile Omega HD, as you may have already guess by its name, packs a 720p HD IPS screen spread on a 5-inch Dragontrail glass panel. It runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor backed by 1GB of RAM. A 4GB internal memory comes with it, which can be expanded by 32GB using microSD.

Furthermore, the Omega HD boasts of a 12 Megapixels camera with LED flash and backside-illuminated sensor, which should help in poor light conditions. On the other side, there’s a 2 Megapixels front-facing camera. Connectivity-wise, it has the usual stuffs — dual-SIM, Wi-Fi, 3G, and Bluetooth. A 2,100mAh battery should help you last a day with the phone, hopefully.

Cherry Mobile Omega HD Specifications and Features
5-inch IPS screen with 1280x720 HD resolution, Dragontail Glass
1GHz dual-core processor
1GB RAM
4GB internal storage, up to 32GB microSD card slot
12 Megapixels camera with LED flash
2 Megapixels front-facing camera
2,100mAh battery
Dual-SIM
Wi-Fi b/g/n
Bluetooth
GPS
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS

The Cherry Mobile Omega HD is priced at P7,999 and will be available in April.

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Samsung officially announces the Galaxy S4

Earlier this morning, Samsung has finally taken the wraps off its latest flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S 4. As what we’ve already seen on the leaked photos, the Galaxy S 4 is pretty much the same as the Galaxy S III when it comes to design standpoint. There’s the familiar curvy corners and the textured coating.

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Sun Cellular offers the BlackBerry Z10 at Plan 1,799, coming March 19

Sun Cellular has officially acknowledged that they will be having the BlackBerry Z10 too, and it looks like they have some nice deals up their sleeve.

The BlackBerry Z10 will be offered at Plan 1,799 without any cash-outs at all. It will include unlimited calls and texts to Sun, unlimited data, unlimited local landline calls, 250 texts to other networks, and 60 international minutes to 10 countries.

That doesn’t sound bad at all. You can now order your Z10 from Sun although it will be only released on March 19.

The BlackBerry Z10 was officially announced last March 6. The company stated that the device will be available on the country’s three carriers, including Sun Cellular, Smart, and Globe.

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Nokia unveils a dust-and-water-resistant shell for the Lumia 620

Nokia just announced a new shell for the Lumia 620 with IP54 certification, providing the device a protection from dust and water splashes.

As opposed to most rugged cases available on the market, the CC-3061 makes use of the removable back cover on the Lumia 620. As such, it easily clips on to the device without making it bulkier. Harri Vuolle, Lumia Product Manager at Nokia, explained that the shell has better sealing protection between the gaps on the camera window, the shell itself, and the display. The opening on the loudspeaker is also denser to prevent the water and dust from penetrating easily.

Nokia says the new accessory will hit selected markets at the end of March and will have a suggested retail price of €25 or about P1,300.

You can read more about the accessory here.

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Samsung teases the Galaxy S 4, also caught leaked in a video and photos

Yesterday, Samsung posted and teased on its social media accounts an image of what could be the much-awaited Galaxy S 4. There’s little to be seen on the image although it shows that the next flagship Galaxy smartphone could have the same design as the Galaxy S III.

A day before Samsung posted the images, a couple of images showing the dual-SIM version of the yet-to-be-announced smartphone surfaced online. The images show a device bearing the same design as the Galaxy S III, and again, the one on the teaser Samsung posted the day after.

The alleged device appears to be slightly taller than the Galaxy S III and is expected to have a 5-inch screen with 1080p resolution and thinner bezels around. It looks like Samsung has stayed with the tradition of including a physical home button sandwiched between the menu and back capacitive buttons.

The device (at least the dual-SIM version) appears to have a somewhat thicker chrome (or faux-chrome) side than expected. Besides that, there’s the hyper glazed removable plastic covering on the back along with the repositioned LED flash, which can now be seen below the camera.

Aside from those images, a video uploaded at YouTube also shows yet the same device. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 is expected to pack a 5-inch 1080p screen, Android 4.2.1, the Exynos 5410 processor, 2GB of RAM, a PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU, and a 2,600mAh battery.

Ultimately, the possibility that these photos and video are only a decoy by Samsung is still there.

Sources: Samsung, 52 Samsung, Istevencom
Via: The Verge (2)

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The ASUS Transformer AiO is a Windows 8 and Android Jelly Bean tablet and desktop in one

Color me surprised, but ASUS recently pulled the curtains and revealed their newest product, the ASUS Transformer AiO.

The ASUS Transformer AiO is essentially a Windows 8 desktop and an Android Jelly Bean tablet in one with a humongous 18.4-inch display that is detachable. You read that right, a Windows 8 and Android combo machine. They managed to build this thing by putting the desktop components in a stand which serves as a dock for the display.

The stand houses the hardware for the desktop such as the 3rd-generation Intel Core i3 processor, a 4GB RAM, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M graphics, and the 1TB hard drive. The huge removable display on the other hand has the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and a separate 32GB storage that you can use on it’s own.

ASUS says you can use Android even when the display is docked at a flip of a switch so you can use the supplied keyboard. Likewise, you can access the tablet-slash-display’s files when you’re on Windows 8. There’s an app for if you’re feeling lazy and want to rest back on the sofa and want to use Windows.

This is like inception.

ASUS Transformer AiO Specifications and Features
PC Dock
3rd-generation Intel Core i3-3220 processor (3.30GHz)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M
4GB DDR3 memory
1TB SATA hard drive
Super MultiDVD
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n dual-band
Gigabit Ethernet
4 USB 3.0 and 1 USB 2.0 slots
3-in-1 memory card slot
Bluetooth 4.0
Windows 8 OS
Tablet
18.4-inch IPS LED display with 1920x1080 resolution
NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor
2GB RAM
32GB internal storage
1 Megapixel front-facing camera
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n dual-band
miniUSB 2.0
microSD card slot
Bluetooth 3.0
38W Li-Ion battery

The ASUS Transformer AiO will be available by the end of March with an SRP of P59,995.

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Globe offers the BlackBerry Z10 with LTE at Plan 1,799

Globe has announced that they will be offering the BlackBerry Z10 with their postpaid plans.

The Z10 will be available for free at Plan 1,799 under a 30-month contract or with a P4,800 cash-out if you want to sign-up for the normal 24-month contract. You can also get it for free at Plan 2,499 and up or with a P13,100 cash-out at Plan 999.

Globe’s Plan 999 includes unlimited data and 1 free add-on, while their Plan 1,799 includes an P800 consumable amount in addition to the unlimited data and 3 free add-ons. Globe says the Z10 will support their LTE network.

You can apply for the Z10 on Globe on their pre-order page here.

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Smart adds the BlackBerry Z10 on it’s postpaid lineup, available on Unlimited Data Plan 2000

As previously announced by BlackBerry, Smart will be among the three carriers that will bring the BlackBerry Z10 in the country.

Smart has already announced that the Z10 will be offered for free for the first 200 customers at Unlimited Data Plan 2,000. The cash-out fee has not been revealed as of yet. There’s also no indications whether the Z10 on Smart will sport LTE.

The Unlimited Data Plan 2,000 includes 200 SMS & 150 minutes of calls to all networks and of course, unlimited data.

We’ll update this post once we receive more information.

Check out Smart’s landing page for the BlackBerry Z10 here.

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BlackBerry Z10 arrives in the Philippines for P29,990

BlackBerry Philippines announced on March 6 the local availability of the Z10 in the country. It features a 1.5GHz dual core processor with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and a microSD card slot that supports up to 32GB of additional storage.

The BlackBerry Z10 will have an SRP of P29,990 and will come in black and white colors. You can reserve yours now by going to buybb10.com.

BlackBerry Z10 Specifications and Features
4.2-inch LCD display with 1280x768 resolution at 356ppi
1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor
8 Megapixels autofocus camera
Full 1080p HD video capture at 30fps
2 Megapixels front-facing camera
16GB internal memory, expandable by 32GB using microSD
2GB RAM
1,800mAh battery capacity
GSM - 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G/HSPA+ - 850/900/2100 MHz
LTE - 800/900/1800/2600 MHz
Gyroscope
Compass
Accelerometer
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
BlackBerry 10 OS

The BlackBerry Z10 will be available in the Philippines starting March 19. The country’s three carriers — Smart, Globe, and Sun, will also carry the new device on their postpaid plans.

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Globe introduces own community forum

Globe Telecom earlier today announced the launch of their new online forum called Globe Community, wherein users and employees alike can post and share their own questions or tips & tricks about their various products and services.

Globe and non-Globe customers can use the forum to inquire about anything related to Globe; be it about postpaid, prepaid, broadband, their mobiles apps, their network, or even device specific inquiries. You will only need to register by e-mail or by using your Facebook account to start asking or answering questions.

The company says they want the community to grow organically by letting users interact with other users, although Globe specialists will be still on-hand on the community in case something goes awry or a special attention is required.

The Globe Community is now open to everyone and you can access it by going to community.globe.com.ph.

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Instagram coming to Windows Phone 8?

Rumors broke out a few days ago suggesting that Instagram might really launch on Windows Phone. It started when the Instagram icon was spotted plastered on the screen on a carrier promotion banner at Portugal. The icon could just be erroneously Photoshopped on the render, as with many other cases.

But today, another news surfaced from Chinese website WPDang, which has been somewhat accurate in the past, which claims that they have been tipped by an anonymous source that says Instagram for Windows Phone is currently under development and is indeed ‘landing shortly’. Perhaps to spice it up, there will be an extra filter than the iOS and Android versions that will be exclusive to the Windows Phone version.

Lastly, the site further says that Instagram will be initially exclusive to Nokia Lumia devices and will be only available to Windows Phone 8.

Sources: WPCentral, WPDang

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That Samsung Galaxy S IV image circulating on the Internet is fake

You may have seen an article or two about an alleged leaked photo of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S IV today. The so-called ‘leaked photos’ comes from the ever infamous Twitter user @evleaks, which has been accurate most of the time before.

But before you judge the photo and say anything, good or bad, about the device, I just want to let you know that those images are fake. Twitter user Stefan Constantine asked Expansys, an online electronics retailer, about the image. And truth be told, the company said that the images were just a render made by their web designers and that @evleaks stole and added a watermark on it.

If you are interested, check out Expansys’ placeholder webpage for the Galaxy S IV. The webpage states that the info and images are “not official and is subject to change after the official release of the device.”

@whatthebitour webdesigner made them !!! Evleaks stole them and added his logo :S

— eXpansysFR (@eXpansysFR) March 5, 2013

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Asphalt 7: Heat debuts on Windows Phone

Gameloft announced that the Asphalt 7: Heat is the newest title from the company that will hit Windows Phone. The game offers over 60 different car models to race with, like Lamborghini and Aston Martin, on 15 tracks based in real cities such as Paris, London, among others. What’s more is that it is the first game on Windows Phone to take advantage of real-time multiplayer experience using Xbox that promises to connect gamers worldwide.

Asphalt 7: Heat is now available at the Windows Phone Store for $0.99. The game compatible with the Nokia Lumia 920, 820, 822, HTC 8X, and Samsung Ativ Odyssey. The game will be also made available for the Lumia 620, 720, 520, HTC 8S, and Huawei Ascend W1 subsequently. Strangely enough, an unannounced Nokia Lumia 928 was mentioned as one of the compatible devices.

The company also announced more titles due to launch within the coming weeks.

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Review: HTC Butterfly

HTC’s last hooray in 2012, the HTC Butterfly, gives us a peek of what’s to come this 2013 — flagship phones with big screens with pixel-packed 1080p full HD resolution. I was a little bit skeptical at first, do we really need 1080p smartphones? Join me as I find out in this review.

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BlackBerry pushes first BB10 update, brings battery, camera, and performance improvements

BlackBerry 10 has been only out for a month or so, and the company has already worked towards improving the overall experience by issuing the first ever update for the Z10.

The update, which bumps the software version to 10.0.10.85, includes several improvements like better 3rd-party apps performance. It also fixes Gmail calendars, the handling of call logs and text conversations on the BlackBerry Hub, as well as importation of contacts from online accounts like Exchange, Google, and other sources.

You’ll also see optimized performance of the camera in low-light conditions. They also changed the way how the browser handles video playback, and finally, the inclusion of over 60 battery saving improvements which should result in longer usage times per charge.

The first over-the-air (OTA) update for the BlackBerry 10 weighs around 150Mb and you can install it by going to Settings > Software Updates > Check for Updates and then by following the instructions.

You can check out more details at the company blog.

UPDATE: Some users report they aren’t seeing the new update yet and are being shown a message that 10.0.10.58 is still the latest version. If that’s the case, you might have to hold a little patience. Thanks @artsamaniego!

Source: BlackBerry

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