Talks about a Facebook phone has been in the rumor mills for quite some time now. Today, Facebook has finally ended all the speculations by announcing the long awaited Facebook phone (well, sort of) at an event on its headquarters in California.

However, the Facebook phone that was unveiled in the event wasn’t exactly the phone that everyone was expecting. Why? Because unlike what the rumors suggested, the phone that was presented to the world today wasn’t built by Facebook. The phone is made by HTC and runs a heavily customized version of Android – the “Facebook Home”.

Moreover, contrary to previous reports, Facebook Home is not just a home replacement app but rather a collection of apps that modify a huge part of the Android UI that will supposedly enable users to focus on their friends rather than on apps. Through the app, Facebook plans to bring in more content to users and put social networking at the front and at the center of the mobile phone experience. And this ideology is most evident in the two core apps that comprise Facebook Home – Coverfeed and Chat Heads.

Coverfeed is basically a glorified version of your Facebook newsfeed presented in edge-to-edge photos in the phone’s home screen. It displays images and status updates from a user’s friends. A user can swipe left and right to view other updates from his/her friends, double-tap on the home screen to like the update or view comments and likes by tapping the area located at the bottom of the home screen.

Chat Heads on the other hand is an improved version of the Facebook Messenger app that sits above the entire UI of the phone, allowing users to gain access to the phone’s messaging app anywhere in the phone. Users have the option to move 1 or a group of chat heads across the different edges of the screen and will remain visible as long as the users wants to interact with it.

Navigation on the Facebook Home has also drastically changed. The common back and navigation buttons are gone and are replaced by gesture-based commands carried out by a “bobble” which is the circular icon that contains the phone owner’s photo (or profile picture) located at the bottom of the screen. Users can swipe up from the bobble which will launch the app drawer.

The app drawer is divided into two segments. Once a user swipe’s up from the bobble, the favorites app drawer is first shown. Obviously this is where the user’s most used and favorite apps are located. The favorites app drawer also has three tabs at the top that lets users instantly upload photos to Facebook, post a status update or location. Swiping to the left of the favorites app drawer will direct the user to the main app drawer that holds all the apps currently installed on the phone.

Swiping the bobble to the left will launch the Facebook messaging app while swiping the bobble to the right will allow users to go back to the last app that they’ve opened.

Facebook Home will initially be released on April 12 on several handsets including the HTC One, HTC One X+, Samsung Galaxy SIII, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note II and of course the HTC First (exclusive to AT&T). Facebook has also promised to bring monthly updates and improvement to the app as well as add support for additional phone models and manufacturers including Lenovo, ZTE, Huawei and Sony.

Now it would be interesting how Google would react in the future with Facebook Home especially if Mark Zuckerberg’s dream of putting the app in every smartphone would come true. This is because unlike other home replacement apps or custom ROMs, Facebook Home can have the ability to literally take over and change a phone and make Android OS lose its identity in the process.

What about you guys? What do you think? Is Facebook invading Android? And how do you think Google would react to this strategy? Share with us your thoughts by leaving a comment below. For other Filipino Lifestyle stories, do subscribe to our blog or add us up on Facebook, Twitter                , Pinterest or Google Plus.

It seems that wearable technology will indeed be the next frontier when it comes to consumer electronics as manufacturers scramble to get a piece of the pie when it comes to creating gadgets that cling to people’s bodies.

Although the concept of wearable technology has been with us since the dawn of the digital age, it’s only now that we’re seeing projects that might have the potential of actually making the concept come true. In fact, some of them such as the Pebble smartwatch have actually gone into production and are now being shipped worldwide.

Google on the other hand is already in motion in creating its Glass heads up display. The Glass project which was first mentioned around April last year and has continued to bask in the spotlight since then through various Google-sponsored events and conferences including Google I/O and a few very secretive Glass Foundry events.

Google has also unveiled a working prototype of a talking shoe at this year’s SXSW (South by Southwest) in Austin, Texas. The Talking shoe is composed of a pressure sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope that connects via Bluetooth to a phone or smart device and gives sarcastic comments or praises based on the wearer’s habits.

Sony also seems to have plans to create a HUD similar to Google Glass. A few days ago, the Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation filed a patent in the United States for a Head mounted display that features dual displays and movable screens.

Another product that’s getting a lot of attention these days are smartwatches. Thanks to the unprecedented success of Pebble’s kickstarter campaign, a lot of major brands are now considering the smartwatch as a viable product which they can earn profit from.

A smartwatch is a computerized wristwatch whose functionality is extended beyond time keeping. During its earlier days, most smartwatches can perform basic tasks including calculations, translations or playing games. However, with leaps in mobile technology development, a lot of the smartwatches we’re seeing today are basically extensions of other devices and are capable of running apps, media playback, act as mass storage devices or used as GPS devices to name a few.

Big names in the tech industry who have been rumored to be working on a smartwatch include Apple, Samsung, Google and LG.

To sum it all up, it seems that the time where fashion meets electronics is already upon us. Obviously, the technology to build such devices has progressed enough that the days where such objects are just a piece of a dream or imagination worthy of a science fiction movie. And based on the reaction of the general population and manufacturers, it appears that wearable technology is here to stay.

So how does wearable technology sound to you? Do share with us your thoughts by leaving a comment below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus. And please subscribe to our blog for more tech news and other Filipino lifestyle stories. 

The gaming console industry is about to experience another major revolution with the rumored arrival of the newest generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft. Sony is first on the line with the Sony PS4 scheduled to be announced on February 20 in New York while Microsoft is rumored to make public the arrival of the new Xbox by Q3 of 2013.

And as expected rumors and information leaks has spread over the internet like wildfire as the said date draws near. But what should we expect from these new generation of gaming consoles? In this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL, we’ve consolidated all information on the internet about these two machines to give us a heads up on what’s to come.

SONY PLAYSTATION 4

The new Sony PlayStation 4 will be announced tomorrow February 4, 2013 at Manhattan, New York. As for hardware specifications, it will be powered by AMD’s x86 processors and will pack a Radeon GPU with 18 GCN units. There’s probably 4-8GB of RAM of the GDDR5 variety and it has also been rumored to pack around 1.84 teraflops of overall computation power.

As for the controllers, rumors suggest that the PS4 controller will have the same shape and relatively the same dimensions of controllers from previous versions but will now have Vita-like touch sensitive surfaces replacing the usual analog sticks we’ve seen in the past. There are also rumors that it will also have remodeled shoulder buttons as well as an interactive touchscreen at the middle where the start and select button used to be.

Lastly, since the new console will use a new architecture, Sony hopes to solve the problem of backward compatibility with the use of streaming games over the internet. Yes, you heard it right. The PS4 is rumored to have the capability to stream games, specifically those developed for previous versions over the internet.

MICROSOFT XBOX 720

Microsoft on the other hand plans to release their next generation Xbox gaming console before Christmas of 2013, so we should expect its announcement by Q3 or early Q4 of this year. In contrast to the PlayStation 4, details about the Xbox 720 (assuming it will be called by that name) are still in murky waters.

There’s not much about the new console that is certain for now but according to rumors, the Xbox 720 will have relatively the same specs as its rival – the PlayStation 4 in terms of hardware specifications. Both consoles will be powered by AMD processors and will have powerful GPUs to support graphics intensive games.

As for the controller, rumors suggest that the Xbox 720 might still use a control pad but more emphasis will be given to its Kinect motion based controller technology which is not really that surprising as this technology offers a lot of promise and applications that Microsoft sees as a worthy investment for the future.

Reports also suggest that just like the PS4, the Xbox 720 will have a featured aimed at preventing the use of second hand games. This would mean that users won’t be able to trade in old titles anymore in order to raise funds to purchase new games. A related rumor also suggested that the new console would need an active internet connection in order to play games. This is to ensure that all games played will be tethered to a specific console profile making it hard for anyone to resell games.

Lastly, reports suggest that the Xbox 720 might not be called that way at all and that Microsoft is planning a different route in terms of the name of its new machine. Popular codenames include the Xbox Infinity and Xbox Loop.

What are your thoughts about the PS4 and the Xbox 720? Please do tell us by leaving a comment below. You can also find TFL on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus or subscribe to our blog for other Filipino lifestyle stories.

The phablet is the newest trend that is now gaining momentum in the mobile phone industry. And as with other trends in history, a lot of people are jumping into the bandwagon to get themselves in the “in and trendy” crowd. And in response to this growing fascination with supersized phones, many of the biggest brands in the industry is coming up with their own version of the phablet.

In this week’s Tech Tuesdays on TFL, we take a look at the newest players in the Phablet industry that are set to compete with the industry’s standard – the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

HTC Butterfly

Display Type	Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Display Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density)
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 2
SOUND	- Beats Audio sound enhancement
Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
Internal	16 GB (11 GB user available) storage, 2 GB RAM
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
NFC and USB	Yes
Primary Camera	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Primary Camera Features	Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, face and smile detection
Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, stereo sound rec., video stabilization
Secondary Camera	Yes, 2.1 MP, 1080p@30fps
Operating System	Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to v4.2 (Jelly Bean)
Processor	Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait
Graphics	Adreno 320

Huawei Ascend Mate

Display Type	IPS+ LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Display Size	720 x 1280 pixels, 6.1 inches (~241 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch	Yes
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass
SOUND	- Dolby mobile sound enhancement
Card slot	Yes, up to 32 GB
Internal	2 GB RAM
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth and USB	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, LE, EDR
Primary Camera	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Primary Camera Features	Geo-tagging, face detection, HDR
Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps
Secondary Camera	Yes, 1 MP, 720p@30fps
Operating System	Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean)
Chipset	Huawei K3V2
Processor	Quad-core 1.5 GHz

ZTE Grand S

Display Type	Capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Display Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch	Yes
Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
Internal	16 GB storage, 2 GB RAM
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth and USB	Yes
Primary Camera	13 MP, autofocus, LED flash
Primary Camera Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection
Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps
Secondary Camera	Yes, 2 MP, 1080p@30fps
Operating System	Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean)
Processor	Quad-core 1.7 GHz

Sony Xperia Z

Display Type	TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Display Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch	Yes, up to 10 fingers
Protection	Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass with Sony Mobile Bravia Engine 2
Card slot	microSD, up to 64 GB
Internal	16 GB, 2 GB RAM
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth and USB	Yes
Primary Camera	13 MP, 4128x3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Primary Camera Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, image stabilization, HDR, sweep panorama
Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, continuous autofocus, video light, video stabilizer
Secondary Camera	Yes, 2 MP, 1080p@30fps
Operating System	Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), planned upgrade to v4.2 (Jelly Bean)
Chipset	Qualcomm MDM9215M / APQ8064
Processor	Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait

LG Optimus Vu

Type	HD-IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size	768 x 1024 pixels, 5.0 inches (~256 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch	Yes
SOUND	- Dolby mobile sound enhancement
Card slot	No
Internal	32 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth and USB	Yes with NFC
Primary Camera	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Primary Camera Features	Geo-tagging, face detection, image stabilization
Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, LED video light
Secondary Camera	Yes, 1.3 MP
Operating System	Android OS, v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Chipset	Nvidia Tegra 3
Processor	Quad-core 1.5 GHz

Lenovo K900

Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.5 inches (~401 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch	Yes
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 2
Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
Internal	2 GB RAM
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual band, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth and USB	Yes
Primary Camera	13 MP, autofocus, dual-LED flash
Primary Camera Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection
Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps
Secondary Camera	Yes, 2 MP
Operating System	Android OS, v4.2 (Jelly Bean)
Chipset	Intel Atom Z2580
Processor	Dual-core 1. 8 GHz

Cherry Mobile Titan

Type	Capacitive Touch screen,
Size	5.0-inch, WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) ~ 187ppi
Multitouch	5-point multi-touch feature
Card slot	microSD up to 32GB
Internal	4GB of internal storage
WLAN	Yes
Bluetooth and USB	YEs
Primary Camera	5MP auto-focus camera
Primary Camera Features	dual LED flash
Video	720p HD video recording
Secondary Camera	VGA Camera
Operating System	Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Chipset	MediaTek MT6577
Processor	1GHz dual-core processor, ARMv7

MyPhone A919

Source

Type	IPS LCD Capacitive Touch screen, 16M colors
Size	5.0-inch, (~196 ppi pixel density), 480 x 854 pixels
Card slot	microSD up to 32GB
Internal	4GB of internal storage
WLAN	Yes
Bluetooth and USB	YEs
Primary Camera	8 MegaPixels, 3264x2448 pixels
Primary Camera Features	autofocus and LED flash
Video	720p HD video recording
Secondary Camera	VGA camera
Operating System	Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Chipset	MediaTek MT6577
Processor	1 GHz Dual Core

So which phablet are you eyeing for? Tell us by leaving a comment below. You can also add us up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus, or subscribe to our blog using our RSS Feeds.

Hello everyone! Sorry if I missed out on last week’s episode of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. I was kind of busy with all the Christmas party preparations, exchange gifts and the likes. But now that I’m back,  we’ll be talking about a very timely topic that most of you might have already done with your Christmas bonuses and your 13^th month pay – SHOPPING.

According to a survey done by Google Philippines, a lot of Filipinos are now searching more for information about gadgets especially during the start of the holiday season. I believe it is primarily because the gadgets that we use today have come to a state so advance compared to previous decades that they are more intricately intertwined with our lives making them more and more of a necessity rather than a luxury. 

Moreover, our gadgets have evolved so far that they can now perform multiple functions in one package.

So if you’re planning to get yourself or get a loved one a new gadget this Christmas, it can easily become a pain when choosing which gadget would you buy and which would you likely to avoid. Well, despair no more, as today we will be talking about which gizmos are a match to your lifestyle and personality. If you’re all set, shall we begin?

Netbooks vs. Ultrabooks – the portable computer system is taking a major turn these past few years. As power and flexibility is crossing over into the mobile domain with the introduction of powerful devices with slim form factors, a trend is slowly becoming visible in terms of what the future of mobile computing will be. And that future is probably be the one ruled by ultrabooks.

As more and more PC manufacturers are developing machines that fit the ultrabook or slimbook profile, competition is slowly becoming stiffer by the minute. Ultrabook prices are slowly going down so if you’re really that excited to get one, I suggest waiting a bit more to let the prices stabilize. But if you’re really into saving a lot of money and you’re not that critical whether or not your laptop has an ivy bridge processor or a super slim profile, a netbook can be a good option for youl.

Black Berries – Research in Motions Black Berry smartphones have recently experienced a massive price drop. But don’t be fooled, because it might be that retailers are just emptying their BlackBerry shelves in order to give way to the new fleet of RIM devices coming in January 2013. These new devices will sport updated features that will most likely make current BB devices look old and out dated.

For hardcore BB enthusiasts, getting an upgrade or an extra berry today might not be the best idea and you’d be better off waiting for the L-series next year. But for those who just want a bare bones BlackBerry experience, getting a RIM device right now seems to be a right choice.

Gaming Consoles – Gaming consoles have also experienced a huge dip in retail prices this past few months. The Xbox 360 with Kinect now sells for around P14k which comes bundled with at least 3 games. The same goes for Sony’s PS3 which retails at almost identical price point. The Nintendo Wii on the other hand now retails for less than P10,000 for the base unit which makes it extremely affordable compared last year.

And with the exception of the Wii U, the Xbox 360 and PS3 are still the flagship gaming consoles for Microsoft and Sony respectively which ensures that you’ll still be getting the first serving of games from developers.

iPhone 5 – the iPhone 5 has made waves this year. It was one of the most anticipated devices to be announced and released this year just alongside the Google Nexus 4 and Microsoft’s Surface tablet. However, in my honest opinion, getting an iPhone 5 today may not be a smart move especially for fans of Apple out there.

This is because, in true Apple tradition, the announcement of a new generation device would mean the coming of a much faster and slightly improved “S” version the following year, which is what happened with the iPhone 3 and 3GS and the iPhone 4 and 4S. So if you’re really into the Apple iPhone craze, you might want to hold your horses until next year when Apple would release an iPhone 5S.

DSLRs and ILCs – Camera systems have recently enjoyed success and patronage among Filipinos. As more and more Pinoys are getting hooked to photography, camera manufacturers are improving their product line by adding more affordable yet equally powerful DSLR cameras. This, just like what happened with ultrabooks have pushed prices down and heightened the competition among different brands. That is why getting a full size DSLR would be a great idea for this holiday season as these camera systems are slowly becoming mainstream.

ILCs on the other hand are still quite expensive. They are also quite rare, with manufacturers only producing one to three models of interchangeable lens cameras in their entire product line. For now, their less bulky profile doesn’t trump over their high price tag, so it wouldn’t be advisable to get one now. Instead get a less pricey DSLR with the same specs of the ILC that you want.

Windows Phones – Another grey area when shopping for gadgets would be Windows phones. There are currently two types of Windows phones on sale right now – the legacy devices powered by Windows Phone 7+ and the newer Windows Phone 8 devices. And just like its direct competitor, Blackberries, Windows phones have two sides of the story.

On the one side, WP7 devices are now very affordable compared 12 months ago. Nokia’s Lumia phones, which include the Lumia 610, 800 and 900 are now all priced below the P20,000 price range, so for those looking for the Metro UI experience, getting the first generation of WP devices would be a really good bargain. The only catch is that Microsoft would have very little support for these devices in the future as they have already planned to push for WP8.

On the other hand, WP8 devices are still quite expensive and few. The only manufacturers which have a ready supply of Windows Phone 8 smartphones out in the market would be Nokia with their Lumia 920, 820 and the budget friend 620; and HTC with their 8X and 8S devices. However, owners of WP8 devices are ensured that they will be getting future updates in contrast to users of WP7+ platform.

So there you have it. I hope this post was able to help some of you who are still undecided on getting a new gadget this holiday season. If you have any comments, suggestions and reactions, please do share them with us by leaving a comment below. You can also reach us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterst and Google Plus or subscribe to our blog for the latest and freshest news, features and updates about Filipinos and their lifestyle.

In this age of droids, iPhones, blackberries and other smartphones, it is very easy for people to forget that there was once a time when feature phones and barebone phones rule the world. Before handsets evolved color LCD and LED displays, MP3 ringtones, gigabytes worth of storage, powerful cameras and touchscreen user interface; there was an age when the norm was monochrome displays, 2G connectivity and monotone ringtones.

If you were born the first decade of the 21^st century, then you probably would appreciate this nostalgic treat we have for you. If you’ve ever owned a feature phone or a barebone phone, then you might have had one of these handsets.

SIEMENS SL45 – The Siemens SL45 was the first mobile phone to feature an MP3 player with a memory card expansion slot. It debuted in 2001 and sports other notable features such as voice dialing and voice activated commands, a WAP browser, stopwatch and a calculator to name a few.

The handset weighs 88g and is powered by a Siemens/Infineon C166 processor. The device’s battery is rated at 540mAh which allows the phone to achieve up to 170 hours of standby time, approximately 5 hours of audio playback and around 240 minutes of conversation. The card expansions slot is capable of using a MMC card up to 32MB (Yes! 32 megabytes). It also has support for monophonic ringtones and a graphic monochrome display with a resolution of 101 x 80 pixels.

PHILIPS SAVVY – Philips isn’t really the most popular brand of mobile phone in the country even during the last decade. But they did release a phone in the market that’s affordable enough for a lot of people and generally does the job of typical phones during that time. And that phone was the Philips Savvy.

The Savvy didn’t really offer that much to consumers except for the ability to make calls and send texts. It does have a calculator, an analog clock and a timer. But the major selling point of this handset was its price. Compared to bigger brands like Nokia, the Philips Savvy was very cheap and accessible to those who are on a tight budget.

ERICSSON A1018s – Before Sony Ericsson became just Sony, there was first Ericsson. And during the 90s, the company’s budget phone was the Ericsson A1018s. It was pretty much a barebone phone with limited features which include the ability to make calls and send texts and if I remember it right, it can compose ringtones just like other Nokia phones at that time but it did it in a more rudimentary fashion.

It also had an enormous external antenna, not to mention one of the thickest side profile among all the phones on this list. This is primarily because of its bulky 800mAh battery.

MOTOROLA RAZR V3 – The Motorola RAZR V3 was the iconic flip phone of the past decade. In fact, it’s the phone that gave Motorola the much needed comeback in the feature phone race, at least here in the Philippines. It’s very slim profile as well as the premium feel of its design and finishing was enough to win more mature, style-conscious and fashion-forward consumers from Nokia’s grip.

The RAZR V3 is also the only phone in our list with two colored displays. The body is made from anodized aluminium. It also has a VGA camera that is able to capture images and videos, and on top of that, it has connectivity features such as Bluetooth and a WAP browser.

NOKIA 3310 – If there ever was a phone that can be considered as the most popular phone of the past 10 years, that would probably be the Nokia 3310. It was the most sought after phone in the early part of the 21^st century because of its affordability matched with a lot of features not found in other phones in the same price range.

It has a 900mAh battery, a monochrome graphic display, screen savers, its capable of making calls, sending text messages and even picture messages. Users can compose monophonic ringing tones and can play three pre-installed games including Space Impact, Snake 2 and Bantumi.

So that’s all the time we have for today guys! Did you get the privilege of owning one of the phones on our list? Tell us your experience with it be leaving a comment below. You might also want to add TFL on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus, or subscribe to their feeds for more Filipino lifestyle stories about food, travel, fashion and beauty, gadgets and of course technology.

In a few days from now, Microsoft is scheduled to release the very much awaited update on its operating system – Windows 8. Based on the consumer preview that Microsoft has made public a few months ago, this new operating system promises a fully revamped architecture and user interface design that works well both on laptops and desktops but as well in tablets.

Although Microsoft is also set to release their own surface-branded tablet, we are already seeing a lot of devices from other manufacturers slowly making an appearance to coincide with the launch of the new OS. In this edition of Tech Tuesdays at TFL, let’s breeze through some of those devices.

Samsung Ativ Tab

Samsung was one of the first manufacturers to announce a Windows 8 powered tablet. Their Ativ Tab measures 6.61” tall, 10.46” wide and 0.35” thick and weighs around 1.2 pounds. The device also has a 10.1-inch HD LCD display.

It also has USB and Micro-HDMI ports, a microSD card slot, NFC, and Wi-Fi & Bluetooh 4.0 capabilities. In terms of performance the Ativa tab will be powered by a 1.5GHz dual core processor on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip, and 64GB of internal storage. It will also feature a 5MP rear camera with LED flash while the front will have a 1.9MP camera.

The Ativ Tab will come with a trial version of Microsoft Office 2013 plus a few extras from Samsung such as ChatOn, and Samsung’s music portal and photo editor.

Asus Vivo Tab

Asus’s Vivo Tab looks pretty much like the Asus Transformer Android tablets. The Vivo Tab will come with an 11.6-inch Super IPS+ panel with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels and will have support for 10-finger multi-touch. The device will be powered by the next generation Intel Atom processor (possibly from the Clover Trail Family) and will have 2GB or RAM plus 64GB of on-board storage. In terms of connectivity, the Vivo tab will have support for Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0.

Moreover, it will feature a G-sensor, a gyroscope, a light sensor and e-compass as well as an 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash at the back, a 2MP front facing camera for video calls and conferencing and a 1024-level Wacom digitizer stylus.

Acer Iconia W700

The Acer Iconia W700 will come in three versions on October 26: Two models will have 64GB of storage and will run on an Intel Core i3 Ivy bridge processor while the third model will have an Intel Core i5 processor with 128GB worth of storage.

The Acer Iconia W700 will feature an 11.6-inch screen with support of up to 10 touch points. It will have an IPS display with a resolution of 1920X1080 pixels, a USB port and a micro-HDMI output. The W700 can be used with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard together with a tilt-able cradle dock which will provide an additional 3 USB ports when used with the tablet.

The W700 will also have an Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipset with 4GB of memory plus a Dolby Home Theatre v4 audio-enhancing technology. At the back of the device is a 5MP camera capable of recording 1080p HD video while a 1MP camera can be found at the front of the device.

Sony Vaio Duo 11

Another big name to announce a W8 tablet last week was Sony with its Vaio Duo 11. Unlike other tablets in our list, the Vaio Duo 11 features a full slide-out keyboard. The Duo 11 also has a HDMI and USB ports and surprisingly a full-sized VGA port.

The Vaio can come with an optional battery extension that doubles operating time but puts additional girth into its already chunky profile. The built-in keyboard is slightly more compact than most notebooks and features a trackpoint-style navigation nub in the middle.

As for computing power, the Duo 11 will have an Intel Core i7-3517U processor with 4-8GB of Ram and up to 256GB of SSD storage. The 11.6-inch display of the Vaio will have a resolution of 1080p and according to reports provide incredibly bright and crispy images.

HP ElitePad 900

HP on the other hand announced its business oriented W8 tablet – the ElitePad 900. The ElitePad 900 is a 10-inch tablet that runs on an Atom-based Intel Clover trail processor with up to 2GB of RAM. It has a Core i5 processor and comes with either a 32GB or 64GB eMMC drive.

The screen is 400-nit IPS display with Gorilla Glass and has a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. It also has an 8MP rear camera and a 1080p front facing camera. As with other tablets these days, it will have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support. However, the ElitePad is lacking a USB port, and instead only has a micro-SD card slot and a USB adapter.

But HP is offering a host of extras for the ElitePad 900. For starters, users can get a dock for the tablet that offers a lock slot, an additional 4 USB ports, HDMI and VGA connectors, a line-out jack and Gigabit Ethernet. HP will also be selling those so-called “Smart Jackets” which are tablet cases that have additional features such as USB ports, HDMI output and optional battery slice.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2

And last but definitely not the least is the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2. The ThinkPad Tablet 2 is the Windows 8 version of the first ThinkPad tablet was released last year and ran on Android 3.1 Honeycomb. The ThinkPad Tablet 2 now runs on Windows 8 with a 1.86GHz Intel Atom processor from the Clover trail family.

The screen is around 10.1 inches with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. There will also be an optional dock that comes with an Ethernet port, 3 USB ports and an HDMI output. There’s a fat chance that the ThinkPad Tablet 2 will come with the full version of Office 2013 and will cost around $799 with the keyboard.

Smartphones can now be found everywhere. Gone are the days when the prices of smartphone were so high that it made owning one almost impossible. The advent of open source programs and operating systems like Google’s Android has made it a reality for smartphones to be affordable to the masses.

And as time passed by, a more diverse selection of smartphones, specifically those that run on Android have surfaced. There are dual-SIM phones, those with TV tuners, and lately those which are water and shock resistant.

In this post, we’ll talking about those smartphones that offer the smart functionality of a full-fledged mobile operating system and at the same time providing users with a device that offer the brute ruggedness and robustness of other outdoor gear.

SAMSUNG S5690 GALAXY XCOVER – The Galaxy Xcover is one of two Samsung android phones that offer IP67 certification. It is dust tight and waterproof up to a depth of 1m for 30 minutes. But just like any other smartphone in the company’s line up, the Xcover features a moderately capable 800MHz Marvell MG2 processor, 512MB of RAM, a 3.15MP camera with autofocus and LED flash, FM radio, A-GPS, accelerometer, proximity sensor and compass.

The screen size is around 3.65 inches with a resolution of 320x480 pixels, which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. The Xcover runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and was released on October 2011.

SAMSUNG RUGBY SMART I847 – The Rugby Smart is another rugged android phone from Samsung with an IP67 certification. Just like the Xcover, the Rugby Smart is dust tight and waterproof of up to 1m for 30 minutes. It also has MIL-STD-810F certification which means that it is salt, dust, humidity, rain, vibration, solar radiation, transport and thermal shock resistant.

The device features a Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 480x800 pixels. It has a 5MP camera with autofocus and LED flash, a 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor and Adreno 205 GPU. It has 512MB of RAM, built in accelerometer, proximity sensor and compass. The Rugby Smart runs on the latest release of Gingerbread – version 2.3.6 and is distributed by US carrier AT&T.

MOTOROLA DEFY+ - The Defy+ is the second generation of Motorola’s Defy series that has IP67 certification. The phone has a 3.7-inch screen with a resolution of 480x854 pixels which is protected by Gorilla glass. The Defy+ is powered by a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, PowerVR SGX530 GPU and 512MB of RAM.

The rear camera of the device has a resolution of 5MP with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging and image stabilization. It also has active noise cancellation features, an FM radio, A-GPS support, accelerometer, proximity sensor and compass.

PANASONIC ELUGA DL1 – Panasonic may not be that popular for making smartphones in the Philippines, but they do have a few android phones in their arsenal. The Eluga DL1 which was released in February is an IP57 certified phone that is waterproof up to 1 meter for 30 minutes. It has an OLED 4.3-inch capacitive display with a resolution of 540x960 pixels.

The DL1 has an 8MP snapper at the back with autofocus, touch focus and geo-tagging. It has a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and a TI OMAP 4430 chipset. And just like the other phones listed here, it has an accelerometer, proximity sensor and compass.

PANASONIC ELUGA POWER – If the DL1 still doesn’t satisfy your needs, Panasonic a beefed up version of the Eluga DL1 – the Eluga Power. The phone runs on Android Ice Cream Sandwich v4 and is powered by a 1.5GHz dual core Krait processor and has 1GB of RAM. It has an Adreno 225 GPU and a Qualcomm MSM8270 Snapdragon chipset.

The Eluga power also boasts a bigger 5.0-inch screen with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. It’s rear camera (with autofocus, touch focus and geo-tagging) takes photos at a maximum of 8MP. And just like the DL1 it’s IP57 certified.

SONY XPERIA GO – This phone is IP67 certified and features Sony’s Bravia Engine. Although not Gorilla glass protected, the Xperia Go has a scratch resistant display. It has a NovaThor U8500 chipset and is powered by a dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9 processor with 512MB of RAM.

The screen is 3.5 inches and has a resolution of 320x480 pixels. It also has an accelerometer, FM radio, A-GPS support, proximity sensor and a compass. The Xperia Go has a 5MP rear camera with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection and 3D sweep panorama.

Lastly, the phone runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread but an ICS update is scheduled in the near future.

SONY XPERIA ACRO S – The Xperia Acro S is the big brother of the Xperia Go.  It has IP57 certification and features the same scratch resistant screen shatter proof glass and Bravia Engine as the Xperia Go. It sports a Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon chipset and is powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz Scorpion processor. Graphics and display-wise, the screen of the Acro S is a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels.

Aside from these features, the Acro S also has an accelerometer, proximity sensor, compass, A-GPS support with GLONASS and an Adreno 220 GPU. Its primary camera captures images at 12 megapixels with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, touch focus, 3D sweep panorama and image stabilization.

The Acro S would come with Android v4 Ice cream sandwich as standard.

SONY XPERIA V – The Xperia V on the other hand is the sleeker slightly powerful upgrade to the Acro S. In terms of screen size and resolution, the two are practically identical. They are also the same when it comes to their CPUs and GPUs.

Connectivity options as well as sensors are also the same on both phones. And even the operating system version and IP57 certification are the same.  The thin line that separates the two phones are their dimensions and the camera.

The Acro S has the overall dimensions of 126 x 66 x 11.9 mm while the Xperia V has dimensions of 129 x 65 x 10.7 mm. The Xperia V is also lighter at 120g compared to the Acro S at 147g. The former also has a more capable camera which has a resolution of 13MP.

What’s your best bet from these rugged yet smart mobile phones? You can tell us by leaving a comment below or leaving a message on our Facebook or Twitter profiles. Until next time everyone! Read.Know.Be Filipino!