The current age has brought about a new trend with it. This trend is called the “Selfie.” This six letter word defines the activity of taking your own photo with a camera. It can be with a group of friends or at a special occasion or even with your pet! Every person comes up with their own version.

Due to many advancements in technology along with this amazing new trend, many smartphone manufacturers have come up with newer versions of mobile phones that have the best camera quality present for those umpteen number of selfies that everyone takes. These selfie phones are being sold at a number of stores along with many marketplaces who are offering them at discounted prices such as Kaymu and Ebay etc.

The best Selfie Phones for the year:

Samsung Galaxy S7 (Unofficial)

Everyone is eagerly waiting for this phone to launch. With the new Android 6.0 operating system and Quad-core 4.0 GHz 64 bit processor, it will be a very stable phone. The back camera will be 16 MP with a 5.1 MP front camera with flash for all your selfie needs.

Microsoft Surface Phone (Rumoured)

Surface Phone Concept art

This phone has a 5.5in Quad-HD AMOLED display to view all your pictures in the most beautiful manner. It offers 21Mp rear and 8Mp front cameras to snap away those lovely selfies that you want to take. Moreover, it has a 64 to 128 GB storage space to keep all that you love.

HTC One M10 (Unofficial)

HTC One M10 Concept Art

This is the upcoming and highly coveted selfie phone as it offers a whopping 27 MP front and back camera auto face detection focus technology. When you buy this phone, not only will you have high resolution pictures, you won’t even have to work that hard for them.

LG G5 (Unofficial)

LG G5 Concept Art

This LG phone is one the most popular upcoming ones. It offers a 20 MP back camera and a 10 MP front facing camera for you to look classy and sophisticated in all your pictures. Along with that, it has a true IPS HD display for a beautiful picture quality.

Oppo Find 9 (Unofficial)

Oppo Find 9 has a large 5.5 inch Quad HD display that offers superior picture quality and beautiful colors for you to enjoy. When it comes to cameras, it has a 20 MP secondary camera and an 8 MP front camera for all your selfie needs.

Sony Xperia Z6 (Unofficial)

This phone will make you love yourself in all your selfies. In terms of cameras, it has a 27 MP rotator camera scanner that will take your selfies in all the angles that you will love. Moreover, the screen is of 5 inches with 4k display resolution.

iPhone 7 (Unofficial)

Everyone knows the picture quality that the iPhone has to offer. This phone will have a 12 MP back camera and a 5 MP front camera for you to look absolutely great in. For men and women alike, they will be overjoyed with this one.

HTC Desire Eye (Available)

This is the phone to get if you are a selfie fanatic. It has a 13 MP shooter at the front and the rear. Both of the cameras have their own dedicated flash for the best pictures possible. Along with that, the wide 22 mm lens gives a large angle to all your selfies.

Asus ZenFone (Available)

This phone has a 13 MP front facing camera that has an LED flash present with it. Moreover, it offers a wide 88 degree angle so that all the aspects of your selfie are taken in. It also has features such as panorama, slow motion, smart remove and time lapse present.

LG V10 (Available)

This phone has not one but two front facing cameras that you can use for all your selfies. The two front facing cameras are of 5 MP and the back camera is 13 MP. The cameras feature multi view and snap options with it.

About the Author: Sab

I cover Mobile, Internet, Good and Bad of Technologies. I’ve been a technology writer for the last three years. If you have any question and feel free to contact me on Gtalk – it’s a beautiful way to get contacted me directly.

It seems like just about every other week a new piece of technology is released, from just about all of the major cell phone companies.

Apple is at the top of the list and there is no question that the majority of people that use Apple products will run out to the store, even wait in line for lengthy periods of time, just to get their hands on the brand new iPhone 6.

However, a great deal of people are wondering to themselves whether getting the new phone is actually worth it.

In reality, the new devices that are being released do not have too many things that are brand new, in comparison to the past models that are already out there. While it is true that there are new designs and new pieces of technology that are integrated into each mobile device (that it is considered the hip thing to do to get the brand new iPhone), the overall price is starting to get a bit high for a cell phone.

In the past, most of the new iPhone's that came out would hover somewhere around five hundred dollars, which most people thought was a lot of money in the first place. However, the new iPhone 6's go well above that are are posted at six hundred and fifty dollars, which has made a great deal of people's eyebrows.

Nearly two thirds of a thousand dollars is a great deal of money to spend on a device that is going to become outdated in a year or so anyway and in reality, the capabilities are virtually the same. The new iPhone 6 will be slightly bigger than the older models, which seems to be a trend with Apple products, as they are also making the new iPads bigger as well.


Apple also claims that the features that are on the iPhone 6 far surpass that of the older models, although the majority of people simply use their cell phone to surf the internet, play games, use applications, make phone calls and text.

All of these things can be done on each and every one of the older models, so it has become a highly debated topic among a lot of people as to whether it is worth it to shell out the great deal of money that is required to get your hands on the new iPhone 6.

When it comes down to it, it really is a personal preference. If you are one of those people that loves having the newest of the new models of technology, then you are probably going to be satisfied with putting up the money for a new phone. These people likely already have an iPhone 5 and can probably trade their phones in or sell them to get a great deal off of the newer models anyway, so in this respect it can be very worth it for these people.

Additionally, if you prefer a bigger screen, you may want to go ahead and get the iPhone six, but in all reality, the majority of people are probably better off keeping their older model iPhone's.

The truth is that they are slightly more advanced, but the increase in technology is not enough to rush out to the store, wait in line and get a new device, all while causing a major blow to your pockets. If Apple had come out with a brand new model that had some amazing new type of technology that has not been seen before in passed iPhone's, it would probably be worth it, but in this case it is looking like the better idea to skip buying one.

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About Author: This article was written by Andy G, a tech geek and Linux fan from Austria. At the present moment he maintains firmware and driver download website called Helpjet.

Asus today announced the mid-range smartphone that completes its PadFone range – the new Asus PadFone E.

The smartphone hybrid features a 4.7-inch 720p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chip with a 1.4GHz Cortex A7 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 13MP LED-enabled camera at the back and a 1820mAh battery.

The device will run on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and just like the PadFone Infinity and PadFone Mini will come with a dock that transforms the smartphone into a tablet. The PadFone E’s dock boasts a 10.1-inch 720p display, a 1MP front-facing camera and a 5000mAh battery.

The Asus PadFone E will come in either Black or Pearl White for $560 starting in Taiwan. 

Philippine-based mobile phone manufacturer Torque recently launched a duo of affordable Android smartphones that were designed to provide Filipino smartphone users a balance between performance and price.

Torque’s Droidz Force and Sport are both Android-based phones that utilize the company’s Flex technology which is basically a technology that optimizes the software of the phone to maximize the hardware capability of the device. This means that these phones are able to provide faster performance compared to similarly spec’d handsets.

Between the two, the Droidz Sports is the one meant for the truly budget conscious consumer. The phone sports a 3.5-inch HVGA display with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. It also has a 1GHz single-core Spreadtrum SC6820 processor which is complemented by 256MB of RAM, Mali 400 GPU and 512 of internal memory.

The phone also has a microSD card slot that can accommodate up to a 32GB card. In terms of multimedia, the Droidz Sports offers consumers with a 2MP fixed-focus camera at the back, a 1500mAh battery, FM radio, multimedia player, micro-USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Connectivity wise, the Droidz Sports features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and support for EDGE/GPRS/SMS/MMS.

The Droidz Force on the other hand are for those who prefer a bit more power on their device. The packs a 4.0-inch HVGA screen with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels with a pixel density of 233 pixels per inch. The Droidz Force is powered by the same 1GHz Spreadtrum processor and 512MB on-board storage as in the Droidz Sport but has a beefed up 512MB of RAM.

The handset is also fitted with a Mali-400 GPU, a FM radio, multimedia player, 2MP front-facing fixed-focus camera at the back, a VGA front camera, Micro-SD card slot that supports up to 32GB cards, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 1500mAh Li-Ion battery.

Both devices run on Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread and are priced at P2599 (for the Droidz Sport) and P2999 (for the Droidz Force).

It was just a few days ago that the HTC Desire 200 was leaked on the internet through a video posted by a Vietnamese website and now the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer is making the phone official.

Just like in the video the smartphone will sport a 3.5-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The phone will have a pixel density of 165 pixels per inch and will sport Beats Audio sound enhancement.

The HTC Desire 200 will pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 chipset with a single-core 1GHz CPU and 512MB of RAM. The internal memory is set at 4GB which also supports expansion via a microSD card slot. At the back of the device is a 5MP camera with a f/2.8 fixed focus camera with a 34mm lens that supports video recording.

See Also: RUMOUR MEALS - HTC Desire 200

The device will be powered by a removable 1230mAh battery, and will have 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0, microUSB and GPS. There’s also an accelerometer, proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor. Pricing and availability is yet to be disclosed.

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.

Hello everyone, it’s another Tuesday and it’s time again to get ourselves updated with the latest news in the tech industry. And this week, the biggest news is about rumored phones; from the long awaited to the surprisingly fast to emerge.

Let’s start off with the Facebook phone. Last week the social networking giant sent out invites to press with a teaser saying that the company will have a new “Home” on Android. And today a developer build of the alleged Facebook phone was leaked on the internet. According to reports, the Facebook Phone will run on a device built by HTC (codenamed HTC Myst) and will sport a modified version of Android 4.1.2, a 4.3-inch screen, Sense version 4.5, a 5MP rear camera, a dual-core processor and at least 1GB of RAM.

The new phone will also come with a Facebook-oriented home launcher which will let users see Facebook news feeds and updates right on the home screen. There will also be a more standard clock screen, shortcuts for launching apps and search via Google. The home replacement app will also have a feature called Chat Heads that will allow users to use Facebook’s chat functionality anywhere in the device.

Rumors are also suggesting that Facebook may offer a toned-down version of the “Home” app to other OEM who run either the stock Android UI or on top of a skin such as Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

Next on the list is the long rumored Amazon smartphone. Rumors about the development of the device were fanned again after the Ex-Microsoft Executive Charlie Kindel announced that he’ll be joining Amazon to work on a “secret” project. According to a post on his Google Plus account, he’ll be building a team in Amazon that involves a project that the company has little experience with.

Furthermore, a post on Kindel’s LinkedIn page reveals that the team he’s supposed to build will be compromised of developers, program managers and product managers. Charlie Kindel’s previous work in Microsoft involved the development of servers and the Windows 7 application platform so it doesn’t take a genius to establish a connection between Kindel and Amazon’s possible plan of developing its own smartphone that may complement the Kindle Fire tablet in the future.

Last on the list is Samsung with its Galaxy S4 Mini. According to reports, the S4 mini might debut within the week. The S4 mini is reportedly scheduled to be released by late May or early June. Earlier reports say that the phone might come in several variants.

These include a single-SIM, dual-SIM, LTE and a Chinese version with TD-SCDMA. The S4 mini may also have two variants when it comes to the processor. According to reports, the dual-SIM version of the phone may have a 1.6GHz dual-core processor while the single-SIM version will reportedly have a quad-core processor.

All version of the S4 mini will have an 8MP camera at the back, 1GB of RAM, a 4.3-inch display and will run on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

And that concludes this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. Which phone are you most excited about? Do tell us by leaving a comment below. You can also add on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus. And please don’t forget to subscribe to our blog for other tech news and other stories about Filipino lifestyle.

Lenovo might not be as popular a brand compared to industry heavy weights such as Samsung, LG or Sony but the company is slowly making a name for itself thanks to its affordable yet capable handsets that offer dual-SIM capability with Android’s open source operating system.

And this year, Lenovo Mobile Philippines has added four more handsets to its line of Android-powered smartphones. Two of which comes equipped with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. And all four devices sport 4+ inch screens and target the mid-range to upper tier consumer groups.

LENOVO P770 – The P770 is the successor of Lenovo’s P700 and P700i smartphones that offered performance at an affordable price. And as such, the phone shares the same design aesthetics as its predecessors albeit the slightly bigger screen. The 4.5-inch screen of the device has a resolution of 540x960 pixels with a pixel density of 245 ppi.

Software-wise, the P770 improves in terms of the processor, the memory and of course the operating system. For starters, the P770 now comes with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor in contrast to the 1GHz found on its predecessor. It also has 1GB of RAM and runs on Android Jelly Bean.

Lenovo has also added a few apps they made themselves including Lenovo Power Saving and Lenovo Note. The phone’s UI is also integrated with Facebook, Skype, AccuWeather and TouchPal keyboard. And last but definitely not the least; 5GB cloud storage is also included with the device courtesy of SugarSync.

There’s 4GB worth of on-board storage, a 5MP rear camera, a VGA camera upfront and a 3500mAh battery. As with other droids these days, the P770 comes with the usual set of connectivity features and sensors including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, an accelerometer, GPS and a compass.

LENOVO S890 – another new Jelly Bean-powered handset from Lenovo is the S890. It’s part of the company’s S-series smartphone and comes equipped with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor complemented by 1GB of RAM and a PowerVR SGX531 GPU. There’s 4GB of on-board storage with support for microSD card expansion of up to 32GB.

An 8MP snapper is placed at the back of the device while a VGA camera sits in front of the device for self-portraits and video calls. The rear camera features a LED flash, autofocus, geo-tagging, touch focus and even face detection. The rear camera is also capable of recording 720p videos.

The 5-inch display of the S890 has a resolution of 540x960 pixels with a pixel density of 220 ppi. And again, just like other smartphones today, the phone packs Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, accelerometer, proximity sensor, GPS and a FM radio. Lastly, there’s a 2250mAh battery to power the device.

LENOVO S720 – another handset for the Lenovo’s S-series is the S720. Geared towards stylish consumers, the company is branding this particular phone as Big Chic. The Big part is attributed to the phone’s 4.5-inch qHD display with a resolution of 540x960 pixels with a pixel density of 245 ppi.

The S720 comes has a MTK 6577 chipset with a 1GHz dual-core Cortex A9 processor which is complemented by a PowerVR SGX531 GPU, 512MB of RAM and 4G of storage space. It also features an 8MP camera at the back which sports a LED flash, autofocus, geo-tagging, touch focus and face detection. There’s also a 1MP front-facing camera for video conferencing and self-portraits.

The phone will be powered by a 2000mAh battery and will run Android 4.0.4 (Ice cream sandwich). The S720 will come in two Chic colours – either in white or in hot pink.

LENOVO A800 – Last but definitely not the least is the Lenovo A800. The A800 is Lenovo’s newest device that targets the entry level market. It comes equipped with a 4.5-inch screen with a resolution of 480x854 pixels with a pixel density of around 218 ppi.

The phone runs on Android 4.0.4 (Ice cream sandwich). It has 512MB of RAM and on-board storage worth 4GB with support for microSD expansion. The A800 has a MTK 6577T chipset with a 1.2GHz Cortex-A9 processor and the same type of GPU found in the S720.

A 5MP snapper is placed on the back of the phone which features auto-focus, geo-tagging and touch focus. There’s an accelerometer, proximity sensor, FM radio and GPS. Of course there’s also Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a microUSB port.

So there you have it. Which Lenovo smartphone do you find most interesting? Share with us your thoughts by leaving a comment below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus or subscribe to our blog for other tech stories from around the globe.

Nokia has been very busy these past few months improving and expanding their Lumia smartphone product line. Just last week the Finnish company announced two more Windows Phone 8 devices at the 2013 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain – the Lumia 720 and the Lumia 520.

But before these two new handsets reach local stores, Nokia Philippines is already paving the way for these Lumias by announcing the availability of the Windows Phone 8-powered Nokia Lumia 920, Lumia 820 and the Lumia 620.

The Nokia Lumia 920 is the company’s current flagship model. It is powered by 1.5GHz dual-core Krait processor on a Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon chipset. The Krait processor is complimented by 1GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage.

The Nokia Lumia 920 has the biggest screen among the three Lumias at 4.5 inches with the company’s ClearBlack display technology. The screen is of the IPS LCD type and has a resolution of 768 x 1280 pixel with a pixel density of 332 ppi which is higher than the iPhone 5 (326ppi) or the Galaxy S3 (233ppi). The display is protected by the latest generation of Corning’s Gorilla Glass panel.

At the back of the device is an 8MP camera equipped with Nokia’s PureView technology, which when paired with the phone’s Carl Zeiss optics and other features such as image stabilization, autofocus and a LED flash, allows the Lumia 920 to capture crisp and vibrant images without losing detail. The phone’s camera is also capable of capturing HD videos (1080p) with video stabilization.

For fans of self-portraits and video calls, you need not worry as the 920 is equipped with a 1.3MP front facing camera.

Next on the list is the Nokia Lumia 820. Designed for mid-range to upper-tier consumer groups, the 820 has a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen with resolution of 400 x 80 pixels and a pixel density of 217 ppi. Just like its big brother, the 820 is also equipped with Nokia’s ClearBlack display.

It is powered by 1.5GHz dual-core processor complimented by 1GB of RAM and 8GB of on-board storage. If you think 8GB of memory won’t be enough, the phone’s memory can be expandable to 64GB via a microSD card slot.

The Lumia 820 also has an 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual-LED flash, geo-tagging and autofocus. It can capture 1080p videos at 30 frames per second with video stabilization. There’s a front-facing VGA camera again, for self-portraits and making video calls.

And last but not the least is the Nokia Lumia 620. The Lumia 620 is the most affordable among the three phones and was designed as an entry-level WP8 phone. But don’t be deceived by this humble description as this phone packs features that makes it stand out among similar phones in this price range.

The device has a 3.8-inch TFT display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and a pixel density of 246 pixels per inch, again featuring Nokia’s ClearBlack technology. It’s powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor on a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset which is complimented by 512MB of RAM and 8GB of on-board storage. And just like the Lumia 820, this phone supports microSD expansion.

The Lumia 620 has a 5MP rear camera with autofocus, geo-tagging and LED flash. It can capture 720p videos at 30 frames per second. At the front of the phone sits a VGA camera for video calls and self-portraits.

All three phones sports the usual assortment of smartphone features such as Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n standards, Bluetooth v3+, accelerometer, proximity sensor, compass and A-GPS support with GLONASS. And of course, these three will have the usual mix of Nokia-developed Windows Phone apps such as Nokia Maps Nokia City Lens, Nokia Smart Shoot and Nokia Drive.

If you’re interested in getting any of these 3 WP8 phones, the Lumia 820 and Lumia 620 are already available at Abenson for around P20,000 and P11,000 respectively. As for the Lumia 920, the Abenson representative I’ve talked to that they’re just waiting for stocks to come in and people should expect pricing to be around P33,000 probably by April 2013.

I’ve been a regular shopper of Abensons for the last 3 years and I’ve bought several appliances, a digital camera, 2 netbooks, an iPod touch from this store and in terms of customer service, delivery and repair (in worst-case scenarios), I’ve never been disappointed with their service.

And in terms of convenience, this store allows installment purchases at 0% interest through various credit card companies giving consumers flexibility when it comes to payments. They also partner with specific credit card providers and give exclusive discounts and deals when you buy an item from them.  And with over 75 stores nationwide, it doesn’t matter whether you’re living in Metro Manila, North or South Luzon, Visayas or in Mindanao, because they’ve got you covered. J

If you want to experience these awesome Lumia phones, just drop by your nearest Abenson store.

For more Details, visit the following:

Nokia Website

Nokia Philippines Facebook page

Abenson Facebook Page

Abenson Website

Ubuntu, the linux-based operating system previously used in running servers and other infrastructure in many corporate IT departments will soon join the highly competitive smartphone arena come October 2013 says Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth earlier today in an interview with Wall Street Journal.

The operating system was first seen last month at the 2013 International CES running on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone. In terms of UI design, the OS makes heavy use of gestures for navigation and puts heavy emphasis on HTML5 web apps. The operating system shares an uncanny resemblance to Android as most of its component are based on it. However, Ubuntu has added several useful features at the same time removed or modified components to improve customer experience.

An additional feature of the OS that most businesses would definitely appreciate is its ability to provide access to all manners of data from different servers making it highly convenient to access corporate information through a single pocket-sized device. A practical example of this innovation is the ability of an Ubuntu smartphone to dock into larger displays and other computer peripherals and have Windows-based applications streamed to them from corporate servers.

Moreover, Ubuntu’s history of a rich app ecosystem ensures users of a dynamic mobile landscape that can easily adapt to their needs as a consumer or as a business.

According to Shuttleworth, Ubuntu smartphones will be distributed across large geographic markets with North America being one of the top destinations. He also adds that several carriers have also shown interest in the smartphone and its OS. Which carriers these are remains a mystery though. Nevertheless, these information will be revealed in due time so for the rest of us, all we can do is wait several months more.

So what are your thoughts about Ubuntu and their upcoming smartphones? Tell us by leaving a comment below. You can also subscribe to our blog or add us up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus for other Filipino lifestyle stories.

Source

2012 was the year of the Chinese in terms of smartphone sales all over the world. During the fourth quarter of 2012, Chinese brands such as Huawei and ZTE got into the list of the top smartphone manufacturers in the world. And in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the same two brands showed off their latest flagship models – the Grand S for ZTE and the Ascent Mate for Huawei. Fortunately, the crowd loved it and the rest of their product line is also performing relatively well in other markets like in the Philippines.

For ZTE, one particular model that’s proving quite capable is the ZTE V889M, a dual-SIM Android phone that ZTE is placing in the mid-range droid arena. Facing the likes of the Xperia J, Galaxy Ace 2 and Optimus L5, does the V889M good enough to win over brand loyalists from Samsung, Sony and LG. If you’re looking for an affordable Android phone this 2013, here’s our short review of the ZTE V889M.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX

The box of the V889M is a far cry compared to those from much popular brands. It’s quite compact but it doesn’t look like it was professionally designed. The graphics on the box looks like it was done by a student and there isn’t any information about the handset written on the box.

There’s also no plastic or paper cradle securing the phone inside the box. There’s a piece of folded cardboard that keeps the phone and its accessories from tumbling inside while in transit, but it’s still not as secure as with other brands.

As for the contents of the box, the phone is slipped inside the small space made by the folds of the cardboard while the accessories and the usual documentation are placed inside the other end of the box. Accessories include a pair of ordinary plastic headset, a very short data sync/charging cable, the 1650MAh battery and the USB-type wall charger. There’s also an included 4GB micro-SD card which is already inserted into the phone.

DESIGN

ZTE did an amazing job in designing the V889M. For its price tag, the phone feels very solid and dense, which gives it a premium look. The front of the phone is occupied by the 4.0-inch LCD screen and the four capacitive touchscreen buttons found on slightly older Android phones at the bottom of the screen. Located at the top left portion of the screen are the proximity and ambient light sensor, to the right of which is the phone’s earpiece.

At the top of the handset, you’ll see the 3.5mm headphone jack that’s right beside the power and lock button. The left side on the other hand has the volume rocker while the right side is completely empty. There are also two pin-sized holes at the top and at the bottom of the phone, which is probably where the microphone/s are located. The micro-USB charging and syncing port is located at the bottom of the phone right beside the slit to open the back cover.

The back of the phone is where the 5 megapixel camera is found. The camera is surrounded by a textured metallic plate and is slightly raised. The ZTE brand logo is printed at the bottom just right above the speaker grill. The back is also coated with a soft touch coating making it really comfortable and easy to hold.

SOFTWARE

The V889M runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with little to almost no modification made by ZTE. Aside from the lockscreen and the quick access settings in the notifications bar, the phone’s user interface has stayed true to Android’s default vanilla UI. All the pre-installed apps like the messenger, people, phone, calculator, music and calendar app among others have not been skinned or customized which makes the phone really easy to get used to but doesn’t make it anything special.

The V889M is a dual-SIM phone so the messaging, phonebook and people app have special options to let users choose which SIM card to use when sending text messages or making phone calls. And just like other dual-SIM droids, finding a good replacement app for texting or making calls may prove a little difficult to do. The only messaging app we found compatible with this device is Go SMS Pro which is actually quite good already but if you’re used to heavy customization, you’ll probably feel left out in this section.

The camera of the phone is the stock Android camera app. The controls are neatly organized through context menus which can be accessed by tapping the buttons on the screen. Zooming is done with the use of the on screen zoom slider. There are several capture modes which include, auto scene detect, face beauty, smile shot and a continuous burst shot for high speed shooting. There’s even a panorama mode so you can take wide angle photos. Additional options include settings for scenes, white balance, color effects, HDR, ISO, contrast, color, sharpness, etc.

As we mentioned earlier, there are only a few important modifications done by ZTE on this phone. One is the quick access settings in the notifications bar. Just like other brands, there are several options that users can easily change by just tapping them including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, audio profiles and display settings. 

For the lockscreen, ZTE decided to tweak it a little bit by moving away from the drag to unlock method and instead going with the press and hold method. The problem is, the lockscreen now has less functionality in contrast to the one Android has as default as the option to access the messaging, phone and dialer app through the lockscreen disappeared with the drag and unlock style.

IMAGE AND SOUND

The V889M has a 4.0-inch display with a resolution of 480x800 pixels and a pixel density of 233 pixels per inch, which is quite impressive for a phone at this price range. Images are clear and vibrant, and colors don’t appear too washed out with the exception of the images taken using the camera. And just to avoid any miscommunication, the camera takes good to above average images but they’re a little faded and lacking in color.

Camera Sample Shots

For sound, specifically the call quality, the V889M offers average to above average audio when taking or making calls. I didn’t experience any dropped calls and the phone’s proximity sensor and other in-call settings worked perfectly okay. However, I did notice a small lag when tapping on the end call button. As for multimedia playback, the speaker at the back of the phone is horrible. The volume is really low and gives a tinny sound especially when you crank the volume. And if you’re thinking of using the included headset, then you’re out of luck. The included headset is a far worse option than the loudspeaker in terms of both sound and build quality.

PERFORMANCE

Performance wise, the ZTE V889M is powered by a 1GHz dual core processor on a Mediatek MT6577, which is the norm in today’s market for entry-level android phones. As far as UI responsiveness, the phone runs very smoothly and there was minimal incidence of lag or crashes. But for the sake of having a numerical value in which to measure performance, we relied on the old way of running synthetic benchmark tests like Antutu and Quadrant.

Sample Benchmark test scores

For Quadrant, the V889M scored on the average 2300 which is quite okay given its hardware. For Antutu benchmark tests, this phone scored an average of 5700 which is also within the standards for an entry level device with these specs.

VERDICT

To sum it all up, we feel that the ZTE V899M is quite an enjoyable phone to have. It’s capable of handling most of the day to day tasks that a common smartphone faces in the real world. The design of the phone as well as its build quality were surprisingly nice. The phone feels really solid and looks more expensive than its real worth. There weren’t a lot of issues when it comes to the software that’s installed or the apps nor did it have any compatibility issues with apps available online.

The only let down of this phone would probably be its audio hardware. Both the headset and the loudspeaker are unusable when it comes to media playback rendering the pre-installed music app almost useless. Although it can be remedied by using other headsets, we just think that after all the good things we’ve seen on the phone, ZTE just had to screw something up.

But if you’re willing to forgive the poor audio performance, the rest of the phone is really impressive. For a phone with a price tag of less than P8000, the specs and quality of the V889M is comparable to devices in the P12000-15000 price range. So if you’re looking for an adept android phone without worrying too much if it will burn a hole in your bank account, you should consider getting the ZTE V889M.

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Huawei is one of the few Chinese brands that’s making waves in the mobile phone industry today. In CES 2013, the company wowed the public with three amazing smartphones which include the gigantic Ascent Mate that features the industry’s largest phablet screen at 6.1 inches, the competitively priced quad-core Ascend D2 and of course the W1 the company’s first Windows powered smartphone.

And just today, Huawei announced two more devices to add to its growing family of smart gadgets. The first is smartphone is rumored to be announced during this year’s Mobile World Congress and will be the smaller brother of the Ascend D2. Appropriately the phone is to be named as the Ascend D2 mini and will feature a 4.0-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera, 1GB of RAM, a dual-core processor and will run on Android Jelly Bean.

Another smartphone that is schedule for release in the coming future is the Huawei 4Afrika. The Huawei 4Afrika will be slightly modified version of the W1 announced earlier in CES. According to reports, the phone will have relatively the same hardware as the W1. This includes the W1’s 4.0-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels, its 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512 of RAM, 4GB of internal memory, a micro-SD expansion slot and the 5MP rear camera.

Software-wise, the Huawei 4Afrika will come with custom apps designed by local African developers for Africa which is intended to drive the African public to the use of affordable smartphones. This phone is scheduled to go on sale later this month in several countries including Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa.

With the way things are going, it seems Huawei plans to establish a strong presence in the world market as a solid, reliable and affordable brand of phones. Do you think they stand a chance against well-known brands like Samsung, Sony or LG? Do tell us by leaving a comment below.

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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.