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.

The past week has been full of gadget sales and price drops courtesy of the American holiday of thanksgiving. And although we Filipinos don’t really celebrate thanksgiving and other events related to it such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the technology that is the Internet and online shopping has made it possible for Pinoys to enjoy the lowered prices of a lot of tech goodies offered online.

And in this week’s episode of Tech Tuesdays, we’ll be talking about two very popular products that made the record books for the most number of sales during the weekend sale in the United States. The two devices in question are the recently released Nintendo Wii U and the Samsung Galaxy Note II.

First one up is the Nintendo Wii U which sold around 400,000 units during its first week of sales. The console was first released on November 18 all over the U.S. However, it didn’t fly off immediately as reports from Twitter indicated that although there was a crowd of people at Nintendo’s flagship store in New York, other stores elsewhere were not having the same experience.

Fortunately, Nintendo made a complete turnaround during Black Friday as the company sold over 300,000 Wii U units just for the first week of its release. This was primarily due to the number of Black Friday deals and discounts from retailers that made the price drop close to the $100 price point. Moreover, Nintendo’s handheld consoles – the 3DS and the DS also sold well, having a combined sales figure of over 500,000 units.

Another sales milestone last week was that from Samsung with their Galaxy Note II. After just 2 months of its launch on September 26, 2012; Samsung’s phablet has reached the 5 million mark in terms of worldwide sales. The Note II is available in almost 128 countries, so it’s not surprising that it hit the 2 million quicker than its predecessor, the original Galaxy Note which took more than 5 months to reach 5 million mark. The Galaxy S3 is also doing pretty well with sales reaching into the 30 million plus range.

The Galaxy Note II is already available in the Philippines at prices starting at P31,000 while the Nintendo Wii U is set to arrive on our shores in the coming weeks, maybe even days.

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Did you also buy anything from the Black Friday sale or the Cyber Monday sale? Do tell us your experience by leaving a comment below. You can also add us up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus or subscribe to our blog for more updates in the world of Filipino living.

Technology has always been a part of man’s life ever since history began. It may take different forms as time goes by and it may function differently as newer technologies emerge, but one thing always remains no matter when you are, technology plays an important role in our lives.

In fact, all of us have had a moment to experience technology during our childhood. I guess we just don’t appreciate it nowadays with all our gadgets, phones, laptops and tablets. So to refresh your memories, here are a few techie toys from the decade that was.

Nintendo Family Computer

Otherwise known as the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES is the iconic gaming console of the 90s. Unlike today’s hard drive based or Disc based gaming systems, the NES used cartridges which children blow air with their mouths whenever the system fails to load the game. The NES came with two controllers equipped with a 4-way navigational button, and 2 action buttons (labeled A and B).

The NES was the best-selling gaming console of its time and was later named in 2009 by American gaming website, IGN as the single greatest video game console in history.

Tamagotchi

The tamagotchi was the first digital pet to be introduced in the Philippines. It was first sold by Bandai in 1996 in Japan and slowly went viral all over the world. The object of the game is to raise a virtual animal or other type of living being from its birth, usually as an egg to adult stage.

On top of that, the owner of a tamagotchi is required to perform tasks or chores related to the development of the pet including bathing, feeding, and playing with the virtual pet. The tamagotchi can also get sick so it is the duty of the owner to cure him and help it recover. If the virtual pet dies or in any case that the owner wants to start over, a button can be pressed to reset the entire process.

The Brick Game

The brick game is the one of the affordable gadget in the 90s. With a price tag not exceeding 200 pesos, a lot of kids and even adults in the 1990s was able to enjoy this gaming device. The brick game allows the user to play a monochrome version of tetris on a small LCD screen with buttons similar to the NES.

Nintendo Game Boy

For those who were looking for a portable version of the NES, the Nintendo Gameboy offers the best of both worlds with functionality comparable to the NES but with a form factor very similar to the brick game.

Just like the NES, games for the Gameboy are stored in a cartridge and owners can buy and swap game titles whenever a new game is released. It also has the same navigational and action buttons as the NES and the brick game. It was usually powered by four AA batteries but a separate AC/DC adapter can be purchased for use in longer periods of time.

Electronic Dictionary

Another gadget that kids in the 90s were fond of is the electronic dictionary. Although it wasn’t really designed to be used as an entertainment device, its word game features was a hit for kids back then.

It’s definitely cheaper than a Gameboy but offers more functionality than a brick game. Furthermore, it can be brought to school without any problems with strict teachers and school administrators of that decade. If you’ve own one of these electronic devices or you classmate had one, I’m sure that you remember playing “Hang Man” or some sort of word guessing game during recess and lunch breaks.

And that’s it folks! Did we miss something? If you had the opportunity to play other techie games and toys that were not listed in this post back in the days, please tell our readers about it by leaving a comment below. You can also add TFL on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, or subscribe to our RSS feeds for other Filipino Lifestyle related stories.

Hello Everyone! It’s Tuesday once again and it’s time again for our weekly roundup of tech news from around the globe. Last week, we talked about Apple’s new iPhone, iPod touch and iPod nano and the various features these three devices are bringing in into the market. But if you’re somehow drowning in news and features about these new Apple products, then this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays would probably give you a breath of fresh air.

To be specific, we’ll be talking about a new game for computers and mobile devices, an updated version of a very popular productivity suite and two new gaming consoles that will launch in a few months’ time. If you’re all set, let’s get the ball rollin’ shall we?

BAD PIGGIES

Rovio’s Angry Birds franchise has already enjoyed an amazing streak of success with its series of mobile games having been downloaded for over 1 billion times and having been revitalized several times with numerous updates and versions. But Rovio is now shifting the spotlight from the birds and now to the pigs – with Bad Piggies.

However, unlike the Angry Birds Games, Bad Piggies utilizes a different form of gameplay. If you’re wondering if you’re going to use a catapult of some sort to throw things or pigs to the birds, then you’re deeply mistaken. Instead, users will act as engineers, navigators and drivers for the pigs, as the game is focused on users creating a vehicle for the pigs for them to travel from point A to point B. The official trailer of the game is shown below.

Bad Piggies is scheduled for release on Thursday – September 27 for iOS, Android, PC and Mac.

MICROSOFT OFFICE 2013

Microsoft has finally unveiled the pricing for their 2013 Office productivity suite. There are two ways to purchase the applications suite. First would be to get the office suite through common retail channels just like its predecessor. Licensing terms will also follow the same rules as Office 2010. Having said this, users will only be able to install the software on one computer so users would need to buy separate licenses for them to install the program on more than one computer. Per-PC licensing starts at $140 and could go up to $400.

There’s also a subscription based versions of MS Office 2013. First is the Office 365 Home Premium which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Published, Access and Outlook. This version will cost around $100 per year for a household license that will allow users to install the software on up to a maximum of five PCs or Macs and on selected smartphones and tablets.

Users can also subscribe to the Office 365 Small Business Premium version package. Just like the Office Professional Plus 2010 which were sold traditionally through volume licensing programs. In this method, licenses are sold on a per-user basis, at $150 per user per year, with each subscriber getting the right to install the software on up to five machines and on select smartphones and tablets.

Aside from that, subscription packages allows users to get additional features such as cloud storage via Sky Drive, Skype minutes, SharePoint storage and hosted exchange to name a few.

Nintendo Wii U

Nintendo and Sony have announced that they will be releasing new consoles in the coming months. On one side, Nintendo has already made available for pre-order their recently launched Wii U. Meant to replace the Wii, the new console will sell for around $300 and will feature personal TV and video programming and recording through TiVo and other digital recording services.

The Wii U will also feature a “GamePad” that can act as a remote control, with its built-in touchscreen, which can either replicate or supplement the gameplay shown on the main display. The controller features an accelerometer, gyroscope, camera, dual analog sticks, a built-in microphone and can even support NFC.

If the game pad looks a little bit intimidating for you, a more familiar Wii U Pro Controller can be bought separately. Like most traditional game controllers, the Wii U Pro has standard control sticks, buttons and triggers.

Specs wise, Nintendo’s upcoming gaming console will be powered by an IBM Power7-based multi-core processor, a custom AMD Radeon High Definition GPGPU, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of on-board storage which can be expanded via SD memory cards or USB hard disk drives. It also has a slot-loading optical disc drive plus basic I/O ports like a sensor bar power output, AV Multi out port and a HDMI 1.4 out port to name a few.

The Nintendo Wii U is expected to go on sale on November for North America, November 30 in Europe and Australia, and Japan is set to follow on December.

So that’s a wrap for this week’s edition of Tech Tuesdays on TFL. Tune in again next week for more tech news from around the globe. You can also follow us on Twitter, be a fan on Facebook or subscribe to our RSS feeds to get even more updates not only about technology and gadgets but also other stories about Filipino lifestyle.