Just Another Price Watch

Its been a while since I feature price watch on my blog and I have a new phone added on my list, the Nokia E75, a business smartphone with side slider QWERTY keyboard for optimal messaging experience, sporting Symbian OS, S60 rel. 3.2, 3.5G HSDPA, WIFI, videos, music, and graphics on a 2.4” QVGA display and orientation sensor, this phone is very much considered a power house device. The device carries also an integrated A-GPS, 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera, USB charging with simultaneous data transfer, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, and USB 2.0 High-Speed among others.

E75 was introduce to the Philippine market just this week with a price mark of Php22,700, mall price and a whopping Php25,000 in Nokia Flagship Stores. Quite reasonable here knowing that the device with same spectrum like E71 was introduce at Php27,000 price range and yet E75 has extra buffs with it like the slide QWERTY and N-Gage compatibility.

Speaking about E71, the most successful device in the Enterprise series, the device is now within Php15,900 marked, a huge drop from its initial tag, enjoy top of the line device for a mid range price.

The 5800 XpressMusic, the fastest selling mobile phone in the world now cost Php15,200 mall price, quite remarkable here since its was only 3 months ago that this cost Php25,000. A midrange powerhouse that conquers the touchscreen market with a bang. Nokia must make more low cost, best specs phones to make a huge impact again and that includes N97 suppose to be if they sold it below the 500 Euro marked but instead they bullied it to 599 Euro, a big mistake. They would have conquer the touch market in all fronts but unfortunately there stupid enough to realize this.

N85, a dream phone of mine is now labeled within the Php18,900 price range. The AMOLED carrying device with awesome dual slider form factor is now within reached, I was thinking of buying this phone instead of the overprice N97 but I dont think I'm ready to leave my N82 just yet.

N82, the device to beat by Nokia new comers is now sold at Php13,500, an awesome price designation that can boil water without heating. Imagine a device with powerful specs unequalled in Nokia realms yet sold at a cheap price, its like the biggest sale in the history of mobile phones. If your a power user within using a midrange phone at the moment or even N Series users like N73, N80 etc, then this is the best upgrade for you, enjoy the Best Imaging Device with Xenon Flash, splashed into the world of N-Gage with 3D acceleration graphics support like no others and sway into the sleekness and rubostness with N82's design and form factor. Amazing!!

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N97's Bitter Price.

In my Email round up lately, I've crossed several newsletters with N97 headliner, the seemingly unstoppable arrival of the most anticipated smartphone in the mobile world to date, well, maybe not anymore after a bitter price tagged into it.

Yesterday, a website mentioned that Nokia allegedly decrease the price of the phone from from 540 Pounds, its original announce price before tax to below 500 Pound mark which would mean happy days for everyone since it would save me and the other eager buyers huge bucks. It was sited that Nokia made this decision in respect to the economic recession that the world is experiencing at the moment. I cannot confirm though if this website is reliable but as far as I've notice, this is a formal site for news and events, not just a blog or a fly by night site.

Then the next day it became official with a Telecom network announcing N97's price tag, Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) posted the device on their webpage with a whopping 599 Euro which is equivalent to $780 in US Dollars and Php38,100 in Philippine peso, an amazingly crazy and expensive price for a mobile phone. Who the hell would buy this phone with an insane cost, its utterly ridiculous. I wont buy a mobile phone that cost more than my laptop, its annoying and Nokia people are crazy. How come they're selling this phone expensively when its greatest competitor the Omnia HD with powerful specs cost only 440 Euro, thats a 150 Euro lower than N97? I just cant get it, N97 has a mediocre specs with ARM11 460mHz processor, QWERTY keyboard and huge memory on it and yet it cost more?

This would become the most brainless marketing decision that Nokia made in the history of mobile world. No wonder why their losing market share, they just don't know how to price there phone competitively anymore. They become overly greedy and they keep on making wrong decisions. Giving away Symbian UI for competitors to enjoy is a blatant mistake, sticking to low specs phones and not introducing innovative products is a crime in competitive world, etc.. Nokia have to stop this madness before its to late.

Nokia should correct this insanity as soon as possible before buyers like me would loss interest on buying N97 and if this really goes through, it would mean that I will be dropping this phone for another touchscreen device with QWERTY like the HTC Touch Pro maybe or Andriod phones, it can also be non QWERTY like Omnia HD or iPhone 3G 8GB which by the way even cost cheaper than N97, iPhone cost Php32,000 here in the Philippines, 6 thousand cheaper than N97, so its a possibility, but certainly not 5800 XpressMusic. I hate iPhone before due to its expensive price and I hate Samsung rather due to its durability issues but perception change specially when it comes to fairness and I might consider this phones rather than a Php38,000, N97.

Well good luck Nokia, you still have two months to reverse the price before I'm going to be out of Love.

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The Smart Summer Rewards!!

Smart Telecom Inc, kicks of summer with a heat wave plunging out the hottest rewards on asylum under the the Smart Rewards Program.

FREE Le Donne slip-on mules
5% discount on Adidas apparel
10% OFF at The Body Shop
20% discount at L'Fisher Hotel
30% OFF on Itti Shoes
40% discount on Lasik Laser at the International Eye Center
50% OFF on Ozracing products
60% discount on Sporthouse items

Smart Rewards is a program tailored to the networks subscribers for using and staying Smart. It is a loyalty program that lets you earn rewards points every time you use SMART Buddy, SMART Gold or SMART Bro. Points can be redeem by either free texts, free internet time, bill rebates, discounts from partner establishments among others.

Earn Rewards Points by simply loading up, use value added services or for every peso charged to an account. Get exclusive Discounts by presenting coupons to partner establishments and they have long list of shops, hotels and food stalls to choose from nationwide.

To mention some, Le Donne, Complink, Planet Exchange, RJ Guitar Center, Sportshouse, The Body Shop, Burgoo, McDonalds, Wendy's, La Cabana Spa, Salon de Rose, Holiday Inn among others.

To register, Text REWARDS to 9800 for Gold and Buddy subscribers and for Bro, just register your account to www.smart.com.ph/connect.

This is a very good program for SMART since it will entail a notion of concernment and importance to the subscribers. Its human nature to cast fanaticism when people shows gratitude, compassion and empathy to others and this is the best way to established such with a growing competition unfolding.

Head over to Smarts Website for complete list of partner establishments. Its pays to be SMART.

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US Weekend Box Office

April 24 - 26 Weekend

1. Obsessed
$28,500,000.00
Gross: $28,500,000.00

2. 17 Again
$11,665,000.00
Gross: $39,970,000.00




3. Fighting
$11,441,000.00
Gross: $11,441,000.00

4. The Soloist
$9,715,000.00
Gross: $9,715,000.00




5. Earth
$8,554,000,00
Gross: $14,201,000.00

6. Monsters vs. Aliens
$8,524,000.00
Gross: $174,817,000.00




7. State of Play
$6,891,000.00
Gross: $25,124,000.00

8. Hannah Montana The Movie
$6,372,000.00
Gross: $65,590,000.00




9. Fast & Furious
$6,062,000.00
Gross: $145,224,000.00

10. Crank High Voltage
$2,400,000.00
Gross: $11,518,000.00

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Unlimited Internet 3G, Service That Philippine Telecoms Should Consider.

I seriously believe that this is the best time for Telecommunication companies here in the Philippines like Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular to offer an unlimited Internet 3G service on mobile phones having a fully matured market that wants to be connected to the web at all times, in all places, using a device they carry most of the time and by almost anybody, Mobile Phones.

Customer's demand have changed in full blast and most Filipinos now a days crave for connectivity not only within the country but all over the world and the best avenue to do this is through the web where they can meet every people and personality, find the best possible knowledge and information, discover the best entertainment mediums among others. Isn't this a good segment to cash in more profit if the Telecom networks? Look at how many Internet shops were built in the past few years, it quadrupled from few to thousands. Look at how many Filipinos access Twitter, IM, Friendster, Facebook, YouTube among other online sharing and chatting communities, its in a staggering up right rate. Internet is now the biggest thing that matters for almost everyone and they have with them a tool that reach this route, mobile phones with 3G technology.

As the a new generation speaks up through me, we want to be constantly connected to our email, to current news and events by bringing up live video streaming, to the latest fab on YouTube, to the online games that we play, to the current condition of the products I'm bidding on eBay, to the messages sent by my friends all over the world in Yahoo Messenger or MSN, to the readers of my Blog who posted comments or questions, to the Tweets of the people I'm following on Twitter, to the new pictures posted by my friends on Friendster and Facebook, to the videos shared by my acquaintances on Ovi among others. We want an unlimited 24/7 access to all this anytime, anywhere, and we should be heard, this is what we want and we want it as soon as possible.

As of the moment 3G Web service is being offered at a rate of Php 15.00 for 30 minutes, expensive than a regular Internet shop rate, who do you think will avail the web service on a mobile phone where people can pay the same rate on an Internet cafe with big screen and fast computers, nobody to none, so its as good as a dead service offered to the almost dyeing, an huge waste of investment and opportunity. Why not offer it in an unlimited monthly rate with full access to the web just like in broadband service for PC. This would surely create a huge demand and support specially among the business minded, students, young professionals and the entire Internet fab generation in general. It summed up 85% percent of the entire population nowadays, don't they want to capture this huge market?

Countries in Europe particularly in United Kingdom and France have this services and it has been very successful so far in terms support and following. This would mean that the local telecoms will not have a hard time setting this up here since they can just tailor it to the existing set up made by Telecom companies in other countries.

At least they could offer it in a Php 999 package same to that of the existing unlimited broadband service and they wont set up anything here, no antennas what so ever since mobile phones have 3G chips on them, just few add-ons on their towers for 3G technology to work anywhere, not just the current city proper coverage and wallah, done, its as easy as A, B, C. Huge possible profit inflow without a huge investment, isn't this a win-win scenario for Telecom companies?

Consider this Smart and Globe, this is the future of your company, unlimited connectivity that can reach the entire world. Who ever of you can give this service first will carry the top posts in the upcoming generation to come. That's how this matters. Future! One.

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Nokia N82:Top Theme Of The Week

Every week I'm featuring exceptional Themes from creative and talented authors in a way of recognizing there hard work and dedication. Kudos!

What I like about this theme is the icons uniquely crafted by pizero and the wallpaper that perceive serenity, peace and calmness. Somehow every time I look at my phone, it will relax my troubled mind. c",

Mystic 3rd by Pizero
Download Here




























For more Exceptional Themes, CLICK HERE.

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American Idol 8 Round Up

Performance Night:

The performance night was one of the best show ever in Season 8. I thought it was a major brag at first having no idea what era the Theme was and what song where referred to as Disco. My current idea about it was that its a fast electronic beat like Boom Boom Pow kind of thingy but I perceive it incorrectly, it was an old circa that drag my excitement down further. Big thanks to the renditions of the Top 7, my idea of it have change 360 degrees particularly the performance of Adam Lambert and Kris Allen.

I believe it was an Adam Lambert's Night, performing his best rendition ever. If I Cant Have You was by mile more better than Mad World and the rest of his songs, it was actual the first time that I was able to connect emotionally to his performance, a moving performance.

Kris Allen's rendition of She Works Hard For The Money was unique and very original, an art of artistry and brilliance. I can now clearly see him joining Adam Lambert at the final showdown. He had successfully distinguish himself as real artist other than just a singer and that makes a big difference.

Going down to my other beats, Allison has a power vocal performance, she always does and she slowly groomed herself to artfulness. The transformation from a singer with good vocals to a real performer was very visible for here. It will be here biggest asset to make it to the end. Simon call him the underdog because he know that Allison's journey can be great underdog story and everyone loves Underdogs.

Anoop and Matt lost the call of stardom, Matt specially, he was among the best talent in the show but unfortunately, they have not wage extra effort to make their performances more appealing to viewers.

Elimination Night:

Elimination night was one of the most exciting night so far because two contestants will be booted out and I thought one of my beats will definitely be eliminated and it did. Anoop Desai, one of my early favorites was axed face down amidst good reviews from the judges except Simon. It was expected though because only few contestants left and most of them are talented and popular.

Lil Rounds was finally eliminated, maybe Americans have realized her suffering and finally put an end to it. She was the first one to be called and booted. The next roll call was the most unexpected because Allison was called to be one of the bottom two with Anoop Desai. She really have no viewers appeal amidst her great talent, sad but she might be ending her quest next week or two weeks from now unless people will step up for her like Miley Cyrus who made a call to everyone for votes. She needs support and she needs it badly.

That's all for now folks, more American Idol round ups next week. c",

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Metrobank Credit Card Cashback Promotion On The Go.

Metrobank Card Corporation, a joint venture of Metropolitan Banking Corporation, the country's biggest bank and ANZ, Australia's most awarded loan lender, gunned a new advertising campaign for their Loyal Credit Card Users, the Metrobank Credit Card Cashback Promotion.

Earn Php300 cashback when you use your Metrobank Credit Card anywhere. A monthly spend of P10,000 is needed to earn the cashback.

Mechanics:
1. This promotion is open to all cardholders of Metrobank Mastercard/Visa Credit Card and Femme Visa.
2. Upon reaching an accumulated monthly spend of Php10,000 anywhere, cardholders will get Php300 back. Valid send includes all retail transactions; i.e. non-installment purchase of goods and services from merchants. Examples of retail transactions are purchases from groceries, department stores, gasoline stations, clothing stores, etc.
3. Valid spend excludes finance charges, penalty fees, annual membership fees and other charges. Also excluded from the spend are Cash Advances, Bills2Pay, Balance Transfer, Balance Conversion, Merchant Installment and Payment Arrangement transactions.
4. Accumulation of any amount more than Php10,000 within a months is still equivalent to Php300 cash back.
5. To Join the promotion, card holders will need to register by texting CASH <16-digit> and send to 0918-963MTXT (6898). For example: CASH 1234567812345678 8700700 markcruz@yahoo.com. One the registration is completed, a notification message will be send to cardholder's mobile number within 3 working days. Transaction date within the calendar months will now be tracked versus the Php10,000 promotion requirement.
6. The Php300 cashback will appear on the monthly billing statement of qualified and registered cardholders. The cashback will appear in the succeeding month.
7. Some cardholders may have their monthly billing statement reflect the cashback 2 months after the promo month. However the cashback will be credited to cardholder's account within 3 days from the ens of each month. Affected cardholders can confirm by calling their respective hotlines.
8. To qualify for a cashback, cardholders must have an active account, and have no existing past due. Otherwise the cashback will be forfieted.
9. Promotion period: April 1 to May 31, 2009
10. The use of Metrobank Credit Card in connection to this promo is subject to the Terms and Conditions governing the issuance of Metrobank Credit Cards.

For Questions and Clarification, Call 8-700-700 (Metro Manila) or 1-800-1-888-5775 (Domestic Tool Free)

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Nokia Photo Browser Ported To N82

Nokia Beta Labs release a new beta version of Nokia Photo Browser that can now support S60 Feature Pack 1 devices like the magnificent N82. The software first came out two weeks ago with 5800 XpresMusic as the only supported phone and gained a huge buzz all over the web by bringing new experience in photo viewing.

I can say that this is one of the best enhancement Nokia had recently. It simply made photo veiwing fun and attractive. Credit goes down to the people behind this, though not an original concept (reminds me of Cooloris software on PC), porting this to mobile phone with features added like 3D effect, is worth praising. Yes, I find the old Nokia photo browser annoying since it doesn't segregate images from videos and yes its dull and boring. This software is like a relief I have been waiting for a long time.

Upon opening this software for the first time, uploading images takes at about 10 minutes or more, depending on the number of pictures save on the phone and memory card but once all the images were uploaded and save by the software's memory, everything works majestically.

Transition from one images to the other is fast within a thumbnail window, though there is a slight delay of about 2 seconds in removing blur specially when your browsing from one thumbnail window to another, few tweaks made will solve the problem in due time. The thumbnail window is an eye candy with a 3D floating effect making the switch from one images to the other looks awesome and the change from landscape mode to portrait mode is smooth. Zooming images to fit the screen is one click away but it doesn't have the bubble 3D effect that of touched UI's. I don't think Nokia can find a way to have this bubble effect ported to non touch phones, and lastly an option to know the name of the picture and the date it was taken. All this adds up to making photo viewing lively and interactive, my kind of way. I found a minor bug though, when you open the Photo Browser on a Portrait mode, the images comes out rn Landscape postition and you have to tilt your phone landscape then back to portrait to correct it.

Anyways, why not port this effect to the phones Menu next so it would bring something different. I have always been wanting something different on my phone every now and then thats why I become a Nokia stought follower. They always offer something different every now and then with wide rage of optimization and personalization on their portfolio.

If you want to experience the new Nokia Photo Browser, DOWNLOAD HERE. For more Outstanding Nokia N82 Applications and Software, CLICK HERE.

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US Weekend Box Office

April 17 - 19, 2009 Weekend

1. 17 Again
$24,065,000.00
Gross: $24,065,000.00

2. State of Play
$14,099,000.00
Gross: $14,099,000.00




3. Monsters vs. Aliens
$12,900,000.00
Gross: $162,723,000.00

4. Hannah Montana The Movie
$12,666,000.00
Gross: $56,133,000.00




5. Fast & Furious
$12,290,000.00
Gross: $136,721,000.00

6. Crank High Voltage
$6,510,000.00
Gross: $6,510,000.00




7. Observe and Report
$4,055,000.00
Gross: $18,692,000.00

8. Knowing
$3,478,000.00
Gross: $73,699,000.00




9. I Love You, Man
$3,370,000.00
Gross: $64,657,000.00

10. The Haunting in Connecticut
$3,150,000.00
Gross: $51,918,000.00

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American Idol 8: Elimination

Thoughts on the elimination round the other day... as I predicted, the bottom 3 was Matt, Anoop and Lil Rounds but what surprise me big time was Matt who received the lowest vote among the three. I believe it was Lil that should have been demise by the voters because all along she was a big mess and that she really needs to be redeem from her sufferings.

Matt have been doing more better than her in terms of delivering good performances and he needs to be credited for that by having him stay a bit longer than Lil Rounds. What wrong with Americans now a days, they seemed to lost the value of good judgment and the meaning of artistry by sticking with Lil. Wake up people and vote those who deserves to stay like Matt. I hope racism did not come to play in this competition, its because Lil was black that black Americans are oblige to vote for her, come on, a black president has already been elected so the notion of black oppression has already been cast off. Black Americans should vote for the deserving contestants and not because she's black.

Matt was just lucky to have been save by the Judges, at least there were 4 people in America that have not lost there sense of taste. Anyways, the competition will be more tougher next week since the two contestants will be sent home base on the rules set when the Judges Save option was granted and I hope one of them is Lil.

Well see!!

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Whats With Twitter?

I've read a lot of buzz and articles lately about Twitter and how celebrities and news organizations rave and campaign for followers in the net, television among other possible tube even to the point of giving a tag price to it. So whats with this Twitter phenomenon and how did it gain momentum? I really have no idea about this online community before not until a competition was raise by the members as to who will come out as the first celebrity or group to gain 1 million followers and I think this was the traction that launched the rave.

Back to the question, so whats with this Twitter thingy? Well, Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length that are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them, so its basically a sharing site and a service for gossip muggers, haha, just kidding.

Well I guess, knowing everything present, about your friends, family, love ones or favorite celebrities is human nature and the best way to access this is through this site and that's why this became a big hit. Aside from this, there were quite a lot of people out there who wants to share their life to everyone and this site gave them the voice to speak up like yours truly... my blog is about sharing my thoughts and my world and so that is why I created my own Twitter account just today and so far I have already 4 follower after just a few minutes being in the site. Hmm.. call that a milestone in my part hahaha, anyways I have subscribe to a few tweets from CNN, Fox News, Ryan Seacrest (for my American Idol update) and Nokia Conversations (of course) and thinking of joining Playboy tweets hahaha, just trying to be funny here.

If you want to follow my Tweets guys, just CLICK THIS, it will bring you to my Tweeter Profile page and you can subscribe from there (am I right?) just sign in to your Twitter account or if you don't have one yet, Sign Up. I promise to pray for World Peace if you subscribe to my tweets haha, rich people like Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey offered to donate $10,000 to malaria fund if ever they reach 1 million mark first and I dont have a million bucks to do that. c",

So, what will you expect from my twitts? Ahhh, still thinking about it, maybe some nasty stuff haha, just kidding!! Bye for now Folks!! Happy Twitting?!?

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Nokia N86 8MP, 2009's Best Mobile Imaging Device!!

Nokia N86 8MP has not been release yet but it already won The Best Mobile Imaging Device for 2009 by one of the most prestigious award giving body in Europe, TIPA or the Technical Image Press Association. A big accomplishment for the people behind this device since they are now ripping the fruits of their hard work.

TIPA is the most coveted photo and imaging award in Europe, established and organized in 1991 with members reaching to as much as 25 magazines and publication represented by editors and experts with an aim to recognized the best photo and imaging devices of the year thus enhancing its quality and caliber. Editors from each magazine form the General Assembly which then decides which products are considered for voting. Innovation, cutting edge technology, design, ergonomics, ease-of-use, price and performance are all taken into consideration during the judging and voting process. Only one product in each category is chosen annually to carry the award badge.

According to TIPA, the new Nokia N86 8MP, with an f/2.8 Zeiss wide-angle zoom lens and an 8MP sensor won because it represents a new step forward in the mobile phone imaging segment. The device sports center weighted exposure, 1/1000 sec. shutter speed, multimode flash and several scene modes with macro down to 10cm, not to mention advanced communication and location technologies.

Nokia has been holding this crown for several years now starting in 2006 where N80 was cited as the best imaging device followed by N95 in 2007 and N82 in 2008. The award segment started in 2005 where Sony Ericsson K750 won the title.

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Nokia N82: Top Theme Of The Week

Every week I'm featuring exceptional Themes from creative and talented authors in a way of recognizing there hard work and dedication. Kudos! What I like about this theme is the 5800 feel on it specially background image and the icons. A reminiscent to my two whole day stint of my brother's 5800 XpressMusic. After buying it for him, I can barely touch it now, he doesn't want anybody fiddling his stuffs specially his well loved mobile phone. Darn!

Touch Blue by Flahorn
Download Here




























If you notice, I have a new front panel page, the mobile network was not Globe anymore but a Smart Gold 3G. I have switched and I'm very happy that I'm back to being Smart dude again.

For more Exceptional Nokia N82 Themes
Click Here

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