Author: deuts

The LG G2 QuickWindow — Great but not quite!

lg-g2-quick-window-case

If you’ve been following me on Twitter and on this blog, you’ll notice that I’m an Apple fan. I’ve had so many issues with Android before, especially with the Samsung Galaxy S2, when compared to the iPhone 4.

But the LG G2 is completely a different league from the S2. That’s why when it came out, I grabbed one for myself.

One of the selling points of the LG G2 is the QuickWindow feature when used with the LG’s own QuickWindow case. Android Central defines it as:

This latest iteration serves a couple purposes. First is to protect your phone. The QuickWindow Case is a thin shell that covers most of the G2 — and it does so with minimal thickness. It also protects most of the display, save for the window area. (That’s another change from similar covers — this window is wide open, no plastic between you and the display.) And, finally, it brings a bit of functionality to the display without having to open the cover.

But I have a few gripes about it that I hope LG can improve upon:
Continue reading The LG G2 QuickWindow — Great but not quite!

Twitter and Facebook Quick Post Buttons

quick-buttons

Whatever happened to the quick post buttons and windows for Twitter and Facebook, just like what you see in the screenshots above?

Obviously, they were removed from the notification center when iOS 7 came. I missed it because right now in order to do a quick status update to Facebook, I need to open the SLOW Facebook app, which takes forever to load before I can proceed any further. And I don’t have Siri to do it for me. Keep Reading »

Timer for iPhone

20130925-190350.jpg

I’m looking for a sleek, minimalist timer app for iPhone that keeps the display from dimming or turning off completely while in use. Of course, I need to check how much time I have left when answering test questions.

Obviously, the stock Clock app won’t cut it as the display turns off automatically after a few minutes, and I need to unlock the screen everytime I need to check the time.

Suggestion, anyone?

Does Apple Really Make Premium Products?

iphone_5s_stacked

Often you hear or read comments from bashers and non-bashers alike about how expensive Apple products are especially when there are new products released, just like the recent iPhone 5s. So the question is, does Apple really employ premium materials to their products that they’re worth that much?

I have a 3-year old, network-locked, 32GB (base model) iPhone 4 and a 2-year old unlocked Samsung Galaxy S II (SGS2). Both were selling at the same price level when they came out (~PHP32K). If you look closely at the spec sheets of both, SGS2 is the clear winner being a more recent smartphone and with a dual-core processor (see the comparison at the GSMArena). But today I can easily sell the iPhone 4 for PHP10,000 (~US$240) while the SGS2 for only PHP5,000 (~US$120). There goes your premium, ladies and gentlemen!

The Complicated Globe Superplans

Subscribing to a new Globe Telecom postpaid plan today has never been complicated. Globe is trying to project that you are getting value for your money by making you go through their slow (and I mean slow and painful loading of their website) process of choosing the plan, gadget, combos, etc. The sad truth is — that is not the case.

If we are to simplify Globe’s postpaid plan and compare it to Smart Communications’, let’s take a look at the table below, assuming we are to get an iPhone 5 with 16GB capacity at both Plan 999:

  Globe Smart
Device iPhone5 16GB iPhone5 16GB
Monthly MSF* ₱ 999 ₱ 999
Cash Out* ₱ 19,200 ₱ 19,000
Free Data Unlimited Unlimited
Free Calls nil 40 mins.
Free SMS nil 100 texts
Remaining Consumable* ₱ 101 nil

* In Philippine Peso

Globe uses Peso Value as unit of measure to be allocated/amortized among the cost of the gadget (e.g., iPhone 5), combos, and consumables. Yet, it appears (from the table above) that you really are not getting value for your peso.

The Yahoo! Sign In CAPTCHA Image

Following the news about the Flickr redesign and 1TB of free storage, I tried logging in into my Flickr photostream using my Yahoo! credentials (note: I haven’t been logging in into Yahoo! that much recently) to check out the new interface. But upon log in I was greeted with this CAPTCHA verification:

yahoo-signin-captcha-image

Continue reading The Yahoo! Sign In CAPTCHA Image

On Yahoo! Acquiring Tumblr

Yahoo! and Tumblr

AllThingsD reports: Yahoo! Board to Meet Sunday to Consider $1.1 Billion, All-Cash Deal to Acquire Tumblr.

I’d say no to this deal! Remember what happened to Delicious and Flickr, among others, after they were acquired by Yahoo!? Can you imagine if the next time you login to Tumblr you are greeted with a Yahoo! account authentication? I can’t!

UPDATE: Yahoo Tumblrs for Cool: Board Approves $1.1 Billion Deal as Expected

It appears that the deal indeed went through. But I have to wait for the changes before any drastic action is taken to my Tumblr blog.

The Features Over and Above Android

Samsung recently released their new Galaxy S4 ad to demonstrate their features like Drama Mode, Air Gestures, Hover, among others. Check out the video below:

Personally, I believe these are the features that the Galaxy S4 owners would enjoy showing off to friends and ignore thereafter. They would hardly find real life applications for those features, especially when those are the same things that drain the batteries fast.

But of course, Samsung was wise enough to leave off the issues that plague their flagship phone, like overheating, unreliability of the system, slow recharging but fast discharging of the battery, involuntary system reboot, etc. That’s Android for you!

Visita Iglesia 2013 — A Walkathon Around Makati

It was a little over 10K walkathon for me this Good Friday as I visited seven (7) churches around and about Makati’s business district.

The route I took is as follows:

  1. St. Joseph the Worker Parish, 4927 Enrique St., Palanan
  2. San Ildefonso Parish, A. Arnaiz Ave. cor. M. Reyes St., Pio del Pilar
  3. St. John Bosco Parish, A. Arnaiz Ave. Cor. Amorsolo St., P.O. Box 1336, M C P O
  4. Sts. Peter And Paul Parish, 5539 D.M. Rivera St., Poblacion
  5. St. Andrew The Apostle Parish, N. Garcia And Neptune Sts., Bel-air II
  6. Holy Cross Parish, 211 J. P. Rizal St.
  7. National Shrine Of The Sacred Heart Of Jesus, Sacred Heart St. (formerly Dao St.), San Antonio Village

I actually planned and mapped in advance the locations and routes in Google Maps:

visita_iglesia_map

You may check out the map in Google Maps.

I had my Canon Powershot G15 with me and here are the pictures I took to document the day: Check out the Gallery after the jump »