Nokia N9 Review

2012-02-03T14:34:50Z

We immediately fell in love with the Nokia N9 when we first saw it in July 2011. It’s 3.9 inches, AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 16M colors evidently makes this phone on par with the iPhone. 5 months later, Nokia and Smart formally launched it and put more power to the finger as it’s the first and probably only phone we ever came across with that demoted the value of home buttons. The word ‘swipe’ became sexier than ever.

The Software: The Main Ish

The Nokia N9 is the successor to the defunct Nokia N900. It runs on a forked variant of Meego 1.2 Harmattan. As a matter of fact, it is the first and the only phone, [manufactured by Nokia] that carries the Meego OS. It was a great and promising open-source OS (like Maemo 5 of N900) but the growing competition radically put it easily aside.

No matter how great the Nokia N9 is, its software (OS) is and would always be the main ish (issue). Lots of companies may have publicly pledged to support the Meego OS project, but the interest of consumers became even more focused on the rise of Windows Phone 7, the ever-growing Android and the dominant iOS.

Putting the competition aside, Meego OS in Nokia N9 is undeniably a beautiful software. Unlike Android 2.3.6 on my Galaxy Note, the performance of Meego 1.2 Harmattan on my Nokia N9 is more fluid and fast. Take note that my Galaxy Note has dual core 1.4 GHz processor and my Nokia N9 only has single core 1 GHz processor. Again, it all boils down to one reason: the operating system.

Check out the video below for a walk-through on the N9′s operating system:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Form: Nokia Loves It

Nokia N9

Nokia Lumia 800

Obviously, the Lumia 800 borrowed the form and design of the N9 with minimal differences. Let me rephrase: the Lumia 800 borrowed the sexiness of the Nokia N9. I was fascinated to see that this phone got only 3 hardware buttons – the volume rocker up, rocker down and the dedicated on/off button found on the right side of the device.

Nokia N9 Volume Rocker and Power Button

Amazingly, the limited physical buttons didn’t cause any problem while using the device. All it took me on this phone was a SWIPE to navigate its operating system. Exiting apps required me to swipe from the edge of the device to the other. (Apparently, there is one more gesture apart from swiping that you need to remember when using this device – tapping to wake the device up.)

Nokia N9's Multitasking Panel

The homescreen took me to the native and installed applications on the device. It didn’t look so fancy. The application icons are reminiscent of the icons from the recently release Symbian Anna and Belle. I swiped to the right and it took me to the notification area of the device. It’s where – well – all the notifications are placed from new emails to new chat messages; from new Twitter mention to Facebook comments. It was a pretty convenient experience to see everything in one area. I swiped back to the homescreen, then another swipe to the right and the operating system took me to the running applications in the background in widgets view.

Nokia N9's Events or Notification Area

Camera

The Nokia N9′s camera is, by far, one of the best and fastest camera’s I’ve seen. Of course, when compared to the camera of Samsung Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Note, photos taken on the N9 look quite duller and grainier especially on low lighting conditions. Take a look at our pictures below using Sony NEX-5, Samsung Galaxy Note and the Nokia N9, taken at 3-15 minutes interval from 4:53PM to 5:15PM.

Taken Using Galaxy Note at 4:53PM

Taken using the Nokia N9 at 4:56 P.M.

Taken using the Sony Nex-5 at 5:15 P.M.

Battery

Battery life of the Nokia N9 is decent. With minimal use on 3G mobile internet, heavy on SMS messages and business calls with my TOP clients, my Nokia N9 started to gasp for power juice after 18 hours from a full charge. I thought that such performance is very impressive, as expected.

NFC

NFC or Near Field Communication is the future of device pairings. With a simple “bump” or “touch” of two devices, certain actions will be performed such as transacting payments, sharing data, “broadcasting” songs from the phone to an NFC-enable speaker, playing multiplayer games and so much more. The Nokia N9, amazingly, is endowed with this feature.

Summary

Overall, my experience with the Nokia N9 and its Meego 1.2 operating system was somewhat convenient and fascinating. It was so different from my experience with the Nokia N900 and its Maemo 5 operating system. I just really hope that this phone would be officially available here in the Philippines. Stephen Elop may have already declared their unfortunate plans for this phone, but it is, without a doubt, going to be a keeper.

Nokia Lumia 800 Hands-On

2012-01-20T02:57:21Z

We were able to play with the Nokia Lumia 800 yesterday at the Thanksgiving Party of Nokia at Philam Life Tower. Thanks to the Product Manager of Nokia Philippines, Mike Smith, for lending us his Lumy. We hope that we’ll get a demo unit before it officially comes out in the Philippines.

No related posts.

Nokia Philippines Introduces New General Manager

2012-01-20T02:57:13Z

Nokia launched lots of phones last year like the Nokia N8, N9, Nokia Asha Series and of course, the Nokia Lumia 800. Yesterday, January 19, 2012, at their Thanksgiving Party held at Tower Club, Philam Life Tower, Nokia Philippines started the year with a different twist – they “unveiled” their new General Manager and Head of Sales, Mr. Dharmesh Goshalia.

Dharmesh Goshalia General Manager and Head of Sales Nokia Philippines

As the new General Manager of Nokia Philippines, Goshalia or Gosh to colleagues, brings with him formidable experience in business development, management and marketing across retail distribution and operator business from diverse markets. Under his management, Nokia Philippines is looking at maintaining its market leadership in the country while continuing to innovate and keep pace with the needs of the market (See full Press Release below).

We, at Gadget Pilipinas, are also thankful to Nokia and their PR partner-par excellence, FuentesManila at Nokia’s Thanksgiving event yesterday for inviting us. We did not only meet the new General Manager, but we also won a brand-spanking new Nokia N9 64gb. Good times, indeed.

Picture courtesy of TheTechnoclast.com

PRESS RELEASE

Nokia Philippines welcomes new General Manager

Nokia recently announced the appointment of Dharmesh Goshalia as General Manager of its Philippine office. He will also handle the position of Head of Sales at the company.

With his appointment, Gosh sets his sights on bringing his strong leadership and strategic decision-making skills to continue to drive Nokia’s success in the country. “The mobile phone landscape in the Philippines is very dynamic and exciting, and we look forward to maintaining Nokia’s leadership position in the country. Nokia has a long-running relationship with Filipino mobile users, and enjoys a huge gap over competitors in terms of preference, driven by its strong image as a trustworthy brand, meeting customer needs and being easy to use,” said Gosh.

According to Gosh, 2012 is another exciting year for Nokia as it delivers aspirational products that offer choice for consumers, with differentiation on quality and value for money. “I’m excited to be at the center of all these amazing developments and look forward to further strengthening Nokia’s relationship with Filipino consumers and steer the company to achieve further success here,” added Gosh.

To date, Nokia continues to change the game in the smartphone business as it gears up to build a winning ecosystem with Microsoft. The Nokia Lumia 800, Nokia Lumia 710 and Nokia Lumia 900 – all Windows Phone devices, have had good reception in the select markets that they’ve been introduced to. Not to be left behind are the Symbian Belle devices like the Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 and the uniquely designed Nokia N9.

In mobile phones, Nokia continues its drive to connect the next billion people to the Internet, introducing last year great devices and rich services to fulfill this commitment. Among these devices are four Dual SIM handsets – the Nokia 101, Nokia X1-01, Nokia C2-00 and Nokia C2-03 and the more recent Asha range of QWERTY mobile phones, the Nokia Asha 303 and Nokia Asha 200 (also a Dual SIM phone), which blur the line between smartphones and feature phones. Connecting to the Web and sharing with contacts has been made easier and more fun. This will be backed up by more efficient services, like the Nokia Browser and Nokia Maps for Series 40, which both have been earning raves since last year.

With a very busy year ahead, Gosh is all geared up to face the challenges of his new position. Gosh has been in the telecom industry for over 16 years – six of which has been spent with Nokia. During those years, he has achieved building and reinforcing teams regardless of race and culture with his strong management skills and affinity for business cultures. His experiences across Europe, Middle East and Africa have now led him to Asia, where he will easily adapt into diversity and cultural differences.

Prior to his assignment to Nokia Philippines, Gosh was General Manager of Nokia Greece and Cyprus. Coming onboard Nokia in 2006, Gosh has significantly contributed to the success in markets such as Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia and other countries while heading the multimedia business unit for North and West Africa.

Gosh has worked with Ericsson South Africa and Sweden, Protek Flagship South Africa and India and Smartcom Mobile Communication, among others where he has left a trail of success with people and business.

The Johannesburg-raised Gosh went to Rand Afrikaans University, where he finished Psychology in 1989.

No related posts.

Globe Launches the Best iPhone Yet

2011-12-16T12:33:25Z

We were at the Ayala Musuem for the #GlobeiPhone4s event last night. Ayala Museum was packed with lots of people, eagerly waiting for Kaskade and Amber Davis to perform and of course, dying to finally see The iPhone 4s.

The event started a bit late in preparation to the countdown. Lots of celebrities, writers, press people and bloggers were at the event to witness ~~Siri do a pole dance~~ the official launch of the iPhone 4s.

DJ Myx is performing outside. Awesome dude!

We got the chance to hang out with some members of Philmug. They are among the very first ones who went home with the iPhone 4s with subscription plans last night.

We’ve been using iPhone 4s for a month now and, as usual, the genuine and unique iDevice experience is outstanding. Globe’s iPhone 4S is really fast, thanks to its A5 processor. Its 8mp rear camera is topnotch. It is probably one of the fastest cameras we’ve seen and it can definitely rival to the Nokia N9′s camera. And of course, how can we forget – the ‘S’ in ’4S’ (supposedly) – Siri! We had some personal time with Siri last night. We told her we love her but to our dismay, she just said that we have to get back to work.

The countdown was spearheaded by Globe’s President and CEO, Ernest Cu. Prior to the countdown, Mr.Cu announced that they recently went to PNoy and personally gave him an iPhone 4s. According to the president of the leader in Postpaid, the President of the Philippines has been a long time Globe plan subscriber and was using his trusty old iPhone 3GS before he received his very own iPhone 4s.

Liveblog: Globe Telecom’s Spike Event

2012-01-20T01:47:00Z

We’re live here at Manila Peninsula for the Globe Telecom’s Event: Spike.

Just had a chat earlier with Winston of Globe Telecom (@batangyagit). I asked him what this event all about. My hint though is about making LTE widely available for Filipinos nationwide. It turns out that it’s not just LTE but also IPv6 and the future. It’s a Bigger Globe for a Bigger You.

6:57pm – We’re now inside the function room. It’s dark. A big LED wall is lighting the whole area. By ‘big’, I mean really big.

7:15pm – We’re now asked to move closer to the screen. The program is about to start! I’m not going anywhere. My spot is the shiznit.

7:20pm – Countdown just started. Fancy! Scene kinda looks like we’re in the future.

Issue is Globe addressing head on the surge of SMS, calls and data bandwidth.

7:22pm – Globe’s President and CEO Ernest Cu is now on board.

“Maraming Salamat for the journey we took,” the CEO said as he addresses his appreciation to everyone attending the event.

Text traffic growth is sloping.

Consumer is changing. Voice and data traffic is growing. Broadband traffic is accelerating.

3G traffic pertains to handsets (with 3G modules)

Oops, technical difficulty. Slide is not moving.

7:22pm – “No matter what the competition says, Globe is launching the iPhone 4S”, says CEO Cu.

7:27pm – Globe’s answer is to build a sustainable, scalable and future proof network that can evolve to the next level of network like HSPA+, LTE and IPv6.

Globe is modernizing the network. They are rebuilding it in and out. That, I believe, is going to be great not just for Globe but for its client.

They are going to change it fro pm core, transport and access to service the customers.

7:32 Whoa! Globe’s spending $700M+ on this modernization. Did I hear it right?

7:35 Real-time tracking for Postpaid is not far-fetched with this upgrade. Perfect thing to avoid bill-shock!

There is no choice but to do this and we’re doing this at an opportune time,” says Ernest Cu.

7:38 Commencing the SPIKE.

This is Globe’s biggest investment yet. Totally revolutionary. A massive undertaking!

7:40 New tv ads/rolls are being shown! Oui! Oui!

Best Line I Ever Heard in this Event: “I think I have my own personal network” (from a TV ad shown here)

7:54 Fusion of techno and sax is just plain awesome!

More Power to the Finger (Smart Nokia N9 Private Party at Privé)

2011-11-21T16:10:40Z

We just got back from a party hosted by Smart Communications and Nokia Philippines at Privé (The Fort BGC). The party was like “finger-lickin’” good! Free drinks and cocktail foods and we saw a lot… yeah…A LOT of celebrities, bloggers, writers, DJs, etc. Check out our photos below.

Win the Latest Nokia Asha Phone by Writing Your QWERTY Story

2011-11-21T15:32:22Z

Nothing beats a phone with a full physical QWERTY keyboard, right? As a matter of fact, one of my most wildly commented video on Youtube (with 329,067 views and 231 comments) is my Nokia C3 unboxing. People just love phones with QWERTY keyboard, especially if it’s really cheap and full featured.

Most of you may have experienced the awesomeness of a phone with QWERTY keyboards. This time, enliven your experience by weaving it into a story! You’ll even get the chance to win a Nokia Asha 200 or the Nokia Asha 303.

The Nokia Asha 200 is ideal for young, urban consumers who find QWERTY phones aspirational and wish to connect to their social networks, but are also price conscious. It is suited for their need to send messages quickly and listening to music, and most importantly gives control over costs with the Easy Swap function.

The Nokia Asha 303 is a touch screen device with a full physical QWERTY keypad. This stylish and slim device has lots of processing power that gives a rich experience of the internet and social networking applications. It lets you stay connected to your loved ones and lets you have fun with great apps and its music player.

Check out GSMArena’s Detailed Comparison Between Asha 303 and 200.

Deadline of submission of entries is on December 30, 2011.

For more information about the contest, check out the press release below.

PRESS RELEASE

Share why you QWERTY and win the latest Nokia Asha phone!

Just how into the QWERTY lifestyle are you? This is your chance to share to the world how the QWERTY revolution changed your mobile life with Nokia’s “Why do you QWERTY!” promo.

The contest is open to all QWERTY phone users. All you have to do is write a 200-word essay on the topic: “How using a QWERTY phone changed my mobile life for the better.” Your essay should describe your positive experiences and interesting anecdotes about using your QWERTY phone.

Your essay should be accompanied by a photo in JPEG format of yourself and your QWERTY phone. Send your entry via email to nokiaqwertypromo@ovi.com.

Make sure to put some pizzazz to your essay and photo as entries will be judged according to: Uniqueness (40%); Relevance (30%); and Visual Quality of Photo (30%).

Four entries with the most interesting stories and the most creative photos will win a new Nokia QWERTY phone each: a Nokia Asha 200 for the 3rd prize; a Nokia Asha 303 for the 2nd prize; a pair of Nokia Asha 200 for the 1st prize; and a pair of Nokia Asha 303 for the grand prize.

Deadline of submission of entries is on December 30, 2011.

Watch Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez Live On Your PC Like A Ninja *UPDATE

2011-11-21T15:34:55Z

I know you guys are quite desperate in looking for a legit live streaming link or solution to watch Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez III. I’ve tested the solution below and I can guarantee you that you don’t need to answer any survey-whatevers to get the link.

Follow these steps:

1. Download Sopcast. Go this link and download the latest build. Select either Mirror 1 or Mirror 2.

2. Install the software and launch it.

3. Login as Anonymous.

4. Once you’re in, click on the Live Channels tab

5. Scroll down to USA channels.

6. And Select 35999. Sportin’ Wood

Alright, guys! Gotta watch now. Alvarado vs Prescott is up!

UDPATE

Pacquiao won – Majority Decision. Marquez contested yet again. Many believed Marquez should have won the fight. What do you think?

Cherry Mobile Unleashes Force of Invasion, Launches Amazing Batch of New Gadgets

2012-01-20T02:58:35Z

One year after the first Android “invasion”, Cherry Mobile once again unleashed its fury and launched amazing new batch of Android-powered gadgets.

This year, they did not just launch one, not two, but seven new gadgets: Candy and Candy Chat, the cheapest androids of them all; Stellar, the budget 800Mhz with capacitive display phone; Magnum 2x, their very first dual-core phone; Cherry Pad and Cherry Pad Turbo, their ultra affordable tablets running on Android Froyo and Gingerbread respectively; and Supreme, their most celebrated dual-core 10.1 tablet running on Android Honeycomb (when it becomes officially available).

Check out our blog about Candy and Candy Chat.

Magnum 2x, Pew -pew!

Among the 4 Android phones launched, the Magnum 2x packs the most noteworthy specifications. It is endowed with the world’s first mobile super chip, the Nvidia Tegra 2. Clocking at 1Ghz per core, the Dual-Core ARM Cortex A9 (Tegra 2′s CPU), is ready to get pounded with applications running simultaneously in the background. It’s GPU is ready to display gorgeous pictures and show awesome videos. It’s the Philippines’ first dual-core phone, worthy to be called, Super-Pinoy-Android-Phone-Na-Cheap.

But, is it really cheap?

Magnum 2x is priced at PhP15,899. It is really cheap compared to the LG Optimus 2x (PhP18,000 to PhP23,999) and Motorola Atrix 4G (PhP18,500 to PhP22,999+), which sport similar processor. With this phone, you get to enjoy all the games you want (not just Angry Birds) and all the applications you wish to run without worrying about sluggish performance. Honestly, we can’t wait to test this out so we can give you further hands-on review.

Stellar, the Star for All Seasons

Powered by Qualcomm 7227T 800 MHz processor, sports a 3.5” HVGA Capacitive Touch Panel and running on Android Gingerbread, the Cherry Mobile Stellar is most the fairly priced Android device Cherry Mobile released this year. You won’t feel shortchanged when you buy this phone. It has 5.0 MP camera, Wi-Fi and GPS; it can even function as your portable hotspot (ala MyFi, Pocket Wifi).

Cherry Pad and Cherry Pad Turbo, Your Tablets at Your Price

With Cherry Mobile’s first batch of Tablets, Cherry Pad and Cherry Pad Turbo, flicking birds has never been this cheap but fun.

Priced at PhP3,899, the Cherry Pad is like Stellar’s Tablet brother. It also has 800 MHz processor but with a larger screen (7″) and no phone functions.

Meanwhile, Cherry Pad Turbo is, as the name suggests, faster by 400Mhz more compared to the Cherry Pad. It has 1.2 Ghz processor and with a more upgraded version of Android (2.3). We did not get a word from Cherry Mobile though if this could be upgraded to Honeycomb. It’s priced at PhP6,899.

Both tablets have 7” Full Touch Screen, Wi-Fi Connectivity, 4GB internal storage and expandable micro SD card up to 32 GB.

Supreme, Move Over Galaxy Tab

The Cherry Mobile Supreme is Cherry Mobile’s arsenal to combat Samsung Galaxy 10.1. Both are endowed with almost similar specs and for those with limited budget, there is only but one choice – Supreme. Check out the specs comparison below:

Event Photos

Cherry Mobile Launches Cheapest Android Phones, Aptly Called Candy and Candy Chat

2011-11-11T13:40:24Z

Cherry Mobile, the leading Dual SIM brand in the country, recently launched today an amazing batch of new and affordable batch of Android phones and tablets: Candy, Candy Chat, Magnum 2x, Stellar, Eclipse, Cherry Pad [Tablet], Cherry Pad Turbo [Tablet] and Supreme [Tablet].

Among the new phones that were introduced to us this afternoon, 2 caught our attention – the cheapest Android phones that are aptly named Candy and Candy Chat.

Meet Candy

I would assume that you are focusing your attention to the phone. Yes, the mobile phone – the Candy. Check out the technical specs of this phone.

Technical Specs:

Android Froyo 2.2
2.8″ Resistive Touch Screen
Dual Sim/Dual Standby
MediaTek 416Mhz Processor
ROM: 256mb / RAM: 128mb
Dual Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800
WiFi
1.3 MP Camera
FM Radio
3.5mm Headset Jack
Bluetooth
Expandable Micro SD up to 16gb

Priced at PhP3,699, Candy is indeed the cheapest Android phone around. You can’t go wrong with this device. It’s got everything you need from Camera to Dual Sim Slots; and from FM Radio to WiFi.

Check out Candy Chat

Technical Specs:

Android Froyo 2.2
2.4″ Resistive Touch Screen with QWERTY Keypad
Dual Sim/Dual Standby
MediaTek 416Mhz Processor
ROM: 256mb / RAM: 128mb
Dual Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800
WiFi
1.3 MP Camera
FM Radio
3.5mm Headset Jack
Expandable Micro SD up to 16gb

Also priced at PhP3,699, Candy Chat is the cheapest Touch and Type Android phones I’ve seen. The addition of the QWERTY keyboard is really genius, but the lack of Bluetooth may be one of the concerns of some people.

What do you think of Candy and Candy Chat? Do you think they deserve to be in your pockets this Christmas Season? The comments section below is waiting for your words.

Check out our blog as we talk about more about Cherry Mobile’s new phones and tablets.