PLDT myDSL legacy users: Reapply instead of upgrade

We have just requested an upgrade for the Xcite 3Mbps Plan of PLDT my DSL from the good but slow XPerience Plan of 1Mbps.

After talking to the customer service rep on the phone regarding the upgrade, she said that it will be done off-site, no need for a house visit. I then requested if they could drop off the free modem which the plan cited as free along with the installation to our home but the CS rep told me that upgraders don’t qualify for the free modem.

I was a bit frustrated since our Zyxel Prestige 600, PLDT’s first generation unit when they started their myDSL service was a bit old and sometimes disconnects (not sure if modem fault but heat can be an issue) so I thought a new modem, with new hardware might help and improve the connection. I really expected that legacy and old-time customers would be assisted and even rewarded for our loyalty. But no, PLDT does not care about their loyal subscribers.

So for those thinking of upgrading to a higher speed plan and need to replace their old and failing modem, it would be best to cut off and stop your subscription entirely and just apply again as a new user. That way you’ll be granted the free modem. Kind of cheap move to get a free modem but shouldn’t we loyal customers get what we are paying for? and that others (new customers) are getting for free?

I’m not really sure if the modem they are giving out is better (still Zyxel brand), but the fact that people get it for free and old customers don’t get anything, even a discount, is infuriating and insulting.

Okay.. I’m done with the rant.

Palm Pixi Plus Review

The Palm Pixi Plus is Palm’s 2nd-generation device along with the Palm Pre Plus. The Pixi Plus is Palm’s first WebOS phone that has a candy bar form factor with no sliding mechanism. I  like design of it, reminds me of my old Nokia e61i, but more sexier.

This review may be a little too late after HP decided to discontinue operation for WebOS devices. Even so, this little hardware deserves to be reviewed like any other mobile phone we had handled so far. So for a-not-so-long review, read past the jump.

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Hot Toys Iron Man Mark 2 (Collectible Series)

Techolo.com: Collectibles Series will feature unique collectors items ranging from toys, gadgets, and other random treasures. Collectible provided by Toyrewind.com

Last time we featured Hot Toys Iron Man Mark IV from the Iron Man 2 movie. This time we’ll be featuring the Iron Man Mark 2 from the first movie. This steel armor stands at approximately 30 cm or 12 inches tall. Once again, LED lights up the head, hands and Arc reactor.

Hit up the link for more photos and impressions. Warning: large images and may take time to load.

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Goodbye WebOS

I guess by now you’ve already heard the news of HP planning to sell or spin-off its Personal Systems Group (PSG) and that includes its PC hardware business, mobile unit and of course, the freshly acquired WebOS.

HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward. – HP News Release

Aside from the shocking news of HP’s plan to move out of the PC building business (just like what IBM did with it’s own, hello Lenovo) is the sad news that WebOS is getting canned as well. The news is a big disappointment for early adopters of the HP Veer and the HP Touchpad. What will happen now? and will we ever see Pre 3? I’m pretty sure the answer, what ever it may be, won’t be good.

I have been a fan of WebOS since its introduction last 2009. Having reviewed the Palm Pre Plus (click to read), I felt that the hardware was just not up to par with what the OS could’ve lived up to. It was a GREAT OS, mind you. far better than Android in terms of usability and iOS in terms of multitasking, but sadly it never did catch on.

To whoever will buy WebOS next, well… Goodluck. Just make sure you never do what Palm and HP did. It sat down doing nothing with this great OS. Both were sluggish to release devices at the earliest time possible (1 week after announcement would have been great), sluggish updates, and full of flopped promises (Web OS 2.0 will come to Pre minus and plus my foot)

What I hope will happen to WebOS

I hope that WebOS won’t completely die but evolve into a more modern OS into the arms of a more willing and supporting buyer. But who? My bet is HTC or Samsung. They could buy WebOS in full or license it from HP. It is a long-shot but anything is possible as seen from the developments these week’s events. (Googtorola). Despite HP’s “We are not walking away from WebOS” statement, it’s either license it, sell it, or let it die slowly.

One thing I’ve seen from this still unfolding event is that, you can never trust companies, even large ones to keep their promise even if its accompanied by press releases, or went on the record, in black and white. They can just easily abandon and cancel a device you just bought a week before without any sign of it. It’s like pulling the rug under your feet before you even know it. Caveat emptor.

Vinta introduces Noli 2.0 and El Fili 2.0 Tablets

VINTA World Innovations Inc., an All-Filipino company lead by Mr. John Leyson, just introduced two new locally branded tablets aptly named from Jose Rizal’s novelas. Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Noli and El Fili both have a 7” Multitouch display with Android 2.2 on board. The only difference between the two is that El Fili has 3G connectivity and has double the storage capacity (8gb). Both devices have a 1Ghz processor, MiniSD slot, 1080p video recording and 2 megapixel camera.

Prices are expected to range from P13,000 for the Noli and 18,000 for El Fili.

www.vintainnovations.com/

Google buys Motorola Mobility for $12.5 Billion

In a surprising move by Google today. It just bought itself a toy in the form of Motorola. The main target obviously is Motorola’s patent portfolio to protect itself against “attacks” coming from Apple and Microsoft in the mobile space.

I wonder what other Android OEM’s like HTC, Samsung and LG must feel right now. In fairness, Motorola will still need to bid to produce the next Google Nexus Phone along with other handset makers, no special treatment here.

I just hope that the next Nexus S would still come from Samsung mainly because of the Super AMOLED display it exclusively has.

This Samsung Micro SD Card is built to last

The folks at MemoryCardZoo was kind enough to send me this “indestructible” Micro SD Card from Samsung. It’s an 8GB Class 4 High Speed (Read:15.6 mb/sec Write: 6.46 mb/sec per h2test) MicroSDHC card that touts itself as waterproof, shock proof and magnet proof. I had to find out for my self so I decided to try it out :)

I copied a movie file on it to see if it still could play the movie afterwards.

I first tried dropping it on a water puddle, then on a glass of water stirring it continuously. After taking it out I pulled out a magnet and placed it directly on top, even rubbing the card against the surface. Last was shaking it inside its own plastic case and then a dropping it from 4 feet.

 

After the battery of abuse. I then inserted it back to my card reader and surprise! surprise! it still works! everything is playing well and smooth. I can’t say I’m surprised as it performed as advertised and this just proves it. Besides, dropping the MicroSD won’t be your biggest problem. That would be your camera, phone, or anything that holds the memory card. Well at least, your data and images are safely protected by this durable MicroSD Card from Samsung. 

The card came with an adapter to convert it to a standard SD card. I don’t think that one was built the same way as the microSD so I didn’t include it on the stress test.

The Samsung 8GB memory card is available from MemoryCardZoo using this link.

9 New Zune HD Apps hit the Marketplace

I appreciate the Zune Team’s hard work to deliver us faithful Zune HD owners cool new apps. Finger Paint, Calendar, Trash Throw, Slider Puzzle, ColorSpill, Splatter Bug, Vine Climb, Decoder Ring, Tug-O-War. This bumps up the available Zune HD apps to a total of 62 free apps. Hit up the Zune Marketplace and download the following new apps (some seen above) and update some old ones (Shuffle by Album,  Penalty Flick Soccer, Zune Reader)

New Windows Phone Logo: Simple and Perfect

Over at OneDesignPH, I have a couple of posts about design and new logo rebrands of local companies. I think I’ll do a quick one here for the new Windows Phone logo.

Before this, there were actually several iterations of the Windows Phone logo in the past. It is like every new build (NoDo and Mango) introduces a new, albeit, subtle changes on the logo. I never did like the circular and chrome look of the old Windows Phone logo (green one). Somehow it did not blend to the simple and solid colors of the whole interface. The original blue orb (far left) is a remnant of the old Windows Mobile 6.5 rehashed with honeycomb app drawer so it’s understandable that it sucks.

From circular, shine, gloss and beveled version comes out a new and cleaner square tile logo in time for the Mango release. This is perfect and in line with the Metro UI interface of squares and solid colors. I also noticed that 7 was slowly removed from the brand, in preparation perhaps for the impending version 8? Makes sense to actually just name it as Windows Phone if you ask me.

And remember back then when Windows Phone was known as Windows Phone 7 Series? I bet you forgot about that already because, no offense meant, it was a long, dumb name. Well, this new one just made me forgive them for that because it looks oh so nice.