MWC Barcelona: Sony's New Products

Sony just announced the 2nd gen of their best sellers:

Xperia Z2 (Pre-order available)

Xperia Z2 Tablet

Along with several new accessories, like tablet covers w/ Bluetooth keyboards, new docks, Bluetooth speaker docks, a stereo microphone, and new noise cancelling earbuds

Sony SmartWatch2 update available!

Great news to Sony SmartWatch2 owners, a new update is available today!

Accessory Version: 1.0.B.3.46
Host Application Version: 1.3.17

New watch faces available, along with a Stopwatch and other improvements!

All-day Calendar bug still present however. :(

**New bug, the official Sony Camera Smart Extension no longer works with my Xperia P or Tablet Z after this update. :( Boo!**

***December 6 update of Camera Smart Extension app fixes bug mentioned above... YAY!!!***

Robot Wars for Kids! (Start 'Em Young)

Keep the Gloves On!

Sony Xperia Sola users will get a cool new "Glove Mode" with their upcoming ICS update! Considering I tested out the REALLY EXPENSIVE Ralph Lauren Touch gloves which sucked... this is gonna be a welcome feature this coming winter!

Google Doodle: Star Trek 46th Anniversary

Check out Google's highly interactive Start Trek Doodle!

Click here for all of Google's previous Doodles.

Guard The Cloud! (Dropbox 2-Step Verification)

About a month ago, Dropbox, one of the larger cloud storage companies, confirmed that it was indeed hacked. They've now deployed a 2-Step Verification process before allowing any new devices or sessions to access your account. I highly recommend you activate it ASAP if you use their service!

Simply log into your Dropbox web account online

Go to Settings by clicking on your Account name on the upper right hand side of the website

Click on the Security tab

Then scroll down and enable the Two-Step Verification.

Follow the instructions.

Make sure you have your mobile phone handy since Dropbox will send you a verification code. Or if you have an Android or iOS device, you may use an authenticator app and scan the QR Code instead.

This may be a bit of an inconvenience, but it's much better than having your data compromised.

App of the Day: Philippine Shipping Mobile Apps

If you love to shop online like I do, or just need to send packages to your friends or family in the provinces, package tracking is quite essential. Up until recently in the Philippines, these had to be done on a desktop web browser. Mobile apps are far more convenient to use and usually more reliable.

Thankfully, Air 21 and LBC have free mobile apps that offer live tracking and other shipping tools for your convenience. Containing tools and information such as rate calculators and branch locations, it gives customers easy access to the most useful logistic services.

Both apps are quite easy to use. Simply enter the airway bill number and you get a detailed report of the location of your package. While rate calculators are usually accurate, if you have an odd sized package or a very heavy one, it's still best to give the company a call to get a better estimate on shipping costs.

For int'l packages, FedEx and DHL have their own respective apps as well. UPS only has an app for iOS (Boo!)

Links to download the free apps are here:

Air 21 Android

Air 21 iOS

LBC Android

LBC iOS

**disclaimer: I'm affiliated with Air21 and FedEx Philippines and was asked to review their app and its functions**

Rainy Monday App of the Day: iTyphoon

Due to the recent storm flooding in the Philippines, I'm posting a very helpful app that allows you to track incoming LPA (low pressure areas) and storms.

iTyphoon has a great interface showing both the weather report as well as a tracking map with the current and predicted path of the storm. iTyphoon is available for free on both Android and iOS. Head on over to Google Play for the Android version, and the App Store for the iOS version!

Typhoon2000.ph on the other hand, is a private website that consolidates links and reports from various weather sites and sources in one place. For more detailed reports, and satellite images, this is the place to visit.

PARTY(cle) TIME! (Higgs Boson News)

The scientific community is all excited about the most recent development in the search for the Higgs boson particle.

To celebrate this historic moment, I've collected a few links and videos related to the Higgs-boson particle.

Wikipedia on Higgs boson

Wikipedia on Peter Higgs

BBC News on the Higgs-boson-like particle discovery at LHC

Scientific American on Higgs boson and String Theory

Meanwhile, composer Domenico Vicinanza has written musical scores based on the data graph from CERN to come up with a musical piece on what quarks may sound like.

But not everyone is over-joyed.

Professor Stephen Hawking apparently lost a $100 bet on the discovery of the HBP. Tsk tsk tsk...

And of course, a final word on the Higgs boson from my favorite theoretical physicist, Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

Watch Out! (A Sony SmartWatch Review)

When you just absolutely need to have your Facebook & Twitter feed ASAP and taking out your phone from your pocket wastes too much time... This is the SmartWatch by Sony (Ericsson). SonyEricsson had 3 versions before this one. The first 2 versions were regular analog watches with small displays at the bottom that indicated incoming calls or texts. The 3rd generation, LiveView, had a color display and touch sensitive buttons (not a touchscreen).

The new incarnation is a bit more mature, and packs more features in a tiny display. In it's basic watch mode, it offers 3 time-keeping modes, Default Digital, Always-on Digital, and Always-on Analog. My preferred mode is the analog. I just feel it looks sleeker than the digital counterparts, but that's just me. Although the default version saves a lot of battery life, I'm not too fond of the look. You may download alternate clocks, but none of them replace the built-in ones, so they actually are apps that run parallel to the default clock. Until Sony allows addition clock replacements, I'll stick with their built-in ones for now. Battery life in this mode is approx 1.5 days.

Now onto the apps. Out of the box, nothing comes preinstalled, you have to first pair your phone with the watch. Quite an easy task. Just enter your Bluetooth settings on your Xperia phone, and search for a new device. Turn on the watch and the pairing automatically begins. To activate the watch however, your phone must be online as it will connect with the Google Play servers to update the watch software and search for compatible apps.

There are currently only a few apps out for the SmartWatch but it seems to be growing quite quickly for such a niche device. The essentials are provided for by Sony, mainly: Gmail, Calls, Calendar, Messages, Facebook, Twitter, & Weather. The other apps available are extensions for Google Maps, Universal IMs, Camera apps, and a few GPS ones.

I ended up installing so many apps, that the watch kept buzzing for every single thing I had on my phone. Trimming down to the most frequently needed alerts improves the effectivity of the SmartWatch all together. I've personally got mine down to just calls, SMS, only calendar events with reminders, and only a few people on Facebook. Everything else isn't as time-critical.

So far, I'm finding this little toy to be more useful than I had thought. I had bought it thinking it would just be a fun gimmick, but I'm actually liking the way it functions!

***March 14, 2013 Firmware update adds new clock faces!***

Singapore Electronics Bazaar 2012

Heading to the Singapore Expo Food & Electronics Bazaar.

(Food and gadgets, how can you go wrong!??!?!)

Will be blogging about my findings there... stay tuned!

Happy Philippine Independence Day!

Google's Doodle today displays elements of the Philippine flag

and leads to entries on Philippine Independence.

Click the doodle below to see those links.

Down to Earth... The Next Google Earth

Google has recently announced their next update for Google Earth... an extremely detailed 3D render of the whole planet.

This is the next Google Earth...

**On a side note, a while back, Apple bought a Swedish company called C3 that offered a very similar mapping technology. Who will be the dominant map? That will probably depend on the efficiency of the 3D engine and updated accuracy of the maps**

Life Begins at 4.0 - Xperia ray Ice Cream Sandwich Update Part 2

Ok, you're now on 4.0 ... now what? What's the big deal? Well, I think it's leaps and bounds better than both Gingerbread (2.3) ... why? Well, a lot of little things. And for me, it's the little things that count.

First thing you will notice is the sleeker interface. A new font (Roboto) is now system-wide and looks very refined. By default, ICS on Xperia has a bluish/teal look to it, just for highlights and stuff. Animations feel smoother and the phone feels faster over-all. Take note, most performance tests will show that the 2011 Xperia phones run slower on ICS, but it doesn't feel that way.

A new lock feature called Face Unlock is added to the Security menu. More of a novelty, it uses your phone's front camera to unlock it. It fails more often than it works, until they develop a better algorithm to process images, it's not really worth using. But it's fun to show off for a few times. The flaw is that any change in lighting or facial angle and it doesn't bother to reprocess and defaults to the secondary unlock mode right away.

For data hogs, there's now a built in Data Usage meter that also alerts you when you're getting close to your limit. You can allow it to cut off your data when your limit is reached to prevent data charges. And a neat feature seems to be that after a few days, it can plot your average use and will give a projection of data usage for the rest of the month as well!

App switching is better too, press and hold the home button for a thumbnail view of recently used apps. You can scroll through recently used (or still running) apps and a small thumbnail of it's previous state is displayed.

Voice Search is more integrated into the core system now, and can no longer be found as a separate app. It's part of the Google Search widget or app already and functions much better. Assuming a stable 3G (or better) connection, the text transcription now happens as you speak with each word appearing right after you speak it instead of after the whole sentence. This is highly network dependent and not a reflection of Google's voice system. On WiFi this performs reliably enough to not really need the keyboard anymore. As always, this can also be enabled in the system keyboard to allow easy access while typing.

Access to system settings is now made easier through the task bar. Simply swipe downwards, as if to access a notification, there you will find a shortcut to the system settings. No big deal, there were apps that could do this, but I prefer having small functions like this built into the core system, rather than having an app for it.

There are also 2 tweaks that you can do that are hidden in the Developer Options Menu, Animations, and Show All ANRs (Apps Not Responding). The Animations menu used to be under Display, and has now been tucked away from regular users. You may set the speed of the animations, or switch them off. I've found that only 1x and off work well. The rest kinda glitch up. The ANR function comes in handy. Usually, when an app hangs, Android shows a pop-up saying that the app is not responding and asks if you want to wait or close it. Show All ANRs does this even for certain background apps that are hidden by default (like Viber). This is quite handy as it functions like a task killer, but only for apps that are hanging. So no need to waste resources with a 3rd party task killer.

ICS task management is also way better, I've rarely had any resource problems that would require me to manually kill tasks. It does this quite efficiently and silently. If you have a lot of background tasks, you may get pop-ups from the ANR feature, but ICS can handle this task quite well even when not enabled. I just prefer to be notified and given the option to close the offending app.

So far, 4.0 is a big leap forward for Android. The system stability, improved interface, and general tweaks on core functions are well worth the slight decrease in performance over Gingerbread (2.3). I've been using it for a month now and have no regrets upgrading.

**Since I upgraded, Sony has already issued a new software version, 4.0.4**

Life Begins at 4.0 - Xperia ray Ice Cream Sandwich Update Part 1

A couple of weeks ago, the official Android 4.0 (codename: Ice Cream Sandwich) update for my Xperia ray was released. This was a promise by Sony Ericsson (now Sony Mobile) that all 2011 models (Xperia ray, mini, mini pro, neo, neo v, active, and arc) would all be getting an official ICS update.

How do I update my phone? Don't worry, it's easier than you think. I'm on a Mac, so my screenshots will be showing Sony Bridge for Mac (update your Bridge software, it should already say Sony Bridge, not Sony Ericsson Bridge) For those running Windows, the Companion Software does the same thing, the process is similar, even though the screenshots are different.

First, place your phone in Media Transfer Mode (MTP). You can find this in your phone's SETTINGS Menu under Xperia > Connectivity. Don't worry if you started the update without doing this, your phone will give you the chance to do it later on, this just eliminates the extra step.

Next, plug your phone into your computer using the supplied USB cable. Then start Sony Bridge for Mac (or Sony Mobile PC Companion for PC users)

A pop up screen saying that there is new software available for your phone will appear. Click on Update to start. A webpage will open on Sony Mobile's site stating the new features and other information on upgrading to 4.0, you don't really have to read this and can close it to begin the update.

That's it! Wait for the update to download and install. The whole process should take about 30 min depending on your internet connection.

When the update is done, unplug your phone and turn it on. It will take about a minute for the screen to even come on, this is normal for any major Android software update.

When the screen first turns on, you will see the SONY logo, replacing the Sony Ericsson one on your 2011 phone. Then the boot up. Congratulations! You're now using Android 4.0! In the next entry, a review on the big changes in 4.0

Looking to buy an iPad?

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Mutli-Touch? Pfft... Multi-MOUSE!

Forget multi-touch. Old news... old school.

Google has come up with an ingenious Multitask Mode in Chrome that allows you to use multiple mice, running 2 concurrent tasks at once!

Try it out here!

iPad 2 Prices Officially Drop (Philippines)

Good news to those thinking of getting an iPad! Apple Store PH has officially dropped the iPad 2 prices to coincide with Apple's Official price drop! This also means that preloved iPads should be a lot cheaper as well.

Prices start at

P18,990 for a brand new 16GB iPad 2!

P24,990 for the 16GB 3G model!

Head on over to Apple Store PH now!

Can't Touch This... Coming Soon - Sony Xperia sola

Touchscreen? That's so last century! Well, almost. Seeing as how touchscreens are now almost standard, and developers are trying to make bets on the next big interface it's only natural to start seeing new ways to interact with your mobile device.

Apple has brought voice command into the spotlight with Siri.

Others are trying for motion based controls.

Sony Ericsson Mobile has introduced a new twist on the touchscreen called "floating touch" (Such a catchy name) in their new Xperia sola.

Adding to the regular gestures of touch screen technology, floating touch introduces a "hover" mode. Much like moving the mouse around before clicking, it allows you to see exactly which link/button/key you're about to press before actually pressing it. Touch is still required to register a click/tap.

Coming soon!

iOS Tip Of The Day: Save Your Home...Button.

Almost all iOS owners know the inconvenience of the non-responsive Home Button. It is the weakest link in the iOS hardware platform and yet using it is also the most required action. This leaves you with a perfectly working iOS device...EXCEPT for a Home Button that either doesn't respond or need to be mashed just to respond.

Jailbreaking is an option. It enables gesture (swipe) access to almost all the Home Button functions. But what about people that don't know how, or just don't want to Jailbreak their iOS devices? Well, on iOS 5, Apple has a feature that can help minimize the use of the Home Button.

It's found in the Settings Menu on your device.

Simply scroll down to the General menu

Then go to Accessibility

Then Assistive Touch.

Once enabled, you will now have a translucent button that floats over your desktop. The button placement is dynamic and can be moved around, it will also automatically move out of the way of the virtual keyboard.

Pressing this will bring up a gesture box, and the Home Button is one of them!