HTC launched three new devices today in South East Asia - the HTC Touch 3G, Touch Viva and the high end Touch HD which retails for about USD 1,000. But the news maker isn’t about the neat design of the Touch HD - but a cute Easter Egg built into the application as seen above.

Pardon the low quality, but what happens is that the weather bar shows the sun shining and the weather slowly changes to a storm with droplets on the 3.8 inch screen. A wiper pops out and wipes the raindrops away, all in one really cool and seamless animation sequence. [source]

Building in easter eggs into phones to get the social media crowd hyped? I think this is a great move for hardware manufacturers. We haven’t seen a lot of these easter eggs lately so it’s pretty cool to see some of the staff unveil these during the launch. The new Touch series uses the second generation TouchFLO 3G technology which is more seamless, faster and more intuitive.

Think this Easter Egg is cool? Help me Digg! this post.

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The Nokia 1202 costs 25 Euros and here you have it with the best feature ever - the flashlight. A flashlight is one of the most useful tools in developing countries as based on feedback, it is cheaper to charge your phone and use the light at night than to keep a light bulb going. Seriously!

The Nokia 1202 is innovative because the phone can be shared by up to 5 people — it has 5 seperate phonebooks for Mom, Dad, Grandma, the two kids and grandma! The extended phone book feature also necessitate better battery life which Nokia has granted alongside really loud ringtones.

Stay tuned for this in 2009!

[photo c/o Nokia PR]

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We’re in the era of 3G data connectivity with the big players - SMART and Globe slugging it out to see which one holds the better service. In fact the NTC recently proclaimed Globe to be the overall winner with SMART at a very close (like really close!) second. We’re past 2G and the basics. We’ve enjoyed good reception, SMS and calls for many years now with the two giants; now we’re ranting about cheaper (!) and faster (!!!) 3.5G / HSDPA connectivity. After reading the survey results from both the Manila Times and INQUIRER.net it made me see how far behind SUN Cellular was in terms of basic services - namely calls (I guess we can add SMS there as well):

Yet, Smart registered 93 blocked calls (3.79 percent of 2,475) while Globe posted 49 (1.99 percent) and Sun, 779 (17.05 percent). On dropped calls, Smart registered 35 (1.42 percent), Globe 35 (1.42 percent), and Sun 48 (1.95 percent). [source]

This is definitely alarming. I’m starting to believe that promos that call for “unlimited” service does have a negative impact on service quality. I don’t know if it just so happens to be so, but SUN’s service quality has been in question ever since with dead spots in several regions of the metro and calls dropping before you hit 15 minutes.

I also wrote, in my personal blog how the impact of “bottomless” or “unlimited” can be a marketing ploy we need to watch out for:

Sadly, anchoring of prices can work negatively as well for consumers when marketers weave in the concept of “free” “bottomless” or “unlimited” which is a very powerful word in this industry. When we see “bottomless iced tea” in the menu, we go for it, and restaurateurs know we will - that’s why they price it high even if we only finish two or three glasses - still way beyond break even price. The “Unlimited” calls and texts of SUN for instance charge P25.00 per day, which is P750.00 per month. The average prepaid usage for calls is 214 minutes per month based on consumer research and at a buck per minute for “unlimited rates,” that’s really P214.00 per month for calls. On a daily average, calls should cost P7.14 per day, not P25.00 (more less 350% higher?). [source]

N.B. I recently started a small Internet advocacy called One Dropped Call - compiling news here and there from SUN Cellular. It’s not a place to rant about services - but more of a sounding board that compiles news - both good and bad - about the Philippines’ weakest link.

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To utilize the application, Verizon Wireless subscribers sign up for a Photobucket account – which can be created for free at http://photobucket.com – and enter their log-in information to link their Verizon Wireless account to their Photobucket online photo album. Once the accounts are connected, the application instantly uploads photos already saved on the phone to the user’s Photobucket account. The Photobucket Mobile Uploader then automatically sends any future photos directly to the same Photobucket account. [release]

The service will be available for 13 handsets on the Verizon network, and we’re assuming that these are the faster 3G / HSDPA phones. The service allows for unlimited photo uploading for only $2.99 a month.

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This is probably one of the more affordable Supernova phones from Nokia. The 7100 Supernova retails at about 70 Euros and is targeted towards developing countries. It isn’t really about the fashion - and come to think of it, the positioning of the phone puts design in second place as the 7100 Supernova comes with a few tools that support … well a mileu of develpment tools like agriculture information for pricing of produce; so Mr. Farmer can have a second opinion aside from the middle man’s prices.

The Nokia 7100 Supernova is a stylish addition to the popular Supernova collection. Designed for style and entertainment, the colorful device is highlighted by its large, high resolution color screen, FM radio and a 1.3 megapixel camera and support for Share on Ovi, Nokia’s online photo sharing service. The Nokia 7100 Supernova will also include support for Mail on Ovi, as well as a browser for surfing information on the Internet. The Nokia 7100 Supernova is expected to begin shipping in the fourth quarter of 2008 with an estimated retail price of 75 EUR. [PRESS RELEASE]

The Supernova 7100 comes with Bluetooth, a 1.3MP camera, FM radio and Nokia Life Tools. And yes even if we aren’t third world, this phone is yummy.

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The Samsung Tobi is a simple and cutely unadulterated mobile phone for your nephews and nieces this Christmas. Remember the whole “paint scandal” everal months back where toys were coated with harmful toxins from paint? Well, fear no more as SAmsung stresses how environmentally safe and biodegradable these phones are. The Samsung Tobi comes with safety features for kids such as SOS calling / messaging to let parents know where their kids are at all times.

Samsung Tobi is designed to meet the needs and desires of the mobile users to express their personality and style with mobile phones. First, Samsung Tobi features unique GUI themes which have never been applied previously in any other mobile phones. Affable animated characters in three themes, Monster theme, Snowman theme and Ocean World theme, capture the hearts of viewers instantaneously. Moreover, Samsung Tobi features changeable backside cover. Users can insert their favorite photo or image under the see-through protective sleeve on the back to customize their Samsung Tobi. [PRESS RELEASE]

The Samsung Tobi comes with a 1.3MP camera, GPRS connectivity, Bluetooth and MP3 player.

[Photos from Samsung PR]

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The Nokia E63 is the cheaper brother to the more elegant E71. Slightly thicker with more playful colors of blue and “Space Marine” red, the E63 boasts a similar form factor sans the secondary camera, HSDPA. It also comes with a lower resolution 2MP camera as compared to the E71’s 3.2MP camera. Truthfully, this is not a bad deal if you’ve always wanted to own an E71 but could not spare the extra cash. The phone is obviously targeted to compete with the Palm Centro which caters to a more young and hip market that desires much for a QWERTY keyboard.

One thing that the E63 has that the E71 doesn’t — a 3.5mm audio output! The E71 only has a 2.5mm which means you’d have to find a third party adapter to plug in your regular headphones.

* S60 3rd Edition FP1
* WiFi, 3G (no HSDPA?)
* Quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
* Dual band WCDMA, 3 models: E63-1 900/2100 MHz, E63-2 850/1900 MHz, E63-3 850/2100 MHz
* Dimensions: 113 x 59 x 13 mm Weight: 126 g Volume: 87 cc
* 2 megapixel camera
* 2.36″ QVGA (240×320 pixel) display
* 3.5mm stereo AV socket
* Micro-USB connector
* 110 MB internal memory plus microSD socket (up to 8GB)
* FM radio with RDS
* 1500mAh battery

[photo from PhilMUG]

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Telcos do this all the time but by George, what a whopping drop for the iPhone! The 8GB iPhone is currently experiencing a huge price cut to $99.00 from Orange just in time for the holidays. This is way below the suggested retail price of the phone leaving a lot of subsidizing going for Orange. Moves like this usually cater to the initial appetite for gadget lust without consumers realizing how “trapped” they are in their post paid cellular plans for the next so and so months.

[Photo c/o Apple Insider]

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Hands down it looks like something for make up. But what it is - the Samsung Cleo. They say women can fit anything into their handbags so Samsung was consistent with this belief and crammed a QWERTY keyboard inside one of these things. Can you believe it, because I can’t!

The device comes with a 1.3MP camera and colored LCD screen. Samsung introduced this phone as part of their sponsorship for Desperately Different Spring/Summer 2009. The Samsung Cleo will be available through Bell in Canada. What, none in Asia?? What gives?!

[photo credit to IntoMobile and Gadgenista]

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Sometimes a phone is a clearer mirror of ourselves.

Call it what you want. Marketing sensitive denizens may call this another PR spin from Nokia but I see it from another point of view. Nokia’s latest campaign dubbed Somebody Else’s Phone has been around since October and although it differs in every region, one particular message stands out. They’ve hit it right in the bag: You are your phone.

Imagine this. If you were to stumble across a phone in a dark alley that was obviously lost by its previous owner, would you itch to hazard a peek into it? And believe me, you can find out so many things about a total stranger by just peeking into his or her phone. So much of our life is hidden in the unlocked safe that is our mobile. From inbox text, sent messages, call history, music, photos, video and even the applications installed - tell us so much about a person without meeting them.

How much sensitive information do you keep in your phone? Let’s say you were to lose, god forbit, your phone tonight at a party, how much if your life would be revealed to a complete stranger?

Digital voyeurism at its best!

[screenshot from Somebody Else’s Phone]

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