Along with the Galaxy SII, Samsung also launched the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 last Wednesday. We featured the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 early last month and we were told that it would be available early June. Unfortunately, we just learned that it still won’t be available until by the end of July and the 8.9 version will follow a few weeks after.

The reason for the delay? Samsung upgraded the OS on both tablets to Android 3.1 and this would allow the 3G version to send and receive text messages and have support for microSD card (via an accessory). For some reason, we were told that calls aren’t possible yet with Honeycomb 3.1. Samsung also included their TouchWiz UI into the device to give it some distinction from other Honeycomb tablets. Initially, it was supposed to only have the bare Honeycomb UI.

Both the 10.1 and 8.9 Galaxy Tab have the same internals. Dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor, 1280 x 800 display, 3MP rear camera with flash, 2MP front camera and a 16GB internal storage.

Personally, I think these new tablets look really nice and I also like how the UI is presented. The form and weight is just right for a tablet. Actually, even if it’s bigger than the iPad 2, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is lighter by around 37 grams. It follows the iPad 2 route though by limiting the ports on the device. There’s no microSD expansion slot nor an HDMI out. You can get accessories that you attach to its charging port if you want to use an HDMI cable or read from a USB stick or an SD card.

There’s also a charging dock / keyboard accessory (very first picture) if you’re going into some heavy typing. Then there’s the leather case which has a Bluetooth keyboard as well making your Galaxy Tab look like a slim netbook.

The 10.1 version (3G version only in the mean time) will be the first to be released by the end of July. Our source said it will have a price tag roughly the same as that of the Galaxy SII, Php29,990. As for the 8.9 version, expect it to be available by August with a price tag of around Php25,000 for the WiFi version. Samsung is still planning whether to bring in the 3G version.

For the BlackBerry users in the country who’s interested in pairing their phone with a tablet, well, better wait for a bit more. RIM recently announced that their BlackBerry PlayBookwill launch in 16 other countries including some parts in Asia next month. The bad news is, Philippines is not included.

In 30 days, the PlayBook is scheduled to launch in:

• UK
• Netherlands
• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Hong Kong
• Australia
• Venezuela
• Spain
• Germany
• UAE
• Singapore
• Mexico
• France
• Italy
• India
• Indonesia
• Colombia

Oh well. A good side of this news is that when it will be finally launched here, a lot of bugs have been sorted out and missing features are already included. Right now, RIM is issuing updates left and right for the PlayBook and its apps.

Personally, even without a BlackBerry phone, I’m quite high in owning a PlayBook. I’m not really an apps and games guy and the PlayBook seems quite the right fit for those into portable multimedia with a bit of productivity and social networking on the side.

UPDATE (12:50 AM): Oops. We spoke to soon. Blogger’s back up now. Expect new features and layout (still not reflected on my Blogger account) and you may also want to back-up your blog. It’s under Settings > Basic > Export Blog.

Are you using Blogger? Google’s blogging platform. There’s still no news as to when the service will be fully back up and running. Right now it’s still in a read-only mode but at least posts that were removed from the time it went down was restored back.

It has been 48 hours now and the service is till not yet fully operational. No news as to what exactly have caused the problem during a maintenance update but Google posted this first service update early yesterday morning:

As of last night, they are still in the process of restoring the posts that were removed and then they’ll give an answer as to when you can start posting again. Better ready them in Word instead before you forget them.

[Blogger Service Disruption Update]

Merry Christmas guys and girls!

Before I start compiling the lists of entries for our Lenovo Laptop Giveaway, I just want to say thank you for supporting PTB.  It’s been a great Christmas 2010 and as a tech blogger, I was able to attend around 6 Christmas parties not including family-related ones. Got a lot of wine and Christmas baskets too.

So how was your Christmas? Most importantly, I’m interested on what gadget you got for yourself or received from others this Christmas? Were we able to help you make a good decision in your Christmas gadget-buying spree?

How many got an iPad for Christmas? Or a high-end smartphone? How about them iPods? How many of you won an iPod Shuffle in a raffle? Hahaha. Best gadget gift I got is a 50mm prime lens for my month-old Nikon D90. Received some accessories for my iPad and iPod Touch as well.

So what did you get? Do share in our comment section.

The 4th Search Engine Marketing Conference (SEMCON) 2010 is happening this October 7 and 8 here in Manila. Key topics this year include search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search traffic generation and monetization, web analytics, social media, and internet marketing.

Some of the international speakers for SEMCON 2010 are:

• Aaron Wall, Founder, SEOBook.com
• Todd Malicoat, SEM Consultant, Stundbl.com
• Jim Boykin, Internet Marketer, WeBuildPages.com
• Charlie J. Ellis, SEO Strategist, Gallant Fish
• Giovanna Villanueva, SEO Consultant, Wordtracker
• Michael Borras, CEO, Tupalo.com
• Dean Chew, SEO Engineer, Ayima Search Marketing

Who Should Attend?

Managing Director, CEO, CRM Manager, Direct Marketing Manager, IT Manager, Brand Manager, Product Manager, Category Manager, Advertising Manager, Corporate Communication Manager, Marketing Manager, Media Manager, Content Provider, Publisher, E-Commerce Manager, SEO Strategist, Bloggers, Academe, Student, and those involved in marketing/advertising using the internet and mobile.

Conference Registration Fee

• Php12,000 for two (2) days, inclusive of meals and conference kit
• Php7,000 for one (1) day, inclusive of meals and conference kit
• US$270 for two (2) days, for foreign delegates

Discount: 5% discount on or before 15 September 2010

5+1 Package: Send 5 delegates and add 1 for free.

Visit the official page of SEMCON 2010 for more information.

Is your baby seven (7) years old or below? Do you love to record your baby’s moments and upload it to Youtube? Grab a chance to bag P50,0000.00 cash and a Sony Ericsson Vivaz! Join SE Facebook campaign dubbed as Wonder Kidz! Visit SE Facebook fanpage and start submitting your entries!

Vivaz and Vivaz pro offer touch video capture in HD quality.  Vivaz is loaded with an 8.1MP camera with continuous auto focus for video, 4x digital zoom, touch capture, video light, geo tagging and image stabilizer.  Meantime, Vivaz pro, with its full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, also features HD quality image and video capture through its 5.1MPl camera.  Both handsets offer WiFi capability, Facebook and Twitter applications, FM radio, 3D games and impressive music and media players.  Vivaz and Vivaz Pro let you capture, view and share spontaneous moments and memories with the clarity of high definition technology to best record and display your child’s star turns.

To join Wonder Kidz, contestants must upload a 30-60 seconder video of their child to the Sony Ericsson PH Facebook page. Label it with Vivaz Wonder Kidz and a video title.  Entries must have a brief description of the video, contestant’s full name, email and contact numbers. Contestants are encouraged to promote their videos through their various social networks to become the “most liked.”  Spread the news about your child’s talents caught on video.

Contest period is until August 31, 2010.  Upload your kid’s videos now for more chances to be the nation’s favourite.  Visit the Sony Ericsson PH Facebook page for the contest’s full mechanics.

Be the first to experience the unmatched multimedia features of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 – at a special introductory price.

Sign up at the nearest Sony Ericsson Experience Shop or participating dealer shop or call the Customer Service Hotline 789-1860 to reserve your own X2 and take advantage of the special introductory price when you purchase the handset from February 1- 12, 2010.

The special price of Php28,500 will only be extended to customers who place a reservation for the handset prior to its commercial availability. The X2 hits the shelves in selected retail shops nationwide on 1 February.

The much-awaited X2 on Windows Mobile presents email, multimedia and MS Office in a next-generation Xperia handset that blurs the boundary between work and play. Similar to its predecessor, the X2 has dedicated panels for business, communication, multimedia and fun.. The X2 has a user interface that features a new signature 3D panel with 3D effects, zoom and music playback controls..

It comes with 14 preloaded Xperia panels and 16 more to download. New panels include CNN, YouTube™, Facebook™, Skype, Google™ and other support panels. Set favorite panels to appear during certain times of the day. One can check the latest news in the morning, view YouTube™ at lunch and unwind with mobile games on the journey home.

Also new on the X2 is SlideView, which provides quick access to frequently used mobile phone activities. It has a common interface and affords quick interaction with contacts, messages, media and more. SlideView also provides an overview of missed incoming activity, notifying the user of any missed calls, emails and text messages.

Powered by QWERTY messaging, the X2 can also show MS Office presentations on the big screen with the TV out cable. Users can open and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents right from the phone. The 3.2-inch high resolution touchscreen provides DVD quality viewing. Images and video can be taken with the phone’s 8.1-megapixel camera with photo light.

The suggested retail price of the Xperia X2 is Php29,500.

When NetSuite established their office in January 2007 here in Manila, it was already the company’s largest office location outside the United States. Yesterday, NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson just announced that they will be doubling their Philippine operations at RCBC Tower in Makati which already house 300 employees.

NetSuite is a leading vendor of cloud computing business software suites which enables mid-market companies to manage core business operations in a single system. This includes Accounting, ERP, CRM and E-commerce.

The Manila office serves as a key center for the company’s global technical support, services and back-office operations is now expanding to include product development and quality assurance capabilities.

The company also announced NetSuite Version 2009.2 which is their latest localized product designed to meet the requirements of our BIR with key tax compliance, reporting and data export requirements.

If you’re unsure whether you want to go with NetSuite, their key customers include Jollibee Foods Corporation, ABS-CBN Global and MOTECH Automative Education Center Inc.

cloud computing + virtual data room

Joining the premiere showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, LG has officially announced that their flagship mobile phone for 2009, the LG Arena (KM900), is officially out in the market. This multimedia phone comes at a retail price of Php24,900 and is available in black and silver titanium colors.

Here are some feature that you will get for that Php24.9k of yours:

• 3″ WVGA display (480 x 800) 16M, TFT Touch Screen
• Cool and intuitive 3D interface
• Web browser and GPS
• 3G HSDPA 7.2, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0
• Support for Google Mobile Services including Google Maps
• 5 megapixel camera with auto and manual focus and support for video recording
• 8 GB internal memory and support for up to 32 GB micro SD
• MP3 and WAV support with equalizer settings
• DivX and Xvid video support
• Dolby mobile
• TV Out
• USB 2.0 data connectivity
• FM Radio and FM Transmitter
• GPS
• Bluetooth

It’s really a complete package for a multimedia phone. I’ll try to get a review unit for a more in-depth review but by the looks of it, it’s really packed with cool features.

I personally like its built-in FM Transmitter so you can broadcast your music to your car stereo without any cables.  The Dolby mobile sounds good and the matching equalizer is a nice addition.

I also like the way you can easily connect the LG Arena to your TV to view your videos. I can’t even do that with my iPod Touch without buying an expensive cable!

The price is rather attractive if you compare it with other phones in its category and remember, it’s more of a multimedia phone than a full-blown smartphone.

Canon has just announced its EOS Rebel T1i DSLR. This is an entry-level DSLR and yet is loaded with two major features that you can only find in the high-end Canon camera – EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 50D. And what are these two features? HD video capture and 15.1 CMOS sensor.

Of course, it’s pretty obvious that the EOS Rebel T1i is being released as a Nikon D90 competitor. It’s key features include:

• 3-inch clear view LCD

live view mode

• DIGIC 4 Image Processor
• ISO Speed from 100-3200
• full HD video capture at 30fps
• auto lighting optimizer

Now, since this is an entry level DSLR, the camera’s SRP is not that expensive. In the U.S. when it is released sometime in May, the Canon Rebel T1i will have a a price tag of $799.99 (body), and $899.99 (with EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens).

Any guesses on how much this will costs once it his Manila? My guess is something between Php 35K-45K?

Canon PR