Smart is offering the HTC Magic for a 2-year lock in period witht he ff. postpaid plans:

Suggested ratail price: Php 39,900

Smart Plan 500: Php27,000
Smart Plan 800: Php24,000
Smart Plan 1200: Php20,000
Smart Plan 1800: Php15,000
Smart Plan 2500: Php9,500
Smart Plan 3500: Php3,000
Smart Plan 500: Php27,000

HTC Magic specs
Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528 MHz processor
3.2 inches, 320×480 pixels
accelerometer sensor
handwriting recognition
192 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM (expandable via microSD card)
HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA, 2 Mbps
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
3.15 MP autofocus camera (2048×1536 pixels)
built-in GPS
digital compass

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.

• The new coverage will provide protection against unauthorized payments and claims for items not received for eligible items sold on eBay websites.
• Sellers will benefit from a new feature which alerts them of potential, high-risk transactions within moments of receiving a payment so that they don’t ship their items until the payment clears – helping them to reduce their losses.
• The addition of seller protection helps Philippine sellers by reducing their burdens of online risk and for making selling on eBay with PayPal even safer and easier. Seller protection is free and has no annual coverage limit.

This new protection mechanism was made effective last June 15, 2009. Coverage is free. All you need to do is simply follow the rules below:

When you ship your items…

• Be an eBay seller with a Premier/Business account registered in qualified countries.
• Accept only full payments from the same PayPal account (no partial payments).
• Receive payment via PayPal for tangible items sold on eBay.
• Check eligibility in your ‘Transaction Details’ by logging in to PayPal, go to your Account History and click on the ‘Details’ link next to the transaction.
• Ship to the buyer’s address shown on PayPal’s ‘Transaction Details’ page when the payment status indicates it’s “OK to ship” Learn more about Payment Review.

All transactions are covered, except in the following cases:

• Digital goods (downloadable software), services or intangible items.
• In-person delivery or local pick-ups.
• Transactions for cars, boats and other vehicles.
• Unauthorised payments for transactions outside of eBay.
• Where adequate proof of shipment or delivery is not provided.

The observed messages appear as if they have been sent from a Twitter account; however, unlike a legitimate Twitter message, there is no invitation URL present in the body. Instead the user will see an attachment that appears as a .zip file that purportedly contains an invitation card. The malicious attachment carries a mass-mailing work that gathers email addresses from the compromised computer and spreads by copying itself to removable drives and shared folders.

And here is a sample header:

From: invitations@twitter.com
Subject: Your friend invited you to twitter!

In May 2009, Symantec observed that overall spam levels climbed to nearly 90 percent of all email, consistent with levels ob-served in May 2008. As Twitter continues to gain popularity among social networking users, people are regularly receiving invitations and email updates from fellow users. Symantec expects that spammers will continue to use Twitter and other popular social networks as bait in their attacks.

With the Originals Def Jam Promo starting from June 18 to July 18, for every purchase of adidas Originals apparels from participating Metro Manila outlets worth P3,000, you will receive a raffle entry to win one of 30 Sony W202 Walkmans (wearable digital music player) in the adidas lucky draw.

If you’re not feeling lucky, you are also entitled to a Sony discount voucher worth P1000 that you can use to purchase the Sony W202 Walkman for only P3,999 (SRP P4,999).

Now if you purchase the Sony W202 Walkman from participating Sony Centres, you will be given an adidas voucher for a limited-edition adidas Originals USB stick (no word on its capacity) whenever you purchase P3,000 worth of adidas Originals items.

Whew. That’s a lot of purchasing.

Anyway, there will be two draws for the lucky winners of the Sony W202 Walkman on July 3 and July 18.

Click on the image above to view entire details.

2.9″ screen (360×640 pixels)
proximity sensor
accelerometer sensor
handwriting recognition
3.15 MP (2048×1536 pixels)
Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, LED flash
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth
TV out

The 5530XM does not have 3G, only EDGE, as well as GPS. The price will be under Php15,000 when it arrives in the Philippines in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

Internal memory is only 70MB but has extended storage via microSD of up to 16GB (comes with a 4GB microSD card).

Now before you go on thinking that Globe has poor coverage for its 3G so why should I bother with this new WiMAX thing, you should know the basics of WiMAX.

Yes, 3G reception for Globe is spotty due to low number of cell sites. With WiMAX though, it can cover way much greater distance than 3G so you don’t need to put up a lot of sites. It uses a different infrastructure so you won’t be competing with other services. Just like WiFi and 3G, your device should be WiMAX ready or you need a modem or a dongle built specifically for WiMAX signals.

As of this month, Globe’s WiMAX is only offered to select locations, particularly in rural areas:

• Select areas in NCR
• Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon
• Cebu Province
• Bacolod, Dumaguete
• Silay City
• Cagayan de Oro City

Globe’s planning to extend their coverage though before the year ends.

Now for the WiMAX plans, Globe boasts that its entry plan is 33% faster and 25% more affordable than other broadband providers.

• Php795 for 512 kbps
• PHP995 for 512 kbps PLUS landline
• PHP1295 for 1 Mbps PLUS landline

They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied which should’ve been the case with their other broadband plans.

If broadband internet in your area is hard to come by then it wouldn’t hurt to give Globe’s WiMAX a try.

Aside from bigger storage capacity (16GB and 32GB models), the iPhone 3G S also has a better built-in camera with autofocus and can record video at 30fps.

Apple also claimed to have improved the battery life to last 50% longer — up to 5 hours 3G talk time, 9 hours of WiFi, and 10 hours on video playback. Then, there’s Voice Control, a Digital Compass and faster HSDPA performance of up to 7.2Mbps.

The new iPhone 3GS will be available on June 19, 2009 in the US. I asked Globe executives today to comment on the iPhone 3G S but they could not give any nor provide an estimate time when the new iPhone will be available in the Philippines (although according to Apple, it will be on July 2009).

We can onyl wish the Pre would be available for GSM networks and be sold in the Philippines. Hopefully, maybe later this year.

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