Ubertech, Inc., formerly PC Trends, showcased yesterday the Sapphire HD 7000 Series graphics cards based on the AMD Radeon graphics. The series ranges from the affordable 77xx, to midrange 78xx and the high-end 79xx models.

These graphics cards will also be featuring the highly acclaimed graphics GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture from AMD. These will have an optimised internal structure sharing many of the features of the high performance HD 7900 series already released but with fewer Stream processors and a simplified 128-bit high speed memory interface to the latest DDR5 memory types.

The HD 7000 series is the third generation of DirectX 11 compatible solutions from AMD. These graphics cards are capable of delivering all the features of the current DirectX 11 such as DirectCompute11 and multi threaded communications with the CPU. Communication with the host PC is optimised with the implementation of the latest high speed PCI-Express Gen3.0 interface, and multiple cards can be used to further enhance performance in CrossFireX mode on a suitably specified mainboard.

HDMI specifications have also increased in the HD 7000 series. Fast HDMI 1.4a supports Stereoscopic 3D with enhanced frame rates of 60Hz per eye – 120Hz total. It is also ready for the next generation of 4K displays that can be driven from a single high speed input of 3GHz HDMI 1.4a or DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2.

AMD Eyefinity technology 2.0 is also supported with these cards which allows for AMD’s HD3D technology for stereo 3D gaming. With its DVI, HDMI and two mini-DisplayPort outputs the card can support configurations of up to 6 monitors. In addition, the Sapphire HD 7970 is the first graphics card that can simultaneously output multiple, independent audio streams allowing the correct audio content to be associated with different applications on different screens.

High-end models like the HD 7970 OC features Dual-X - a highly efficient multi-heatpipe cooler with dual fans providing quiet and very cool operation during normal operating conditions, and superb cooling performance even under extreme load.

Retail price for the Sapphire HD 7000 series ranges from Php5,000 for the entrly-level to Php24,000 to the high-end overclocker’s model.

The biggest and baddest Lumia of them all, the Nokia 900, will be available from online stores starting tomorrow, beating Nokia Philippines who will hold its official launch this Friday. Widget City and DBGadgets, who procured their stocks from another country, are selling the unlocked Lumia 900 for Php30,800 and Php31,000 respectively to those who want this Windows phone ahead of others.

Be wary though that these are grey market units and are not officially covered by Nokia Care in the Philippines. You can bring it to Nokia Care centers but you have to pay for the service. Usually grey units only have service warranty from the store where its bought.

The Nokia Lumia 900 looks like its sibling, which is the Lumia 800 and the Meego-based Nokia N9. It has the same polycarbonate unibody shell and the curved Gorilla Glass protecting its screen. It’s a bit bigger though having a 4.3-inch screen (800 x 480) with ClearBlack AMOLED Display and packs a more powerful, yet still single-core 1.4GHz Snapdragon S2 processor, along with 512MB RAM.

The Lumia 900 also has the same awesome 8-megapixel camera with f/2.2 lens for fast response and good low-light performance. It’s also important to note that this is the only Lumia phone having a front-facing camera for video chats. It doesn’t have a microSD slot but you’ll get a 16GB storage built-in. No NFC either and you can only do 720p HD video recording with it. However, it’s currently the only Windows Phone in the market today capable of harnessing the HSPA+ network if you’re after internet speeds.

If you’re interested in getting the Lumia 900, I suggest you stay tuned for the official pricing from Nokia when we get back to you after the official launch on Friday, May 18.

Diablo fans flocked to their nearest game store today, or downloaded the digital version days before, to be among the first to play Diablo III. Unfortunately to a lot of these gamers, they can’t even get past the login screen with Blizzard giving them an Error 37.

The Error 37 messages is given when your connection times out after 40 seconds due to the overwhelming volume of users attempting to authenticate the game. All you can do is keep trying until successful.

“Due to high concurrency the login servers are currently at full capacity,” Blizzard said in a statement. “This may cause delays in the login process, account pages and web services. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience while this is being resolved.”

Please note that due to a high volume of traffic, login and character creation may be slower than normal. If you’re unable to login to the game or create characters, please wait and try again. We’ve temporarily taken our Battle.net websites offline and launched more servers to accomodate for the traffic. We hope to resolve these issues as soon as possible and appreciate your patience.

It’s unfortunate that this has to happen again given that it also happened during the first few hours of Diablo II back in 2000. Fortunately before, players can play the single player mode offline to allow Blizzard to sort their servers out. With Diablo III, players need to be connected online whether playing alone or with friends since characters are only stored online.

Gamers rejoice! Diablo III has officially arrived in the country courtesy of IP E-Game Ventures, Inc., who made it possible for us to be a part of the global launch of the much-awaited action RPG game.

Blizzard Product Manager, Mr. Allen Amparo, brings the good news during the Diablo III launch earlier

Diablo III continues the epic Diablo storyline and starts at the Sanctuary, where you can choose to play either a Barbarian, Wizard, Monk, Witch Doctor, and Demon Hunter against the demonic forces of the Burning Hells.

The difference this time around is that you need to be online at all time, even when playing alone. This game was built to take advantage of the Battle.net platform where you can access features such as stat-tracking, character storage so you can play in different machines,  and the ability to have friends seamlessly jump in and join at any time during quests.

There are multiple servers available in Diablo III but players from the Philippines are logged in by default on the North America server. You can still choose a different region for your server but keep in mind that your characters won’t switch servers with you.

The game will also feature an auction house where you can buy and sell the loot you find in-game. You can either to choose to deal with your in-game gold, or real-world currency which at the moment only accepts credit card. IP E-Game is still working with Blizzard at a possible integration of their prepaid game cards to use in the Diablo III auction house for those who don’t have a credit card.

Excited much?

Diablo III is available for Windows XP/Vista/7 and also for Macintosh at a suggested retail price of Php3,145. The box also contains 3 guest pass where you can invite your friends to try the game out for a limited time. If you’re quick enough to get to Datablitz, they’re having a promo for early birds where you can buy the box for Php2,750.

Trying to cement itself in the affordable, dual-SIM, Android handset niche, Alcatel adds another Blaze phone, the 985N, which is a slight upgrade from their dual-SIM Glory X 918N released late last month.

It seems that there’s really a market for dual-SIM Android smartphones in the sub-P10,000 region and Alcatel plans to capitalize that by adding the Blaze 985N. It looks like the Glory X 918N but this one has a slim metallic strip surrounding the sides, a chrome Home button and that rubbery back panel for a better grip.

As for specs, the 985N now has a 3.5-inch screen but the same 320×480 HVGA resolution. You will now also get a 5-megapixel rear camera and a front-facing one if video chatting is your thing. What hasn’t changed is the processor. You would still get the 650MHz processor, MTK 6573 chipset as the Glory X 918N and Android 2.3 Gingerbread which is not bad for a phone in its class.

If you fancy a bigger screen and a front-facing camera on your dual-SIM Android, give the Alcatel Blaze 985N a look. It retails for Php7,999 and is available in black and white colors.

Alcatel OT-985N Blaze Specs:

• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• 650 MHz Media Tek MT6573 processor
• 256MB RAM
• 512MB ROM (150MB accessible memory)
• 3.5” 320×480 capacitive touch screen
• Dual-SIM, Dual-standby
• 5MP rear camera
• VGA front-facing camera
• 3G+HSDPA
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hot spot
• Bluetooth 3.0, A2DP
• Micro SD card slot (up to 32GB)
• FM Radio with RDS
• A-GPS, G-Sensor
• 1300 mAh battery
• 61.84 x 116 x 12.15 mm
• 136 grams
• SRP: Php7,999

For 2012, HTC released the HTC One series of Android phones that focus on three things: build, camera and audio quality, on top of the beautiful HTC Sense UI they are known for and the reliability of their handsets.

The HTC One V is the entry-level model of HTC’s new breed of handsets and is often cast aside in favor or its impressive brother, the quad-core HTC One X. We’re here to take a look on how the HTC One V fares in its class. Is it going to be the best-sounding, best camera phone in its price point? Let’s find out.

Design

Following the design footprints of the HTC Legend, the One V also has that pronounced chin at the bottom for a more natural feel when pressed against the ear for calls. This one feels premium with its aluminum body and a grainy texture to discourage smudges and print.

The front is dominated by a slightly raised 3.7-inch Gorilla Glass screen with the three Android 4.0 capacitive touch buttons for Back, Home, and Recent Apps below. Near the top just above the HTC logo are tiny holes for the earpiece. No secondary cam lens can be found here.

Button and port positioning is standard for HTC phones. At the top is the Power/Sleep button and the 3.5mm audio jack. There’s also a strip of LED on top that blinks when there are notifications available and lights up when charging. On the left is the volume rocker and on the right is the microUSB port for data transfer or charging. No dedicated camera button can be found on this device.

The back has that light grainy finish on the aluminum panel that we talked about. The 5-megapixel lens is located near the top edge along with the LED flash on a rubber space. The bottom part has the Beats logo on a rubber cover that houses only the SIM and microSD slot, making the battery on this phone non-replaceable without opening the whole thing up.

The phone feels great to hold especially for the ladies out there with small hands. It feels slimmer than the HTC Desire S and the HTC Rhyme which has almost the same size physically as this phone.

Display and UI

The HTC One V has a respectable 3.7-inch screen with a 480 x 800 resolution, same as the aforementioned Desire S and Rhyme. Colors appear sharp and vibrant whether you’re just admiring the UI or playing games and watching videos on it.

It has the latest HTC Sense UI 4.0 layered on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich which I think makes a pretty good combination in terms of design and functionality. The shortcuts in the lockscreen are now customizable depending on the launch bar content at the bottom of the homescreen.

The app drawer is now divided into pages unlike the one long vertical scroll of before. There’s still the Frequent and Downloads tab to get to your apps easily.

They removed the useful dedicated menu button and instead placed it on the upper right portion of apps that require it. What’s new is the dedicated Recent Apps button wherein before, you need to hold Home button to access it. Closing apps is now made easy, just view your recent apps and swipe it to the left or right off the screen.

Performance

Powering the HTC One V is a single-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor commonly found on mid-range devices last year so seeing it in an entry-level handset is already a big plus.

Here’s the Quadrant score (1892) of the HTC One V.

So as not to step on the toes of the HTC Rhyme and the Desire S, the One V only has 512MB RAM. Is it enough for this phone? While I do experience smooth navigation within the UI, I also encountered a bit of lag when launching applications, updating widgets, sending messages, viewing contact details, etc. It doesn’t happen all the time but it does happen (probably when the phone has to refresh its memory) and you will notice the 2 to 3-second wait.

To let you know how the lag feels, check this video I did while navigating through the phone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JptIYZl8qmE

Call quality is good with no drops experienced although there’s still that tiny bit of delay before the Answer button kicks in.

It also takes a while for games to smooth out. I encounter stuttering when playing Temple Run but it eventually became smoother as the game completely loads. I even beat my game’s high score on this phone.

Web-browsing is very quick though even loading of flash content such as videos and live streams. You just can’t discount an Android phone’s ability to play flash straight from its browser.

Multimedia

Having an Adreno 205 GPU, the HTC One V is a very capable multimedia device for watching videos if you don’t mind viewing on a 3.7-inch screen. MKVs, AVIs, MP4s and FLVs are not a problem with this phone.

The HTC One V is now the most affordable phone in HTC’s stable that has the Beats Audio enhancement. HTC improved the software to not only apply to the Music app but to all applications and games that requires audio as long as you’re using a headphone. If you’re wondering what Beats Audio entails, you’ll get a louder, fuller sound with more bass on your music.

It doesn’t come with a matching Beats headphones by the way so feel free to use your own or the generic earphones included in the package.

Camera

While only having a 5-megapixel camera, the HTC One V is probably the best camera phone I’ve ever used in its class. It inherited the same f2.0 lens with BSI sensor and the dedicated imaging chip of its siblings, the One X and One S. It’s now fast and performs well even indoors without the need of its LED flash.

What’s new with the camera here is that it auto-focuses by itself. Wait for it to focus and click the onscreen shutter button. No need for half-presses making it one of the fastest camera phone around. In fact, you can take a photo continuously in quick succession (up to 20 shots). You can also touch any point of the screen you want it to focus on before taking your shot.

Just like other HTC phones, you can also apply effects upon taking your shots for more creative photos.

Here are a few sample photos taken with the HTC One V.

12►

One thing that immediately stood out for me is that the imaging software tend to oversaturate photos of daylight shots when the sun is high so colors would pop out more and be vibrant. This is clearly noticed on skies and bodies of water. However, other photos turned out really good with the right sharpness so it’s just a matter of preference.

This phone also features a great level of photo editing, from applying built-in effects and frames, to adjusting different elements of the image such as levels, white balance, exposure, saturation, sharpness, etc.

Here’s a sample 720p video recording done on with the HTC One V.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHd4hPZXnOE

Another thing HTC wants to highlight is that you can take still photos while in the middle of video recording.

Battery Life

The HTC One V has a battery rated at 1500mAh which we often encounter on dual-core phones or those with 4-inch displays and above. So how does it affect the One V?

I was able to use this phone as my personal and primary phone. With moderate calls and text, no 3G, WiFi always on but only connected when I’m at home (even sleeping), sync on, brightness set to auto, light surfing, picture taking, gaming and video, I was able to squeeze three days on a single charge on three consecutive occasions! Something I couldn’t accomplish on other Android phones I’ve used. If you’re a heavy user, you can easily reach 1.5 to 2 days out of the HTC One V.

Verdict

In a nutshell, the HTC One V is now one of the best phones in its class. You’ll get a gorgeous 3.7-inch screen, with probably the most beautiful Android UI available out of the box, impressive camera for its size, long-lasting battery, and Beats Audio enhancement, all in one well-manufactured device using quality materials.

If we put a grading system in our review, here’s what the HTC One V’s grade will look like:

Design – 4.5/5
Speed – 3/5
Camera – 5/5
Battery – 5/5
Price – 4/5
Overall – 4.5/5

If you can get used to the occasional lags when using the phone (which I have), and the lack of front-facing came, then the HTC One V should be on the top of your lists when buying an Android phone. Having a retail price of just Php15,990 (might be cheaper in other stores) makes it more affordable than older 3.7-inch HTC phones.

Ericsson together with Expressions of Humankind, a Sweden-based foundation invites everyone, including you, on May 15, 2012, to take photographs to illustrate the energy of one single day.

This worldwide photo project entitled, "A Day in the World", aims to document moments from all parts of the world using photos by professional and amateur photographers alike. These photographs will be collected online and later saved in the national archives of participating countries.

This resulting gigantic photo collection will be given direction, structure and context, making it a relevant portrait of today, for tomorrow.

Ericsson, as a global enabler of modern telecommunications and a company founded on the belief that communications is a basic human need, is a founding partner and member of the project’s technical advisory board. Richard Brisius, head of Ericsson Global Marketing Communications, said: "People are closer to each other thanks to good quality, high-speed connectivity. This is a great project about global collaboration and learning, something we believe is central to humankind, now and in the future."

Take photos of your day at home, at work, or of your connections – visit the website at www.aday.org or at www.ericsson.com to learn more and to upload your photos on May 15.

With the help of Rapture Gaming Network, Pinoy Gaming Festival launched its summer gathering entitled Pinoy Gaming Festival Summer Assembly last May 5 and 6 at the SM North Edsa Cyberzone. This event is in preparation for one of the biggest gathering of e-sports here in the Philippines, the Pinoy Gaming Festival.

Summer got hotter in Day 1 as Enderr, Jabito, Blazer and WaningMoon faced each other at the elimination games of StarCraft 2. Dreamz, Mineski, Duskbin 2, and ex-Mineski, Responsible Gaming went all out to defend their ancients in Dota 2. And with 12 schools participating in the first ever National Cyber Collegiate League (NCCL) this is surely a major step in the e-sports industry here, in our country.

Gameclub’s CrossFire Pride of Champions league impressed fans with a number of freebies. This event was just a sneak peak to the PGF 2012 which is going to be held around later this year, during the “Ber” months.

Game Results:

DotA 2

• 1st place – Duskbin 2
• 2nd place – HyperX Mineski
• 3rd place – Responsible Gaming

CrossFire

• 1st place – Team Wara
• 2nd place – Batibot PHL
• 3rd place – MaCtA2

NCCL

• 1st place – FEU
• 2^nd place – TIP
• 3^rd place – CIT-U

StarCraft 2

• Champion – BenQ-Mineski.EnDerr

Instagram fans would definitely want the Instagram Socialmatic Camera to be a reality. Its function is quite simple, take square photos, upload it to your Instagram account, and even print it ala Polaroid but on a sticky paper.

This digital camera is beautifully modeled after the Instagram icon. What’s inside is WiFi to connect to the internet, Bluetooth to possibly transfer files to other devices, 16GB of storage, a 4:3 touchscreen, 2 different lenses, LED flash, a QR code reader, and it can also be used as a webcam. At least, that’s how ADR studios who created this concept camera wants it to be like.

After taking your Instagram photo and uploading it to your account, you can also print it directly from the camera. It will use a sticky sheet (like Post-its) as paper so you can stick your picture anywhere you wish to. The printout will also have a QR code and your Instagram username for easy following.

Now if only they being making this a reality for the millions of Instagram lovers in the world. It feels weird to hold when taking photos but what the heck, take my money!

UPDATE: The Instagram Socialmatic Camera can now be funded in Indiegogo, a crowdfunding site. They’re estimating a retail price of under $350. Ouch. In that case, I’ll hold on to my money for now.

[ADR-Studio, more concept photos here]

Alright guys, here’s your chance to score a Norton 360 v6 to replace that free or trial version anti-virus you are using. We are giving away 4 Norton 360 v6 that’s good for 3 PCs each, so that’s for your desktop, laptop, and uhh probably your dad’s PC as well.

The Norton 360 is the most complete security solution from Symantec available to consumers. It combines the effectiveness of the Norton Anti-Virus, the protection of Norton Internet Security, and adds a few more cloud features. Check out our review of the Norton 360 v6 here where it got a lot of positive marks. You also don’t have to worry about the upcoming 2012 version because you’ll get a free upgrade once it’s released.

So what do you need to do? Just answer this simple question by leaving a comment below:

Aside from installing an anti-virus, what other actions do you take to protect yourself from cyber-threats?

Ex. I make sure that I don’t download pirated software.

That’s it. Contest ends on May 19 (Saturday) and we’ll let Rafflecopter draw the winner. Make sure you use Rafflecopter below to be included in the draw. There will be a verification upon drawing of winners so simply clicking the task won’t work.

a Rafflecopter giveaway