Steve Jobs finally made it official. Giving his keynote address to start Macworld, he announced the Apple iPhone, ending years of rumors and speculations. Naturally, the rest of blogosphere is buzzing about the new gadget, and at least five people have IMed me today about it. Apple has stepped up to the hype, showcasing the smartphone’s capabilities with a slick flash-driven produce site.

People are going gaga over the Apple iPhone because of its features:

• 3.5″ 320×480 touch-sensitive screen (no more keypad!)
• Runs OS X
• Comes in 4GB or 8GB
• Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900), EDGE, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
• Built-in 2.0 megapixel camera

Unfortunately, it looks like it’ll be a while before the iPhone arrives on our shores. Cingular Wireless won exclusivity, and will start offering the 4GB ($499) and 8GB ($599) models with a two-year contract. The iPhone will become available in Europe near the end of this year. Asia can only expect the iPhone in 2008.

Rico Mossesgeld also writes for The Smart PDA, a blog that provides daily info on Smartphones and PDAs.

• Palm OS 5.4.9
• Radio: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (GSM 850/900/1800/1900)
• Intel XScale 312MHz processor
• 320 x 320 color TFT touchscreen display 16-bit color displays up to 65,536 colors
• 128MB (60MB user accessible) non-volatile
• Bluetooth 1.2 (Support for Bluetooth stereo headsets)
• Speakerphone
• Hands-free headset jack 2.5mm
• Polyphonic MIDI, MP3, WAV & video ringtones (w/ vibrate mode and external ringer on/off switch )
• Microphone mute option
• TTY/TDD compatibility
• 3-way calling
• 0.3 megapixels - VGA Camera
• Standard SD card slot
• Removable 1200 mAH Lithium-ion Battery (Talk time up to 4.5 hours - Standby time 10 days)
• Infrared (IR)
• Size 111mm x 58mm x 22mm
• Weight 154 grams (5.4 ounces)

Keep in mind these specs haven’t been confirmed, but hopefully Bluetooth really is built-in, and A2DP support wouldn’t hurt too. A2DP allows you to stream music to your Bluetooth headset, meaning no more wires needed.

Rico Mossesgeld also writes for The Smart PDA, a blog that provides daily info on Smartphones and PDAs.

So now that Apple has released a new iPod Nano, expect vendors to come out with new cases to take advantage of the sales it’s sure to generate. Belkin is trying to be first to the game, by releasing new cases for the media player:

• Acrylic Case (Pictured)
• Hard Flip-Top Case
• Neoprene Holster
• Canvas Flip-Top Case (Pictured)
• Canvas Holster
• Sports Armband
• Slider Case

Some of these cases are also available for the iPod Video (see the press release for more details). Belkin is also coming out with the Kickstand II, a display stand for the iPod Video. These accessories aren’t available locally yet, but expect the local distributor of Belkin to pick it up soon.

Rico Mossesgeld also writes for The Smart PDA. Check out his personal blog, Fool for Five.

Belkin TunebaseFM - PhP 4,650 (from 5,100)

Belkin TuneFM for iPod Nano and iPod Video - 2,950 (from 3,200)

Belkin TuneCast Auto - 2,950 (from 3,300)

Jabra BT500 - 4,450 from (5,300)

Jabra FS258 - 2,999 (3,450)

To continue what Jayvee has begun: My name is Rico Mossesgeld. Right now I’m a freelance writer, graphic designer, and computer modeler. I’ve written reviews for the magazine, and made the recent batch of wallpapers. Hope you like them!

Like Jayvee, I’m also a member of MaPaLad, even though I don’t own a Palm handheld (that will soon change ;-)).

Feel free to check out my professional blog on Smartphones and PDAs, The Smart PDA.

So here goes:
1) Shell Magallanes
2) ALL Robinson’s Malls
3) Petron Makati
4) Murphy’s, along Esteban Ave.
5) Old Swiss Inn, The Atrium, Makati
6) Podium - From Neolex
7) Libreria - Along Tomas Morato, From Noelle
Starbucks WalMart, Pasong Tamo - From Bernie
9) Shangri-La Makati - Confirmed by Art Ilano
10) Cafea - Found it near the ABS-CBN complex, besides Singles

If I accidentally forgot a place you guys already mentioned to me, feel free to comment.

Last month, I remember going to Old Swiss Inn with Jayvee and two other friends. The restaurant is located in the Atrium, a building on the corner of Makati Ave. and Paseo de Roxas. San Francisco Coffee was beside the establishment, and a big banner advertised Free Wi-Fi. Seeing another patron in Old Swiss Inn using a laptop, I assume the signal also reaches inside there; imagine surfing the net while sampling the cheese fondue!

On a final note, it turns ALL Robinson’s malls are hotzones, though according to sources, signal strength isn’t consistently strong throughout.

So here is the list so far:
1) Shell Magallanes
2) ALL Robinson’s Malls
3) Petron Makati
4) Murphy’s, along Esteban Ave.
5) Old Swiss Inn, The Atrium, Makati

as free hotspots/zones. Now add this:
3) Petron Makati

That’s right, the gas station on the corner of Ayala Ave. and Gil Puyat Ave. (though I still like calling it Buendia). I’ve heard rumors indicating Shangri-La Makati’s lobby to be a hotspot, but I won’t confirm until I check it out with Matus.

Learn Good Living

At the very least, using the Nokia 6708 teaches three good habits. (1) Learn not to text while driving; the only way to compose an SMS is by writing with a stylus on the unit’s touch-sensitive screen. (2) Improve your penmanship; only clearly legible writing will be recognized by the phone.

(3) Be more careful with your possessions. The charger, with its proprietary design, incompatible with any Nokia phone on the market today, means finding a replacement is hard.

“Look Ma! Both Hands!”

It’s impossible to do anything with one hand, except dialing a number and calling up the programs manager. Unless you have a very dexterous thumb with a small tip, you’re forced to using the stylus (and thus both hands) to do even simple tasks such as viewing your contact list and navigating through menus.

(Stay tuned for the full review in upcoming issue of Mobile Philippines!)

We had dinner in my cousins’ house in Valle Verde 5. My parents just returned from a trip in Spain (they’re ardent Ignatians and went on a pilgrimage, following the footsteps of St. Ignatius himself). They wanted to show my tito and tita what they saw, and luckily my cousin had a projector. It was a simple matter of connecting it to my dad’s laptop and pointing it to an empty wall.

What struck was how gadgetized everything seemed to be. While my dad was running the show, I went around, taking pictures with my cousin’s digicam. Within minutes, I uploaded the pictures onto my laptop through the built-in card reader, wrote this entry, and posted everything, even before the “lecture” was over.

I know everything done here is nothing new. But seeing everything work together like they did made me feel such a tech lifestyle guy.