As many of you iPhone fanboys in the Philippines probably know by now (and if not, read on), Globe has been named one of the first to make available Apple’s controversial mobile device in our country. This happened as a result of SingTel’s success in inking a deal with Apple to distribute the iPhone in Asia through their network in Singapore and partly-owned subsidiaries in India (Bharti group),the Philippines (Globe); and Australia (Optus). I already hinted on the possibility of Globe carrying the iPhone before, but the circumstances before and now are completely different.

Will they be the only one? When will this happen? Which iPhone model will they release? There are so many questions, but no definite answers at the moment. The suspense just keeps on growing.  

With various handsets emulating the luxury line of Nokia, this Chinese upstart offers opulence at a more enticing price. Gold-plated and accented with diamonds, in terms of materials, they do measure up to what luxury is all about. However, I doubt that they even come close to the craftsmanship and build of the real thing. Fortunately (or not), they do offer a bit more in terms of features, but then again, those who prefer the Vertu aren’t really after the high-end functionality.

This is probably good news for social-climbers and wannabes who can’t afford the real things, but for the rest of the mobile community, this just goes to show that nothing is out of reach for the talented cloners of the world.

Finally, someone with the same frame of mind has come up with a solution that doesn’t entail such procedures as opening up your mobile phone or tampering with its software. SIMable provides a simple solution to unlocking your phone via a chip that you use hand-in-hand with your regular SIM. This not only makes unlocking safe and easy, it also enables you to unlock a variety of phones with no added expense.

Unfortunately, they’re relatively new and have no local counterparts yet; but the good news is, they do ship internationally and are looking for distributors to expand their business so there’s an opportunity for you here if you fit the bill. There’s a lot of the potential for a product such as this one here in the Philippines especially with the lack of laws restricting the practice of locking mobile phones to network providers. Now, unlocking is as easy as 1-2-3.

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However, this wasn’t the case with this New York resident who managed to catch the culprits thanks to her Mac and wits. She went home one day and discoverd that her apartment was burglarized and her Macbook was taken. Thanks to a friend and probably an ounce of luck as well, she was informed that her laptop was connected to the internet. This prompted her to try to connect to her Macbook, which she did successfully, via the Back to My Mac program and took control of her laptop even from a remote location. She was then able to photograph the two culprits through the built-in iSight who were later on arrested with the stolen goods in their possession.

Rarely do you come across stories such as this, but what the heck, if you’re a victim, why not try out this ploy and maybe catch those unwitting and careless criminals? It wouldn’t hurt to try and make technology work for you ‘til the very end. One of the few more reasons why I find that a Mac is better than a PC.

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It looks like a simplified Touch Cruise that’s a bit more angular. It comes in a sleek black finish with a large, brilliant 2.8-inch touch screen. The rear design adds a little flare with its geometric pattern that’s somewhat reminiscent of Nokia’s Prism phones. Personally, I find the design to be a bit too boring for my taste, but minimalists will surely appreciate the simplicity in its design.

Underneath its slim exterior lies 4GB of storage, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus at the rear and a secondary camera at the front. It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and features Touch FLO 3D both of which adds for a unique user experience with its fresh new graphic interface.

We’re looking forward to reviewing this new touch screen enabled device, but for those who just can’t wait, you can check out Engadget’s take on the Diamond.

Thanks to Vodafone, ten more countries are set to officially be blessed with the release of the iPhone. These are Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey. While no exact dates were given as to when the touted Jesus Phone will make its appearance in each country, Vodafone assures iPhone-fanboys that it will definitely be this year. With this latest development, I’m beginning to wonder when the iPhone will officially be released in the Philippines or if it will ever be unveiled in the local market.

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Their new tandem is set to offer a new way of enjoying HDTV: wirelessly. Yup, that’s right. AMIMON has developed a technology that will allow video to be transmitted wirelessly up to 100-feet away. That’s great news for neat-freaks and obsessive-compulsive video fanatics who don’t want those cable-management nightmares. Since this is a new technology, the big question now is: will others follow suit and go wireless as well? I guess only time will tell, but this is nevertheless great news in the realm of wireless technology.  

I’m not sure if the technolgy will be available locally, but if the Sharp X-Series LCD makes it to the Philippines, check if it’s wireless HDTV ready. If so, it’ll be compatible with the wireless transmitters that will be sold in US and Japan.

This brave soul probably thought that the final product would outweigh whatever damage he may inflict on his iPhone and threw caution out of the window. Nevertheless, the glowing Apple logo at the back does indeed looks very cool and ties in nicely with the Macbook line of computers though we’re a bit apprehensive of the whole process. It’s very tedious and risky, and half-hearted modders are cautioned on taking on such a hardcore project. From adding additional lights to polishing the rear cover; if you’re not careful enough, you might end up with a totally vandalized-looking iPhone or, God forbid, a useless brick.

Kudos to Croiman for the snazzy looking mod, and with the initial success of this one, it looks like there’s more to come. Head on over to the iPhoneclub for a complete step-by-step (unfortunately, some of the text is in Dutch) so you can do it on your own iPhone; if you dare.