By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom announced it will sell the iPhone 3G via prepaid at P37, 599 or around P4, 000 less than its initial introductory price, the company said Friday.

Globe said in a statement iPhone 3G prepaid kits will be available at P37, 599 and P43, 799 for the 8GB and 16GB, respectively.

Globe said the new pricing will apply to all subscribers — even to those who have made reservations. Globe earlier said Apple’s latest iPhone device will be available starting August 22.

The prepaid plans come with P1,000 load spread over 5 months, or P200 per month. Also, the first 1,000 phonekit purchases will get another P1,000 discounts off the purchase price.

Earlier this month, Globe said it will see the iPhone 3G via prepaid at P41,899 (8Gb) and P48, 899 (16Gb). The iPhone 3G is likewise available through postpaid plans ranging from P1,599 to P4,999 a month, inclusive of free WiFi via Globe Wiz.

Globe added zero-interest purchase plans in partnership with local banks still apply.

The Apple iPhone 3G, which operates on the third-generation (3G) mobile network, will also come with a built-in global positioning system (GPS) for location-based mobile services.

The iPhone 2.0 software includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, apart from hundreds of third-party applications built with the recently released iPhone software development kit.

Globe Telecom has more than 21 million mobile subscribers to date.

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By Erika Tapalla
INQUIRER.net

MAKATI City, Philippines – It is light, supports 3G and comes with a touch-screen.

Sony Ericsson’s G700 belongs to the newest line of smartphones aimed at the mass consumer. And although it costs less than the high-end mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), the G700 is built with most features found in most PDAs.

Watch this quick tour of the phone’s functions.

So if you’re looking for something more economical and savvy, the G700 would probably fit your standards.

The smartphone is 4.2 inches long, 1.9 inches wide and about half an inch thick wide. It weighs 99 grams, making it easy to misplace or even drop since the actual casing of the phone is smooth.

It sports a 2.4-inch touch-screen that works with you fingertips, stylus or even your fingernail. But because of the small screen, people with large fingers may find it difficult to use, probably the same reason why Sony Ericsson didn’t remove the traditional keypad controls.

The camera function of this phone would gain two plus points from me.
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MAKATI City, Philippines – Google is offering online tools to fans who want to follow news and medal tallies in the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Google said users of iGoogle, Google’s personalized homepage, can add news feeds, games, and other content that match their interests.

Google also offers tools to find out where events are happening and even tour the stadiums virtually with 3D images on Google Earth.

“We’ve always been interested in providing tools for people to find out about the things they care about” said Derek Callow, Google marketing manager for Southeast Asia, in a statement. “This set of tools provides a great way for fans to stay on top of everything that’s going on in this year’s summer games, from beginning to end.”

Google also offers the same online tools in Filipino.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The entry-level market currently makes up for a large portion of the mobile phone business in the Philippines. Phone brands must have a mass appeal to stay in the market that demands cheap phones that cost below P5,000 to P6,000.

Motorola, however, has found a small but growing niche in the mass market segment that looks for more sophistication in their somewhat dull basic phones. These types of users are starting to demand multimedia functionalities in their handsets.

(Photo shows from left to right the Moto A810, the black and white ZN200, the MOTOROKR EM60, and the Motorola W388).

“People, even in a tight budget, still want their phones to be as functional as the more expensive phones that they wish they had. This is the market that we’re trying to address,” Mari Litonjua, Motorola Philippines marketing director for sub-regions, said.

Speaking to local journalists during the launch of new handsets, Litonjua said consumers are bound to want phones that have multimedia functions, especially those that have radio and digital music playback capabilities, and if possible, basic photo functions.

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FINE arts students from the University of the Philippines bagged the top prize in a recent Sony Ericsson competition for the best viral video, beating contestants from Thailand, India, Singapore, and Indonesia.

A copy of the winning Filipino group’s video is currently viewable on YouTube.

The group’s director, Jaime Quiano, gathered nine of his friends and classmates to compete in the local contest in which they had to present a storyboard idea to competition organizer Sony Ericsson. The other members are Clarence Santos, Lilli Beth Gelvezon, Cathlene Samiano, Pocholo De Villa, Marius Talampas, Emmenuel Carandang, Frank Magalona, and Joseph Torrijos.

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