Category: Tech Toys & Gadgets

Samsung unveils DA-F60, NFC and aptX in tow

Ronnie Bulaong Leave a comment

Samsung has recently unveiled their first ever portable Bluetooth speaker – the DA-F60. Although it seems like your average wireless speaker, this baby has pair of features that sets it apart from the pack.

The DA-F60 is equipped with an NFC chip which, if enabled, can easily pair a supported smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth by just simply tapping it to the speaker. This is a great feature, especially because there’s not a whole lot you can do with that oft-forgotten feature of your tablet/smartphone.

Samsung DA-F60

In addition to its NFC Pairing feature, this Bluetooth speaker is also imbued with a fancy audio codec called aptX. What this codec does is it enhances the sound quality of the speaker to a level that’s comparable to that of a CD or a full-wired audio quality. This is achieved with the help of a proprietary audio technology which boosts the dynamic range of the sound and also improves the wireless streaming between the two devices.

The Samsung DA-F60 is slated to hit the shelves in the first half of this year, but there are still no talks about its pricing as of the time of writing. We guess it safe to say that it’ll have a much cheaper price tag than the DA-E750 which retailed for an eye-watering USD700 when it first made its debut last year.

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Nexus 7 plays host to an OG XBOX controller

Ronnie Bulaong Leave a comment

The XDA community comprises of talented developers and modders who spend countless hours coming up with software builds that maximizes, and sometimes pushes the limits of a specific device. Recently, however, a junior member of the community skipped the software part and got down to the hardware component to be able to hook up an Original XBOX 360 controller to the Nexus 7.

Nexus7

For the uninitiated, there are other tried and tested ways of pairing a gaming console controller (PlayStation 3 or Wii) to the famous tablet through a USB OTG cable and wireless dongle that you can buy at eBay. But if you want to put your dusty OG XBOX 360 controller to use you can do so by following Dslrocks10’s instruction found in this link.

All you need is a crimping tool and a USB OTG cable that you can buy at CD-R King and you should be well on your way. It has been reported that the Left and Right Triggers are not working, but Dslrocks10’s not sure if it’s controller-related issue or it’s with the tablet. Other than this, everything seemed to be working fine according to the modder.

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Asus Qube puts Google TV in a box

yuga Leave a comment

Asus has its own Google TV now and it’s called the Qube. This little box will run Google Play, Chrome, YouTube and you should be able to control it with motion control and voice search.

If you have an Android smartphone, you can also download Mobile Remote app from Google Play as use it as a typical remote control (although it will come with a remote of its own as well).

We don’t think Asus will bring the Qube to the Philippines considering most of the media content (like Netflix) is only available for US subscribers. The name even resembles the Nexus Q that Google recently announced and shelved (it’s probable Asus was the one who made it for Google, just like the Nexus 7).

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YugaTech Top 25 Gadget Reviews of 2012

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Each year, we review hundreds of gadgets and one of the indicators that it is a hot item is the number of people who read our reviews (on top of the shares, FB likes and retweets). In 2012, smartphones continue to dominate the line-up. Here are our top 25 gadgets that we reviewed on YugaTech.

Last year, Samsung Galaxy S2 topped the charts at 140,000 views. Actually, it continued to be the most viewed review until this year, adding 175,000 for a total of 315,000 views since we first posted it.

This year, Samsung continues to bring in a lot of attention with the Galaxy S3 as our top viewed gadget review of the year.

  1. Samsung Galaxy S3 – 43,750 pageviews. Riding on the success of the Galaxy S2, Samsung put in a bigger show with the S3 making it one of the most desired handset in 2012.
  2. Alcatel One Touch Tab T10 – 42,774 pageviews. The tablet also attracted a total of 35,893 views on our YouTube Channel (apparently, the device is also hot in Italy). It was exclusive to Sun Cellular with a plan that’s only Php600 a month.
  3. Lenovo P700 – 35,761 pageviews. Lenovo Mobile made a big splash by offering a Android handset with a battery capacity that even rivals the one by other high-end, flagship phones. That, plus a dual-SIM functionality and really affordable price made it one of the hottest phones in the local market.
  4. Ainol Novo Paladin – 33,011 pageviews. While practically unheard of before, Ainol became an instant hit by releasing the very first ICS-powered tablet in the world, beating giants like Samsung in the game. It also doesn’t hurt that the tablet was very affordable too.
  5. Sony Xperia S – 31,146 pageviews. Sony’s very first smartphone after its break-up with Ericsson. A lot of curious Sony-Ericsson fans were eager to see what Sony has to offer after the split. The Xperia line continued to be a huge success to Sony.
  6. Cherry Mobile W900 – 29,932 pageviews. Cherry Mobile introduced a more affordable Android phone and banked on the popularity of Qualcomm’s SnapDragon processor. The big attention was due to its very competitive price of Php9,999.
  7. Apple iPad 3 -25,275 pageviews. Apple came in strong with the iPad 3 and introducing their Retina Display into the line-up. Though not the first full HD tablet, it crossed the border much further, packing in as many pixels per square inch.
  8. Sony Xperia Sola – 24,326 pageviews. Another big hit for Sony is the Xperia Sola. It gave fans the chance to try out Sony’s most affordable Android handset then.
  9. Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus – 24,044 pageviews. Samsung released its second-generation tablet and updated its popular Galaxy Tab 7.0 with a better design and hardware.
  10. HTC One X – 23,923 pageviews. The One X is the very first quad-core handset to be released in the Philippines. This also marked the return of HTC since they they had their best-selling HTC Desire two years ago.
  11. Apple iPhone 5 – 23,658 pageviews. Apple came in quite late with the iPhone 5. However, that did not stop people from sourcing it abroad or from the grey market. Both Smart and Globe sold tens of thousands of units on the first day alone.
  12. Ainol Novo 7 Aurora – 23,230 pageviews. Banking on the success of the Paladin, Ainol came out with a better-looking ICS tablet. A polished design and a hardware upgrade paid off.
  13. LG Optimus L3 – 22,610 pageviews. LG’s spot was marked by the success of the Optimus L3, an entry-level handset that pushed the battle for Android into the sub-Php6k market.
  14. Google Nexus 7 – 21,623 pageviews. Despite the delays in shipment and release, the Nexus 7 became an instant hit for so many reasons — very affordable, quad-core tablet running Jellybean. It also got the distinction of being Google’s first Nexus tablet.
  15. LG Prada 3.0 – 20,812 pageviews. For the fashion-conscious, the LG Prada 3.0 offered that distinct different among the slew of flagship handsets in the market. It could have gone head to head with the Galaxy S2 had it not been half a year late.
  16. Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 – 20,812 pageviews. Super-AMOLED on a tablet — who would not drool? Samsung’s most expensive yet most-desired tablet drew a lot of attention, not the wallet though.
  17. Sony Xperia P – 19,752 pageviews. Second only tot he Xperia S, the Xperia P drew much applause for its solid design, premium material, impressive camera and decent performance.
  18. Lenovo A65 – 19,036 pageviews. A dual-SIM Android smartphone for under PHp6k? Now that’s a game-changer.
  19. Nokia Lumia 710 – 18,354 pageviews. Nokia’s release of its Windows Phone 7 handset revived tons of interest in the Lumia line-up. Topping the list is the more affordable yet capable Lumia 710.
  20. Nokia Lumia 800 – 17,172 pageviews. For a time, the Lumia 800 carried the flagship handset in Nokia’s Lumia line-up. A fresh new OS and Nokia’s great hardware experience brought back the excitement among Nokia fans.
  21. Archos Arnova 7 G2 – 17,678 pageviews. Though it’ the lesser-known sibling of the Archos family, the Arnova was still able to carve its own following in the entry-level market.
  22. Asus Transformer Prime TF201 – 16,839 pageviews. Following the success of the first Transformer, Asus came out with a faster and better-looking tablet and dock combo.
  23. Lenovo S880 – 16,792 pageviews. Lenovos got a really strong army of Android smarphones. The S880 made itself different by bringing affordability to big-screen handsets.
  24. Sony Xperia Ion – 15,841 pageviews. Sony had a strong line-up in 2012. The Xperia Ion got relatively good attention because it was rumored to be the first one to arrive packing an LTE modem. That didn’t pan out though.
  25. Huawei E587 – 14,548 pageviews. The first non-tablet, non-handset device to make it to our top 25. Huawei’s pocket WiFi remains be an all-time favorite, year after year.
  26. Sony Xperia Go – 13,576 pageviews. Probably the only water-proof and dust-proof Android device in our line-up, the Xperia Go did really well for an entry-level handset.

So that’s our top 25 gadgets that we reviewed in 2012. Take note that we only limited our listing to the gadgets that we have reviewed in the last 12 months.

It’s surprising that no laptop made it to our top 25 this year though. There were a lot of contenders but if you look at the list, Samsung, Sony, Asus, Lenovo and Apple dominated the lot.

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The Gadgets We Bought in 2012

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Every so often, we acquire our own gadget so we can review them for you even before they arrive in the country. This year, we’ll do a run down of drool-worthy devices that we bought and reviewed here in YugaTech.

This is a commitment by us to deliver an up to date and relevant content (especially reviews) to our regular readers. We believe that this is what separates us apart from all other publications (whether blogs, news sites and traditional media) and it’s a constant reminder that we

Last year, we spent over Php300k in review units and actually promised to slow down in 2012. Turns out, we did so much more this year.

Here’s a recap of all the gadgets we got in 2012:

iPad 3. This is the first time Apple introduced Retina Display into the iPad line, a resolution much higher than 1080p. Apple even called it the new iPad which made it very confusing.

iPhone 5. When the iPhone 5 was released, there was huge demand and very little supply making it very expensive. Some enterprising folks in neighboring Singapore and HK brough them in an padded the prices by at least Php8k a piece. We got ours for Php40k the day after it was released in Singapore.

iPod Touch 5th Gen. Apple released the 5th generation iPod Touch without much funfare. It was the thinnest iPod Touch and also introduced a number of colors, including the Product Red. It started out at Php16k for the 32GB and has now normalized at Php13k.

iPod Nano 7th Gen. The 7th generation iPod Nano saw another re-design, added support for video but dropped the form factor that allowed people to use is as a smartwatch.

iPad Mini. The iPad Mini is the most popular device in 2012, according to Google PH. It’s the first time that Apple introduced a smaller form factor to the iPad line and is sanwiched by the 9.7-inch iPad and the 4-inch iPod Touch.

Asus Transformer Prime TF201. Asus introduced their 2nd generation tablet in the first quarter of the year. Stocks were very few as there as lack of supply. We managed to buy one the same day it was released in stores for about Php33k.

Asus Zenbook UX21. We got the first ultrabook from Asus in the first quarter of the year and it became our primary blogging machine. The Zenbook was among the first challenger to the Macbook Air, just a little cheaper by 10-20%.

Asus Zenbook Prime UX21A. Asus re-introduced the Zenbook line with a full HD IPS display. We bought the review unit from Asus at a discount — Intel Core i7, 256GB SSD and 4GB RAM.

Asus Padfone. It was our first time to attend Computex in Taiwan and was also fortunate enough to be able to buy the Padfone there.

Google Nexus 7. We shipped the Nexus 7 straight from the US, thru a friend and using JAC as the forwarder. We also recently bought a 32GB Nexus 7 over at the Multiply Discounted Deals site.

Canon S100, S110. During the Black Friday sales last November, we saw the Canon S100 going on sale for under Php10k and quickly got one. The last week, we saw the Canon S110 go on sale at Multiply Shopping and go another one too. We now have 3 Canon S100/S110 and we’re planning to do some special video projects with them.

Kindle Fire HD. Also bought the Kindle Fire HD during Black Friday sale and paid full price. However, when we went to San Diego that same month, we spotted a sale on the Fire HD at 50% off so we got one more (out of frustration that we bought one at full price just days before).

Microsoft Surface RT. We bought this one at the Microsoft Store the last time we went to the US. We have yet to post the review for this one.

GoPro Hero 3. Got this one on Best Buy as well. We still need time to play with it but review will be out soon.

Samsung Series 5 Ultra Touch. I just could not resist getting this one at Best Buy because it was on sale, at 40% off. It’s selling for Php45k here and we got our for only Php25k. Review will be up soon.

Parrot Zik. The first wireless headphones we actually invested on. Retails for Php21k in stores.

Some of the items above, we bought in multiples (like 2 Kindle Fire HD, 2 Canon Powershot S1xx, two Nexus 7). We racked up a total of Php420k in expenses for acquiring review units this year. That doesn’t include the PC rig we’ve built from scratch.

That’s the highest we spent to get you the most complete, comprehensive and up to date gadget reviews in the country so far.

Again, we will try to slow down next year and spend less. Instead we will focus on being able to attend international events line CES, Computex or IFA on our own budget. Nevertheless, we will continue to dish out the same volume, or more, of the usual gadget reviews we’ve been doing every year for the last 5 years.

How about you, what gadgets did you buy this year? Do chime in via the comments section below.

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