Imagine, you can use BBM to send messages to your colleagues who are abroad, eliminating the high cost of sending SMS to a foreign-based mobile number — or even from a different telco.

A lot of Filipinos are now experiencing the beauty of BlackBerry — both the handheld units and the service — thanks to the promos and loyalty (retention) programs being offered by the two giant networks here in RP: GlobePH and Smart.

Share your experiences, problems, tips-and-tricks, etc. about the BlackBerry online at our homegrown online community BlackBerry Pinoys (http://www.blackberrypinoy.info). If you use BBM, simply scan my bar code above or add my PIN 21A55089.

Mabuhay ang Pinoy BlackBerry users!

On to the review:

The BlackBerry 9700 was announced last October 2009, and this is RIM’s second handset (next to the Curve 8520) that will sport a touch-sensitive optical trackpad instead of the problematic trackball. A very welcome move from RIM. Compared with the BlackBerry Bold 9000, the Bold 9700’s camera is upgraded to 3.15MP (from just 2.0MP) with Image Stabilization; weight is reduced to just 122g from 133g; the Bold 9700 supports GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 850/1900/2100, & HSDPA 1700/2100/900 — up to 3.6Mbps. Like the Bold 9000, Bold 9700 is also WiFi (802.11 b/g, UMA) enabled.

On the downside, internal storage for the Bold 9700 was reduced to just 256MB from Bold 9000’s 1GB. But, the Bold 9700 supports up to 16GB microSD expandable storage, while the Bold 9000 can only accommodate up to 8GB. The screen size got a little bit smaller at 2.44 inches, compared to the Bold 9000’s 2.6 inches.

GlobePH currently sells the BlackBerry Bold 9700 at PHP28,995 as a prepaid phonekit.

My first impressions of the device was: “the big brother of the iPhone and iPod Touch.”

With a price tag of (starting at) US$499, this will definitely land in my wish list for tech gadgets this year. As I said earlier today, this toy (este gadget) is a “must” for professors and students alike.

When you think of Sun Cellular, you associate it with words such as unlimited and value for money. Sun Cellular aims to bring these words in the world of wireless broadband through the Sun Broadband Wireless. Go online anytime you like in the Metro and North Luzon using the fastest HSDPA technology with speeds up to 3mbps.

Sun broadband wireless offers the lowest UNLIMITED plans for only PHP799/month (modem costs vary from PHP1,595 & PHP888) for non Sun Cellular postpaid subscribers; and PHP649/month for existing Sun Cellular postpaid subscribers.

The PREPAID kit comes in two variants:

• PHP1,895 kit that comes with a free 180 hours of surfing.
• PHP888 kit that comes with a free 05 hours of surfing.

Order for a Sun Broadband Wireless kit from me and get a DISCOUNT. You can contact me through 0916.320.1513 or email bob@bobreyes.com for your orders — no need to fall in line at Sun Cellular centers; I’ll have your USB modems delivered right in front of your doorsteps absolutely FREE.

Fans of web-based games like Farmville (what?!), etc. will be happy to see the games and applications that will be included in the revamp of Friendter. DLSU fans will surely rejoice, too once they see the default “green-colored theme” of the site. Customizing the user interface will be easier with pre-defined color schemes plus the feature that allows you to change your profiles’ CSS is still available.

ReadyBoost is a component of Microsoft Windows, first introduced with Windows Vista in 2006 and also included with Windows 7. It works by using flash memory, USB 2.0 drive, SD card, CompactFlash or any kind of portable flash mass storage system as a drive for disk cache.

ReadyBoost is also used to facilitate SuperFetch, an updated version of Windows XP’s prefetcher which performs analysis of boot-time disk usage patterns and creates a cache which is used in subsequent system boots.

So, I reformatted the PQI SD card and activated ReadyBoost:

Then, I did a simply test to check if ReadyBoost really works or not. With ReadyBoost activated, I fired up Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended and it just took me 40.1 seconds to see it’s GUI.

Now, I ejected the PQI SD card (ReadyBoost), made a reboot, then fired Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended again, and it took me some 77.0 seconds just to see the GUI. That’s around 30 seconds difference, and indeed it’s a big thing. Indeed, ReadyBoost works!

If you’re wondering the specs of my Windows 7 laptop, it’s an eMachines by Acer D725 running Intel Pentium Dual-core T4200 with 2GB of RAM. Now, I am thinking of getting a 2GB SD Card to be dedicated for ReadyBoost on my lappy.

But more than this advancement in technology, AOC has maintained an environmental-friendly mindset towards gearing up for the preservation of resources. AOC being a green company have set the standards of manufacturing products that do not need to sacrifice quality performance and great display for energy efficiency.

“AOC is positioned to be one of the top global players in providing the best value display technology.”

AOC added to their widescreen LCD range monitors that bring green, entertainment, human-element life experience: 936Sw, 2236Vw and 2436Vw.

This line of AOC LCD monitors boosts the following:

• EPEAT Gold Award
• Power Saving mode: save up to 50% in power consumption
• With Analog D-Sub Input (for 936Sw 19″ LCD Monitor model)
• With DVI-D Input (for 2236Vw 22″ LCD Monitor model)
• Wall-mountable (for 2436Vw 24″ Class LCD Widescreen Monitor model)
• iBright Technology
• Power Off Timer

[View with PicLens]

Dubbed as “B Free Day”, in line with Smart Bro’s partnership with the two premier collegiate sports leagues, which produced limited editions of Smart Bro Plug Its, dongles designed with the sports team monickers of UAAP and NCAA member schools. These are Adamson University, Ateneo, La Salle, FEU, National University, UE, UST and UP for UAAP. The NCAA member schools are College of St. Benilde (CSB), Jose Rizal University, Letran, Mapua, San Beda, San Sebastian, Philippine Christian University (on leave), and University of Perpetual Help.

“Supporting school sports is one of our advocacies as these provide positive entertainment and promote healthy competition among the youth. Giving away the dongles is our reward to them, in line with Smart Bro’s goal of delivering Internet for all,” explained Smart marketing group head Annie P. Naval.

Held at the Megatent in Ortigas Avenue, Pasig City, “B Free Day” thrilled the student crowd with back-to-back performances by popular rock bands Sandwich, Hale and Spongecola; raffle draws; and games and treats reminiscent of school fairs such as bail out jail booth, balloon darts, ball toss, back massages, burgers, beverages and other sponsors’ freebies—all beginning with the letter ‘b’.

Another popular section of “B Free” featured a remount of the successful Smart Bro Broadbandemonium – The Great SMART Bro Sale. The sale brought together major PC brands Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Neo and Toshiba, which have bundled Smart Bro in some of their latest models, to give buyers the right equipment to enjoy the Internet with Smart Bro’s fast connectivity.

Smart Communications, Inc. recently launched its expanded HSPA network nationwide, from Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte to Digos, Davao del Sur—with many more cellsites expected to go live before 2009 ends. Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, and other key cities are already covered with seamless, high-speed mobile broadband which provides a subscriber high speeds of up to 5.8Mbps, enabling Smart Bro subscribers to enjoy the fastest wireless broadband service when surfing the internet.

Thanks to the wonderful people of Havoc Digital (and Rogue) for the Press Pass!

If you were helped of this post, your “Thank you!” is accepted, but your PayPal donation is better.

With Smart Bro, here’s what I get:

Now, with Sky Broadband (same monthly subscription fee with Smart Bro):

With the same MSF (Monthly Service Fee) as with Smart Bro, I will no longer be in contact with lousy customer service agents and no more long lines of queue at their business centers just for a simple request to be done. The Sky Broadband customer service is indeed very good — cannot be matched by Smart nor Globe.