After months of obsessing: I finally have it. The ultimate phone.

My almost-3-year-old phone went to phone heaven a few months back. It was a lovely ceremony — we looked back at all the pictures we took and the friends we’ve made over the years. I placed him in his phone-box coffin after. I have been a Sony Ericsson user for 9 years — this is my first Samsung phone — though the Arc seems like it is more than capable enough of handling modern-day phone tasks, the Galaxy S II is simply just the better device for me.

I could bore you with specs and whatnot, but just because I could doesn’t mean I would (or should) — instead I’ll point you over to GSMArena for that. I’m going to talk about what I like about this phone:

ANDROID – Months back, I made a post about a dancing android — now I could see why he was so happy.

Super AMOLED Plus display – This basically means that every other screen looks bland to me now. (To be fair we don’t have anything with a Retina display in the house for comparison … yet.) Also, the screen is HUEG.

Gorilla Glass – It means even if you have keys, coins, screws, nails and other sharp objects in your pocket, the plastic body is more likely to scratch first before the screen. Here’s a demonstration, though it’s not for the Galaxy S II:

Camera – It takes great pictures. Yes, if you are only now just noticing: some people do shop for phones based on how good a camera it is. (FINALLY: I can join the lot of you who have these wonderful sensors on their phones only to make the final images look retro. LOL) It has touch-focus, exposure/ISO/metering control and flash.

DLNA – With the in-phone app AllShare, the phone can share movies, pictures and music through various DLNA-enabled devices. (Okay, I honestly thought I could play videos I take with the phone directly on the PS3, but it doesn’t recognize the format. I could access phone media over Windows Media Player though.)

The Android Market – With Android versions of my favorite apps (Evernote, Dropbox, etc) and other fine homebrew apps, this phone just made my iTouch extinct. (Let’s see tomorrow if the battery-life is better.)

Google-isms – I love that I can use both Google Goggles and Google Voice Search:

(I like that I can cheat in sudoku now. lol) If I text you by accident, it’s probably because I’ve been talking to my phone again.

It’s a phone! – Surprise! It does calls and text too! Actually, this is my first Android device — I just found out that it syncs my contacts with gmail. So, if I ever flash the phone or something, I could always retrieve contact information. I could even add Twitter, Facebook and Skype contacts in there.

The last few hours have been a journey of discovery — mainly because I haven’t read the manual. Here’s the bottom-line: the Samsung Galaxy S II is a bad-ass mopho. Also, I’m gonna be majorly peeved if the S3 comes out like, next week.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I’m looking for a new phone — preferably a Sony Ericsson one.  Checking out GSMArena’s listing of Sony Ericsson phones, I stumbled upon the Sony Ericsson Bravia S004: A TV PHONE.  Slim and narrow — and an SE clamshell!

The downside?  It’s only for the Japanese market.  Booooooo.

Notable features:

• It’s a Sony Ericsson.
• In the Western market, SE’s killed off its ties to other Sony brands (Cybershot/Walkman) while this is a BRAVIA.
• It’s slim and narrow and a clamshell.
• It has WiFi.
• It has a TV tuner.
• It folds into TV-mode.
• It has an 8-megapixel camera.

Things that I want that SE can’t currently give me?  Plus one.

Imagine my K850i: it has served me well over the last 2 years — job-landing calls, lovely flirtations, MMSin’, MP3-playing, taking pictures discretely, mobile internet and the thousands of SMS messages — I do love it, and I think maybe this year is the time to retire the thing.

It’s gotten its LCD screen replaced (hence the contrast is a little too much), the number 4 button sinks in a little too much, the shutter button doesn’t work sometimes, parts of the d-pad have since left and the unit is covered in battle-marks and scratches.

So for now, I’m actively looking at new phone options.  I haven’t jumped to the Apple fence yet — and I want to be loyal to Sony Ericsson, but most of the units I want are getting phased out, and it’s getting much harder to find the old ones.

My needs for a phone are as follows: talk, text, vibrant display, at least a 5 MP camera with flash (or stunning picture quality) and maybe mobile internet or multimedia options.  My mom thinks it’s silly that I want a proper (or more or less, better than average) camera on my phone, but there are just some times when you’re out, and you see something that you want to immortalize in image form.  (then send to friends for the lulz)

If I’m to stick to Sony Ericsson, here are my current options:

Sony Ericsson Satio (Idou / U1i)

Sony Ericsson Aino (u10i2)

My only thing with the Aino is — it’s not a “fully”-touchscreen device — it’s a slider.  The touchscreen may only be used with the media center/camera.  Although the thing I like about it is: it comes with a dock, and a nifty-looking pair of bluetooth headset/earphones.

Any suggestions for my new hrudu-phone?  Are you loyal to a brand when it comes to phones?  I started sticking to Sony Ericsson during the time when Nokia dominated the scene.  Now there are so much more options that it’s hard not to look elsewhere.

10 years ago when I got my first phone, I never figured that we’d be counting the megapixels on ‘em.

Back in 2008, I bought my Sony Ericsson K850i.  I’ve always been an SE fanboy, and, since it was the same week that the C902 got here, the price of the K850i dropped slightly.  It was the first 5 MP SE phone, so it still had kinks to work out.

From the K-series phone, people were expecting a step up in camera performance from the vivid photos of the K800.

What we got, instead, was a fantastic daytime/outdoors camera phone.  In low light situations, the superstrong Xenon flash would wash out the colors of the subject, especially up close.  Colors were pretty bland, which was temporarily remedied by the inclusion of the PhotoDJ app.  But even then, you’d have to fix up the colors in post once you’ve transferred your photos.

Looking for a screen adjustment hax, I discovered Witchking’s Cyber-shot XPerience camera driver.  It replaces SE’s camera driver with one that’s more robust, flexible and adjustable.  One that utilizes the phone’s 5 MP sensor and pushes it.

There are just situations when you don’t have a camera and you need to take a quick photo of something, and since the phone’s always in my pocket — having something else running the hardware to make it better is just.fucking.fantastic.

Here’s a list of added features:  (from the se-nse forums post by Witchking)

*Amazingly vivid colours and quality
*ISO Control
for both flash and non-flash shots
*Advanced Auto-ISO Flash mode
*Shutter-speed control
for both Flash and non-flash shots
*Manual Focus
*Manual Contrast
*Manual Saturation
*Manual Sharpness
*Auto-exposure lock on/off
*Advanced Hue/Tint selection
*Manual Colour balance: Cyan, Red, Yellow, Purple
*Forced flash on/off
*Colour Correction On/off

Shutter-speed control?!  Manual Focus?!  On a cameraphone?!

I’m still getting the hang of it, but here’s a coupla sample shots:

Using the phone’s camera is an entirely different experience already — and I haven’t even gotten to some of the features yet!

So if you have a Sony Ericsson K850i and you’re pretty much disappointed with the camera, (and if you’re feeling BRAVE, because installing this might brick your phone!) give Cyber-shot XPerience a try!

A few months ago, I went to the launch of the very appealing Samsung Corby — and just a bit earlier, Mikko sends me a link about the CorbyPRO B5310.

It will apparently have a January 2010 launch here in the Philippines, and we (me and Mikko) are pretty anxious to get our hands on the CorbyPRO.  Here are the specs from GSMArena:

DISPLAY: TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colors / 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches

INPUT: Touchscreen / Slide-out QWERTY keyboard

DATA: GPRS / EDGE / 3G / WiFi / Bluetooth / USB

CAMERA: 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, video

MEMORY: microSD up to 16GB

I’m just wondering if the slide QWERTY adds bulk to the CorbyPRO’s width.   Exciting times.

October 17, 2009 — Samsung brought in a little more color to  SM North as it launched its newest mobile baby: The Samsung Corby.  (model:  S3650)

This mobile baby, to be precise, is a new full-touch handset that is designed for the socially-connected lifestyles of the youth.  (rather than trying to fashion a business phone that can ALSO do that)

With built-in support for the BIG big boys of social networks, (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, flickr, etc) this might be the phone that makes you ditch that big bulky (or mebbe sleek and sexy?) computer of yours at home.

“We see strong growth opportunities in this sector and will continue to pioneer new markets with innovative technology. The Corby is consistent with Samsung’s legacy of developing new products and technologies designed for specific audiences and bringing new devices quickly to market,” explained Charlse Choi – VP Hand Held phones, SEPCO

Having the youth in mind, (and realizing their desire to be different) the Corby shall be known for its sleek body design and bold colors.  Having interchangeable slip-on battery covers (called “Fashion Jackets”) in different colors + designs (Jamaican Yellow!  Cupid Pink!  Minimal White!  Festival Orange!  They deserve exclamation points!) makes the phone stand up and shout, “No!  I will not be just another phone that everyone else has!”

The phone’s UI also has what they dub the “Pop-up SNS” notification, to inform you of any new updates and live feeds from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.  It also incorporates device features into these social networks, meaning a video of your dog going bonkers over its own tail can be posted directly to YouTube, or that secret stalker picture you took from the Corby of your crush can be uploaded directly to flickr, Picasa or Photobucket.

“Globally, we are number one for full-screen touch phones and recognize the importance of social networks in the modern mobile industry. Samsung’s target audiences are at the heart of its business strategy and the design and functionality of Samsung Corby meets the needs of a highly digitally connected and style conscious youth audience – as does the affordable price point,” continued Choi.

The full-touch design makes it easier for Corby owners to manipulate on-screen widgets (of which, it was mentioned, are customizable!), or utilize “one finger zoom,” which allows users to zoom in or out USING ONLY ONE FINGER.  There’s also the “smart unlock” feature, which unlocks the phone when the user draws a specific letter, or symbol.

Aside from the colorful phones, there were games, performances that involved orange/pink/yellow-colored girls on stage and a raffle for not one, but two Samsung Corby phones (whose winners are both not me :p ).

For the more technical-detail-looking-reader, here’s the tech specs for the Corby:

***

A very special thanks to Samsung and Kat (who invited me to the event, of whom FOR SURE grew like 2-3 inches since the last time I saw her?)

There’s this blue ‘H’ symbol that appears near the signal bar that appears on my phone from time-to-time.  

What the hell is it for?  It’s not in the manual, not in the phone’s White Paper document — and, according to Yahoo! Answers, it’s for HSDPA — thing is, I rarely (never) browse using the phone.  I’ve heard enough 3G-billing horror stories to know better, so question is, am I paying for something that my phone activates by itself?  Or, is Sony tracking me using satellites?

I’m thinking it might stand for ‘hrudu’ but that’s highly unlikely.