MANILA, Philippines — A few months ago, Alcatel has brought us their One Touch android smartphone.

Having features that, much to our delight, were more than what we expected, Tribe undoubtedly, has proven its worth. And so, in keeping abreast with what is significant in the Android trail of sweet delights, Alcatel introduces the One Touch Blaze 990.

Packed with features of a midrange Android smartphone and yet competitively priced like an entry level device, Blaze 990 deserves to be recognized. Fancy its spiffy, rugged yet classy body with curves and lengths that fits perfectly on one’s hand.

The unit that we have at the MB Techlab came in red (spicy red) matte finish with a silver/chrome-like lining throughout its sides. Rugged yet refined don’t you think? Physically, It sports a 3.5” capacitive touchscreen, a front and rear-facing 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, a lone physical home button and a surprisingly loud audio speakers.

With a line up of impressive physical features, Blaze is likewise fired up inside starting with its Qualcomm 600 Mhz processor, Adreno 200 chip, 411 MB of RAM and internal storage of 200 MB. Of course, just like other phones, memory can be expanded via a MicroSD.

One Touch Blaze runs on Android 2.2 FroYo so expect all the significant qualities of this cool dairy including live wallpapers, side scrolling through homescreens (up to 7) and the notification bar which can be removed by double tapping on an empty homescreen.

Of course, there is much, much speed, improved voice recognition and tethering. You can even turn your Blaze to a wifi hotspot.

Although nothing really overwhelming, Blaze’s overall performance was actually good. And for a very affordable phone, there was indeed speed, sensitivity and smoothness in functions.

It was responsive and I clearly have no complaints whatsoever running on the usual apps that I use whether for productivity, communication, entertainment, social network and games. I don’t remember any instance of lag nor delay.

As always, battery life depends on how intensive you use your handset. With just the basic call and text functions, battery will last you for 2 days. Squeezing in a few more “Angry Birds” here and there plus getting online whether for browsing, checking mails or social circles will roughly last you a day.

Let me mention that I was quite entertained on how Blaze presented its charging indicator. It appeared like drops of “battery juice” slowly filling in the bottom of the locked screen. I found it quite unique actually.

Many handsets of similar range available in the market may look and function the same as the other.

Hence, finding the right one could be a challenge. If value is a factor, consider Alcatel One Touch Blaze. It is an intelligent choice that would surely give you satisfaction more than its worth.

Editor’s note: Alcatel is making a strong comeback in the local market, and is armed to the teeth with a bagful of treats in time for the holidays. The latest offering from Alcatel is the aptly named One Touch Blaze 990 that burns quite a trail with its amazing features — sans a scorched pocket.  No need looking up in the sky, simply grab one!

Article source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/340385/fire-one-touch-blaze

MANILA, Philippines — Time really flies so fast. It has been over a decade since Short Message Service (SMS) or simply texting was introduced in the country. Through the years, this communication medium has gotten into us Filipinos and in fact marked the Philippines as the “texting capital of the world.”

Remember when sending texts were free back then? This is actually why most of the early users preferred to use it more than calling, which they get charged for. Since it bridges communication faster and easier as compared to beepers, users started abusing and exploiting the SMS service. As a result, network providers started charging.

With the advent of cheaper SIM cards and lots of unlimited promos today, texting has really urged people to use mobile phones day in and day out. Looking at the habit, SMS has actually brought several negative things.

Poorer language

The limitation of standard message length of 160 has definitely degraded our thinking as witnessed in the manner of communication. Pinoys may be guilty of doing one or two of these: (1) shortening words by removing a few vowels, (2) squeezing in message by deleting some articles, and (3) avoiding punctuations to fit more words.

Texting while driving

A lot of motorists have been hard-headed in following officials to stop texting while driving. Because we are so addicted to it, we risk our lives in tip-tapping our phones even while moving rapidly in highways.

When will we ever learn? Do we stop when we encounter an accident or when it’s too late already?

Spam messages

Over the years, more and more unsolicited texts land in our message inbox. Obviously, it’s all for the money.

Advertisers would pay network operators to send marketing campaigns to users, especially since almost all adults carry a mobile phone nowadays; Politicians would suddenly send a message about an official’s accomplishments or plea for votes; And various agents would offer cash loans to random people. All these are trash to most people, yes?

On top of that, some mischievous people would prey on innocent people by asking them to send money or prepaid credits in exchange for a prize they jokingly won. How evil!

Inappropriate use

Text messaging has impacted students academically by creating an easier way to cheat on exams.

It has also been largely used in crimes and malicious acts, since prepaid SIM cards may be bought without the need to register them to NTC.

Text “bullying” has been a concern as well, since spreading rumors and gossip by text can cause distress and damage reputations.

Although texting has been linked to some medical concerns such as strain injuries and cause of cancer, there’s no stopping us from using it. We’re just so hooked and we find much importance to it.

Texting has surely given us a new way of interaction by allowing us to communicate to more people at a single time in a cheaper option compared to calling, but it has also definitely impacted our lives negatively in more ways than one.

Article source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/328077/the-negative-side-sms