The Complete Guide to Android Magazine

Got lucky to receive $10 of "Zinio bucks" from my favorite magazine store www.zinio.com on Christmas day and I left no time browsing for magazines to buy using said bucks. While perusing the many titles available on the website, I stumbled upon two great Android magazines and bought it immediately. The total cost of the two mags is $14.75 so I added $1.88 for the purchase. Not bad for me considering the magazines are great reference for my blog and my passion to learn everything about Android.

The first magazine is "The Complete Guide for Android", packed with 160 pages of highly informative articles about Android, its history to current versions and many tips and tricks for maximizing the use of the Android OS.

The second one is the "Ultimate Guide to Android Tablets", presented in 110 pages of reviews of latest tablets, apps, tips and hidden secrets.

One thing that I found very informative with the magazines are the compilation of reviews of the current Android tablets and smartphones but I  found the tips and tricks not so comprehensive and covered only a few basic and advanced topics. Nevertheless, I hope that the publisher will feature more in the forthcoming issues.

These are digital magazines by the way and it can be accessed and read on Zinio Reader app for Android and Windows PCs.

Introducing Cherry Mobile Android Tablets for Christmas

Cherry Mobile has introduced three models of Android Tablets worth trying out. With its specs and pricing, I am tempted to acquire one to give as a Christmas gift to my son who is very fond of using the more expensive Samsung Galaxy Tab as a video game device. The devices are aptly named Cherry Pad, Cherry Pad Turbo and Supreme. Looking a the picture taken from a local newspaper where the ad was posted, I am kinda confused with the positioning of the specs and the pricing. I think there could be some mistake here on the layout and I'm gonna verify it with Cherry Mobile. To be sure I'll bring the newspaper ad. The one on the left named Cherry Pad with a tag price of P3,899 has  Android Gingerbread 2.3 and 1.2  Ghz processor while the one on the right with price tag of P6,899 has Android Froyo 2.2 and 800 Mhz processor. There must be something amiss here because the one with the higher specs has been priced low and the one with the lower specs has been priced high. We'll find it out.

The third item "Supreme" looks interesting with its Nvidia Tegra2 dual core 1 Ghz processor and upgradeable OS plus 3G. One thing left that we'll have to verify is the screen quality, if it's as good as the more expensive Samsung Galaxy's, they're in for a stiff competition with this one.

Update from Cherry Mobile:

The Corporate Communications Officer of Cherry Mobile has emailed me a while ago and sent word about my observation on the ad. Indeed there was a mistake on the placement of the specs and they extended their apologies for the error. Quoting from their email:

"Cherry Pad Turbo is the advanced version with the Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 7" touch panel, 1.2 ghz processor, dual camera with 2 MP main and 4GB internal storage features at Php6,899. On the other hand, Cherry Pad retails for Php3,899 and runs on the Android 2.2 Froyo technology."

So this is it folks, the confusion is settled and it's time to give this Cherry Pads a try. I want one.

Use your Samsung Galaxy Y as Access Point - The Video

As promised to our readers who are requesting for more information on the behavior of Samsung Galaxy Y when used as Internet Access Point, As I have mentioned in my replies to the comments. The Galaxy Y takes some time to load web pages upon successful connection of the laptop to the Access Point. I timed the loading time and it took about 3 minutes.

The video shows the activation of the packet data and the the portable wi-fi hotspot feature up to the connection of the laptop to the Galaxy Y. Notice that the loading of the web page is not instantaneous and you have to refresh the browser a few times before the page that you are visiting is loaded. The video also shows the peculiar behavior of the laptop's system tray showing the Wi-Fi indicator with no Internet Access but in fact it already has Internet access as shown by the loaded website. After a few more minutes, the no Internet sign is gone and the Wi-Fi indicator shows a clean white icon without the yellow triangle with an exclamation point inside.

The Access Point feature of the Samsung Galaxy Y behaves differently from regular Wi-Fi routers or access points wherein connection to the Internet is almost instantaneous the moment you connect to it. You just need to be a little patient.

Introducing Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus

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The younger brother of the 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab P-1000 is born and it is slimmer and packs more punch than the first one. Samsung calls it the 7" Tablet Reloaded, but to me it's basically the same 7" tab that we used to love or hate depending on our own experiences. The only major upgrades that I see are the dualcore 1.2 Ghz processor, the Android Honeycomb 3.2 OS and the sleeker and more attractive body. The memory and the camera stays the same and I wonder why Samsung didn't choose to make us happier by upgrading the camera to 5.0 Megapixels. Also introduced in this younger sibling is the dual channel Wi-Fi and HSUPA data connectivity which Samsung boasts as super fast.

On pricing matters, this new Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus just took over the pricing of the original one which is Php 23,990.00. The old one has been repriced to Php 20,990.00. A reduction of Php3,000.00 in the price tag.

How to Disable Message Notifications in Samsung Galaxy Y

Some of our readers tells me that they do not want the status bar from constantly reminding them about messages. They resort to deleting the messages but the status bar won't stop giving reminders to the point of becoming an annoyance to the device owner. To disable the notification, follow the following steps:

1. Go to the messages application and press menu button.

2. On the pop-up menu, choose "Settings".

3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and uncheck the "Display message notifications in Status bar" under Notification settings.

That's it. Your status bar will stop from bothering you with SMS message notifications.

Samsung Galaxy Y Out of Stock

Having had the time to go malling today, I dropped by at my favorite Samsung dealer in Robinson's Galleria in Ortigas and this is what I found out. It is currently out of stock due to very high demand. This just proves my prediction on the onset that the Samsung Galaxy Y will be Samsung's most saleable Android gadget in its class. With its very affordable price tag and superb features, surely anyone wishing for an entry level Android phone will grab it without much thinking.

While dropping by at my cellular line provider to pay my bill I also noticed in the ads on the store that the Samsung Galaxy Y is available free at Plan 349. I'm a bit disappointed here because I got my Samsung Galaxy Y from the same network at Plan 500. But even so, the privilege of being one of the first ones to adopt early a  popular device is worth the price.

Android App Review: Brain Challenge 3

I found this app from the Android Market while looking for some games to get myself entertained while on a long travel to our home province. I downloaded first the free version and checked out how the game play goes and I found it quite interesting.

The game consist of several aspects of brain function namely; logic, memory, focus,visual and math. Each function have several games designed to train and improve our brain's capacity and usage. Starting at zero, the objective is to pass all the challenges and as you hurdle each one of it, you gain a score in terms of percentage of your brains' capability. For example, upon passing the initial stage, depending on how well you performed on the challenge, you earn some thing like 10% or greater.

The initial stage of the games looks quite easy but there are some that are challenging which make it quite hard for you to achieve a perfect score. I particularly find the "encase" game under the visual  section challenging and entertaining. In this game, a polygon made up of thick black line shrinks and expands from slow to fast together with a thin blue line and your objective is to click when the blue line is inside the thick black line. I tell you it's very hard to catch the blue line inside the thick black line.

As you progress in the game, there is a stat section where you can see and evaluate your weakness and strength. With this game I was able to confirm one of my biggest weakness which is lack of focus and my strength which is logic. The in-game coach will tell you what aspect you need to improve and you can work and train on it by selecting the particular aspect from the main menu.

The free version lets you play for a very limited time so you may be compelled to buy the full version which cost around a dollar. It is available at the Samsung Apps portal. There are other games with the same name in the Android Market so if you do a search, type brain challenge 3: think again.

How to Switch Between Swype and Standard Keyboard in Samsung Galaxy Y

Are you one of those newbie Android users who got lost in switching back to the traditional keyboard while tinkering with Swype and/or accidentally pressing something on the screen? Before calling tech support or throwing the galaxy smartphone into the trash can, you can easily switch back to the traditional keyboard or choose whichever input method you prefer.

While in the compose new SMS or email, or while reading SMS/email, just press the screen for about 2 seconds and select "Input method" on the pop-up to choose between DioPen Chinese IM, Samsung keypad and Swype.

How to Stop Samsung Galaxy Y from Automatically Connecting to the Internet

This post  is in particular reply to a reader who sent me an email thru Kontactr asking me to help her with her Samsung Galaxy Y using up her Sun Cellular's prepaid load all the time. I wanted to reply to her email but unfortunately I made a wrong move in using Kontactr to enable my blog readers to contact me. Kontactr is a very handy tool in hiding my email address to spammers but is utterly useless for replying to legitimate emails as it provides no way for me to reply or to know the email address of the person who sent me a legitimate email. I will need to use other utility that will enable me to reply back to my readers who opts to contact me via email instead of posting a comment on the message board.

Anyhow, aside from this particular reader with an alias of TNA, many other readers have also sent their queries related to the issue of the Samsung Galaxy Y using up the prepaid load without the user knowing or in the case of postpaid ones the user incurs excessive data access charges without his/her knowledge.

This issue occurs particularly when the user opts to install or configure their email and social networking accounts like Facebook, Tagged, Twitter and many other "Push-enabled" applications in their Samsung Galaxy Y smartphone. These apps constantly connect to the Internet in the background to fetch new data for the users without their knowledge so in effect, their prepaid loads gets consumed in the process. The same thing also happens with the postpaid subscribers. I personally had a very bad experience with this when my former telco charged me a whooping fourteen thousand pesos for a month's use of Internet access when in fact I never used my smartphone to browse via 3G. I was still unaware of the setting to turn off packet data access that time so I paid dearly for the ignorance. I just treated the experience as something like I have paid an enormous amount of tuition fee for learning how the telcos rips the subscribers by handing over phones with packet data access turned on by default. Before the subscriber realizes it, the telco have already generated large amounts in their favor to the disadvantage of the unwitting subscriber.

All the user or subscriber need to do is to turn off or disable "Use packet data". To do this, go to "Settings", choose or tap "Wireless and Networks", then tap "Mobile Networks"located at the bottom of the page or interface. At the "Mobile Networks" page tap to uncheck the "Use Packet Data" on top of the page. If the user wants to access the internet using 3g all he/she has to do is to check or tap again the "Use Packet Data" menu. There are some  readers who complained that despite unchecking the use Packet Data menu, said menu returns to its checked position everytime. I personally don't know or experienced said behavior so it's best to consult Samsung or the telco about the matter to have the issue resolved.

Best Movie Player for Samsung Galaxy Y

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The built-in movie player for the Samsung Galaxy Y is only good for watching videos taken by its camera. If you want to view movies and videos downloaded or converted from DVD's, you will need to have a third party video player, which luckily is abundant into the Android market for free. At first I tried the Mobo Video Player which is so far very popular in terms of landing at the top of the heap when doing a search for video players in the Android market. Said app failed miserably in my Samsung Galaxy Y as it keeps on freezing and making me stop it using the task manager almost all of the time. I am just trying to play flv or flash files downloaded from youtube and it cannot play it decently without having to freeze first.

In my exasperation and disappointment with the Mobo Video Player, I downloaded the MX Video player and took it for a spin. Boy I was so surprised by the performance. It was so awesome. The MX player let me enjoyed the videos in a breeze without any hang-up. It was just so cool that I am highly recommending it to everyone who has a Samsung Galaxy device. I'm yet to try this with my Samsung Galaxy tab and I'll tell you guys how it performs with the Galaxy Y's bigger brother.

Android App Review: Evernote

If there is one free app from the Android Market that is so useful and offers so many functionalities that cannot be found in others, the Evernote is one that I will vote for and highly recommend to my friends and peers.

Evernote is a great app for journal, note taking, capturing websites and photos. One thing that sets it apart from the others is its ability to synchronize across various devices that you own which include laptop and desktop PCs.

All the notes that you have jotted down in your Android Smartphone is automatically synced across all your devices with Evernote installed as soon as they are online. This is a great feature because regardless of what device you have at hand as long as it is online and Evernote is installed in it, you can rest assured that your notes, journals, captured web pages and photos with notes are accessible to you. This also works vice versa, from PC and Mac to the smartphone.

I have used this app in my project management work in the consultancy firm where I have been previously employed. Armed with my Samsung Galaxy Tab I can easily jot down the daily progress of our construction works. Together with Evernote’s integration with the camera of my Android tablet I am able to seamlessly take photos of the progress, put caption in it and transfer it into the weekly and monthly reports required of me by our client.

Evernote is also indispensable when it comes to making impromptu researches on the Internet to solve tasks that needs action while on the job. It has a cunning way of capturing and saving screenshots and links of websites visited and then reviewed in my office or home computer to finalize things.

I also use Evernote in my blogging activities. It is a great tool for capturing ideas while on the move hence I can make sure that whatever comes to my mind is easily retained complete with photos of things that I saw as inspiration. Countless drafts of my blog article ideas have been put on Evernote first before those were published.

Perhaps one of Evernote’s strongest point is its ability to let you create different notebooks for your various activities at work and at home. You can create as many notebooks as you want so you do not end up mixing your journals and get lost in the run up to accomplish things. This works great for prioritizing matters and tasks at hand.

I cannot think of any negative aspect with the Evernote so praises for the developers is in order for giving out this great app for free. While the free version’s powerful features and capabilities are generously given to us, I am very sure that the paid version has much more to offer.

How to Earn from your Blogs

I have been desperately looking for some good income generating activities for my blogs and websites and I stumbled upon adgitize.com from the blog of one my readers who posted comment on one of my posts. I can’t thank him enough for leading me to adgitize because for the first time in my blogging career, I was able to generate real dollar revenues which keeps on growing the more I write articles and visit the adgitize website and the blogs of fellow members. Though the earnings are not large enough to make you rich or make you call home about it, it is definitely one which will enable to you to increase your blogs exposure and ranking on the World Wide Web. I can attest to the increase in my blogs readership since I signed up for adgitize and I am very happy about it.

The system works by giving you corresponding points for every article you write and for every click you make to members’ sites. The total points you generate on a given day is then ranked against the pooled total points of all the members and you are given a certain percentage based on your actual performance. For being a publisher, you are given 100 points per article per day plus click points for clicking on members’ websites and blogs. You also earn points for clicks on adgitize ads in your blog plus points on your blog’s page views. The higher the points you generate  in a day, the higher the pay is. If you are casually doing this publisher thing, your would normally earn a few cents everyday but if you have the extra few dollars to buy an ad for yourself in the adgitize network, you will reap a much higher point and earnings. It is therefore suggested that you also buy an ad to earn multiple points which translates to more dollars for you. The recovery of your 14 dollars ad investment is way faster plus you will see your blog traffic soar by ten-folds or greater.

Sign-up for free now by clicking on the banner at the top of the page and see for yourself what it can do for your blog traffic and for your quest to experience the joy of earning online. Happy adgitizing!

How to Sync Samsung Galaxy Y with PC

For the newbie Samsung Galaxy users, Kies is the synchronization software developed by Samsung for its line of Android smart phones and tablets. Its’ use include transferring contacts and files from the smart phone to the PC and vice versa. It comes in a form of a mini-DVD disc stuffed inside the box of the Samsung Galaxy package. Almost always I have noticed that people tend to ignore such discs and remain inside the box unopened and kept, and worse thrown away with the box by some people who don’t value the package, and sees the box as a mere scrap after taking the gadget and the charger.

Constant software updates by Samsung had made the Kies user friendly and faster nowadays compared to the previous versions which I hated to use and dumped altogether by using third party synchronization software found in the Android market. The latest Kies version found in the Galaxy Y made me return to using Kies because the interface is simpler, faster and easier to manipulate. It’s so simple really that you will find it a joy transferring your photos taken by the Galaxy Y to the desktop or laptop.

Installation is very easy and straight forward so you can use it immediately without stumbling upon unforeseen hiccups that could ruin your first try into synchronization. After installation of Kies, all you have to do is connect your Galaxy Y into the USB port of your desktop or laptop, using the cable that came with the Galaxy package. The connection will take a few seconds to a few minutes and after the successful hook-up, you should see two versions of contacts, music, photos and videos on the left column of your Kies interface. The upper portion is for the Samsung Galaxy Y and the lower portion is for the library of your desktop or laptop PC. Clicking on the icons under the Galaxy tab shows the corresponding files on your smartphone and clicking on the icons under the Library shows the files on your PC or desktop.

The screenshots below shows the contents of each tab of the Samsung Kies for you to familiarize with:

The upper left column shows the contents of the Galaxy Y while the lower part shows the  contents of the PC

This tab shows the properties of the Galaxy Y and includes the option to update  its firmware.

This is where you sync your contacts and files from the phone to the PC.

This tab is where you import or export your files to and from both devices.

This tab is where you back-up the file of your Galaxy Y.

  

How to Delete SMS Messages in Samsung Galaxy Y

Some of our readers have requested for guides and tips on how to delete SMS messages in Samsung Galaxy Y. Though the process is quite simple, first time Android smartphone users have to learn their way around the OS and the hardware of the Galaxy Y.

This task and most phone related issues can be accessed through a dedicated menu key at the left side of the home key. Pressing it reveals a dialog box that indicates choices for intended action on the currently active main task. Again for the first timers, the "home" key is at the center and the "menu" key is to its left while to the right is the "back" key.

Below are step by step screenshot for the deletion of SMS messages in the Samsung Galaxy Y:

1. Open the message to be deleted.

2. Press the menu key and a dialog box appears.

3. Choose from the dialog box the intended action for the message. In this case, press "delete message".

4. Tap to check the check box at the right side of the message. If you want to delete all, tap the "select all" and if you want to delete one by one, select the corresponding messages by tapping the check box at the right side of each message and scroll down to select more messages. The sample in the screenshot is a single message only so the select all at the top right is automatically checked.

5. Tap "delete" and a confirmation dialog box will show up. If you are already sure, tap "Yes" and if not, type "No".

6. That's it. The selected SMS message will now be deleted.

Wi-fi Disconnection Issues with Samsung Galaxy Y

This post is in particular reply to a comment left by a reader asking me about the connection and disconnection issues that he/she has been encountering with his/her 5 days old Galaxy Y. I must apologize to you for inadvertently deleting your comment when my purpose was to publish it right in my own Galaxy Y. The diminuitive screen of the Galaxy Y is to blame for the mistake. I was tapping "publish" but then to my horror "delete" was the one which reacted to the tap. This is one of the minor gripes that I have with the Samsung Galaxy Y, the screen is real small for serious typing especially on emailing, text messaging and then this one, tapping on buttons on web browsers. If you are contemplating of using the Samsung Galaxy Y for accessing your online banking and stock market accounts, do think twice.. you don't want to hit wrong buttons when buying or selling stocks and transferring funds somewhere.

Anyhow, I decided to make my reply as a post because it will be too long for a reply in the comments box. Me myself has experienced the endless connecting and disconneting behavior of my Samsung Galaxy Y and Galaxy Tablet but ONLY when I am trying to connect in an OPEN Wi-Fi network in the neighborhood of our village or in business center areas. Even if the signal strength is FULL, the Galaxy will do an endless connecting and disconnecting message on the Wi-Fi settings. Why is this? because some Internet Access Points even though set to "OPEN" or "No Security" while broadcasting in the vicinity have still other security set inside it that prevents would-be GUESTS from connecting freely onto the AP or Wi-Fi Router.

Said Wi-Fi access points and routers have enabled "MAC Address Filtering". This filtering thing is set in such a way that ONLY authorized devices with corresponding MAC addresses, listed in the router or AP, are allowed access to the router or access point. No matter how many times you try to connect, the Galaxy will do only one thing...connect and disconnect in a looping manner.

If your case is not the same with my experience, say, you own the router and access point and you've been connecting to it since day one and then all of a sudden you wake up one morning and your Galaxy Y displays the connecting/disconnecting behavior, bring it to the service center because there might be some defect on your unit. I hope this helped. Cheers!

Grab a ZTE V9 Android Tablet from Smart Bro

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Smart Bro, the broadband product of Smart Philippines is offering the ZTE V9 Android Tablet for a deal that would enable you to take home an Android Tablet that you always dream of. Smart's website doesn't say that the gadget, which is being offered to prepaid subscribers is free but a sizable discount could be in the offing for possible subscribers or an affordably light terms could be expected as Smart says that some credit cards are needed for acquisition of the said tablet. It might be a zero interest at longer terms or something that will make it irresistible for possible subscribers to let pass . The terms' details are really vague from the web site but my point here is to spread the news to you that Smart Bro has such an Android product offering. Anyhow, a lookup of the V9's features and specifications on the Internet yielded the following:

Android OS Version: Version 2.1 Eclair (Upgradeable to 2.2 Froyo)

CPU: Data unavailable

Memory: 512 MB ROM, 512 MB RAM, Up to 32 GB Micro SD expansion.

Screen: 7 inches, 480 x 800 pixels

Camera: 3.15 MP, No secondary camera

Data/Network: 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB 2.0

Visit Smart stores near you or click on the links above to know more about the ZTE V9 Android Tablet.




 

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Spotted

Gone are the days of hiding the humongous tablets inside bags in public places. During the early days of the first Samsung Galaxy Tabs, people including me, were not so keen on dishing out our tablets without being conscious whether people would criticize us for showing up a gadget that looks neither a smarphone nor a computer, and using it as a camera at that!. On many cases, we choose to let our tablet hide inside our bags for fear of being criticized for using a camera with such a large viewfinder. I know the looks from the faces of people because I used to be one of them during the time that I still don't have a Galaxy Tab. Another reason for not showing up tablets in public places is for fear of marked by bad elements who knows that we are holding a gadget that is valuable  and expensive.

While visiting a popular tourist spot in Baguio City,  north of Manila, I noticed some tourists using tablets as their primary camera in taking their souvenir pictures. At first I thought they were iPads because of the slender profile and big screens plus the fancy casings. Upon curious and closer inspection however, I found out that those were Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablets. I was a bit surprised by the 10.1's striking resemblance to the iPad on a quick glance and if you are someone who does not know how to recognize different tablets from each other, you would easily be fooled thinking that it's an iPad.

I find it nice to see people actually having some use of their Galaxy gadgets aside from surfing the internet and updating social networking accounts like FB and others.

The popularity of the Samsung Galaxy tablets seems to continue unabated. People have found the 8 megapixel camera of the Galaxy 10.1 worthy of replacing their usual point and shoot digital cameras. Previously, I can't imagine how people will dish out the Samsung Galaxy tab 7" in public places to take pictures without attracting too much attention because it's too big for neither a phone nor a camera. Nowadays  however, I have witnessed people with the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 dishing out those big screens and using it in public as if they are just ordinary camera phones.

People have criticized the "humongous" seven-inch tablets before but now seeing bigger 10" tablets don't matter anymore. I also have seen some lovely ladies sporting the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and its such a beauty to behold. Something in the Galaxy Tabs' looks seem to make it a cool plus factor that put it in equal footing in terms of popularity with Apple's iPad.

The next time I bring my Galaxy Tab out, I will not be shy in showing it to people. Yes even as a camera :).

Browse the Internet in Your Desktop using Samsung Galaxy Y

The Samsung Galaxy Y is capable of allowing you to browse the Internet by letting you share its 3G Internet connection via USB. This is technically called "Tethering". While you can share the Galaxy Y's 3G internet connection via Wi-Fi through its Access Piont (AP) capability, you can also do it via USB. This is very useful if your desktop computer has no Wi-Fi adapter.

With Windows 7, everything is automatic and you do not need any driver to make it work. For Windows XP however, you will need a driver to make it work. Visit Android.Com's site here to download the driver/utility.

To implement tethering, connect the USB cable that came with the Samsung Galaxy Y to an available USB port in your desktop PC and do the following in your Samsung Galaxy Y:

1. Tap on Wireless Networks.

2. Tap Tethering and Portable Hotspots.

3.  Tap on USB tethering.

4. That's it. Fire up your browser  in your desktop PC and browse the Internet.

Lenovo Joins the Android Bandwagon

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Lenovo has recently launched an Android smartphone named A60 and it came as a surprise to me because this is the very first time that Lenovo is offering a smartphone in the Philippine shores . And the fact that they chose to power it with the Android Operating system is a very clear indication for me that Lenovo has recognized the ever rising popularity of Google's Android OS.

The A60 is among others is a dual-sim Android phone with the following specifications:

OS: Android V 2.3.3 Gingerbread
CPU: MT6573 ARMII 650 Mhz + MT6162 ARM9 400 Mhz PowerVR SGX531
Display: 3.5" HVGA 320 x 480 Pixels
Camera: 3.2 MP Rear
              0.3 MP Front Camera
Storage: 512 MB ROM
              220 MB Internal storage
              Up to 16GB MicroSD
Data: 3G/HSDPA
WLAN: 802.11 b/g, WiFi Hotspot

One thing that sets apart this entry-level smartphone from its class is the dual-sim capability and the front facing camera which is normally absent in budget android phones. All other features are pretty typical.

Get an Archos 101 Android Tablet for 36% Off

I hope I am not too late with this post. Just stumbled upon www.cashcashpinoy's website and chanced upon this great discount for an Archos 101 Android Internet tablet. I haven't heard much about this tablet from Archos but since it is an android device, I might as well spread the word about this. Too bad I already have several Android tablets but if Archos would send me a demo device I would make a review of it for our Android followers ;).

Cashcash pinoys' deals though has a limited timeline for each item that they are selling at a huge discount and as of this writing, the remaining time left for this is barely six hours and counting. Since time is of the essence for those who might be interested in this Android Tablet just check it out from Cashcash pinoys' website . Please be informed though that the link I have provided contains a sign up referral page wherein I could get a little "reward" for those who signs up at cashcashpinoy using said link. So if you are  the type who abhors or get annoyed by this referral invitations, just ignore the link and don't sign up. For those who would sign-up, my thanks.

Do check out Archos 101's spec here for your reference.

How to Reset Facebook Account in Samsung Galaxy Y

Most of us nowadays have several facebook accounts that we use separately for personal and for business or online marketing purposes. When we set-up our Facebook accounts in our Android Smartphone for the very first time, the account that we use will become the default account in the device and there is no way that we can log out of it and input our other accounts. Unlike in desktop computers and laptops, we can easily log-out and log-in to our other Facebook accounts.

In fact there are cases when some people ask their friends to teach them how to setup their Facebook accounts in their brand new Android gadget and in the process, the friend uses his/her facebook account to "test" the thing out and after setup and configuration, the friends' facebook account becomes the default account and there is no way that it can be logged-out and the fastest and first thing that people do is to reset the device in its factory default settings. This could be very easy if the the device is brand new and no data will be affected. Moreso, resetting the device before it can even be used does not sound good to any gadget owner.

There is a way to reset or change Facebook account in Samsung Galaxy Y without having to reset the device into default factory setting and this is what I will discuss in this post.

1. Tap on "Settings".

2. Tap "Applications".

3. Tap "Manage Applications".

4. Choose "Facebook" from the list.

5. A warning about deletion of application's data will be shown on the screen and tap "Ok".

6. After deletion of Facebook's data, notice that the Data and Cache fields are now 0.00B

7. Exit the Settings and open the Facebook application. You should see that you are prompted for username and password. You can now login and use your preferred Facebook account.

How to take screen shot in Galaxy Y: The video

Due to insistent request from people  who finds it very challenging to take screenshot in the Samsung Galaxy Y, I am posting herewith the video on how to do it properly. As I've said, it's really quite a bit tricky but once you are able to do a single screenshot, succeeding ones will be effortless.

In the video you will notice that I captured even the menu (Task manager) because my thumb which I used to press the menu button lingered longer than necessary hence upon capturing, it was included. Please note however that on the second try, the screen was captured without a hitch.

The succeeding scene shows how I navigated to the gallery and towards the "ScreenCapture" folder which was automatically created on the very first time that I was able to make a successful screenshot. I hope this could guide many Galaxy Y users out there. Come on try it.

How to set screen lock in Samsung Galaxy Y

Setting screen lock is for the Samsung Galaxy Y or any touch screen phone and tablet is an essential thing needed to prevent accidental pressing of the screen and to secure the contents of your Android gadget from unwanted views and usage by other people.

1. Go to settings and press "Location and Security":

2. Press "Set screen lock"

3. Choose between "None", "Pattern", "PIN", and "Password" from the list. For the purpose of this tutorial, we will choose "PIN". For me this is the better way to lock the screen as the PIN can be typed easily and fast compared to password.

4. Enter your PIN and tap "Continue"

5. Confirm your PIN and press OK.

6. That's it. You now have a PIN for your Samsung Galaxy Y. To confirm if the PIN has been done correctly, press the power button to lock the screen then press it again to open. You should see similar to the screenshot below.

You can just repeat the process if you want to change your PIN or the method, either "None", "Pattern", or "Password".

Youtube in Samsung Galaxy Y

I just thought that maybe some people would like to know how the Samsung Galaxy Y performs in playing Youtube videos so I took this video of the Samsung Galaxy Y using my Samsung Galaxy Tab. This is my first time to play Youtube in my device and I was very impressed by its performance. Though our internet bandwidth at the office surely plays a big role in the seamless streaming of the videos, the Samsung Galaxy Y's processor could also be credited for the nice performance.

I also played Youtube in some mobile phones but my Samsung Galaxy Y is the only budget device that performed very well and it is comparative to my previous iPhone and other higher end Android devices.

By the way, the music video that's playing is "Never tear us apart" by New Wave band Inxs from the 80's.' Tis one of  my favorite song and artist during my college days..

How to set-up Globe prepaid internet for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

A friend has just recently asked for my help in connecting her Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to the Internet using her Globe prepaid Sim. The tech support that I have made was done through telephone so I cannot post any screenshot of the changing of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 settings. Anyways, I just figured this post could be of help to other Galaxy 10.1 owners who might encounter the same problem.

My friend told me that she used to browse the internet using her prepaid Sim but somehow something has changed with the configuration hence she is unable to access the internet recently. I told her to open the settings of the Galaxy tab and check if the "Use Packet Data" is checked inside the "Mobile Network Settings". This is where most Android users gets snagged on their first attempt to connect to the Internet via 3G cellular connection. If it is unchecked, whatever you do whether you are in prepaid of postpaid, you ain't gonna connect.

My friend told me that the particular setting is checked so it's out of the equation. Next that I asked her is if the APN of Globe is correctly entered in the "Access Point Names" settings and the reply is she's seeing "Postpaid" and "Prepaid" and the former is the one highlighted and she cannot change it to "Prepaid". With the "Postpaid: highlighted I pretty certain that the APN configured in her Galaxy Tab is the postpaid value for Globe which is "internet.globe.com.ph". I told her to click on the "postpaid" and sure enough upon checking the value on the APN field, it was exactly what I have in mind. So having determined it, I told her to change the value to "www.globe.com.ph" and just like a charm, she connected to the Internet thru 3G.

Price of Samsung Galaxy Y is Php 5,990 SRP

Just came across an advertisement of the Samsung Galaxy Y from a major Philippine newspaper today. It says the Galaxy Y is available for Php 5,990.00 (US $140). This means that you can have the Samsung Galaxy Y without being locked to Smart Philippines who is the first to introduce said Samsung device here in the Philippines. The good thing with it is, the unit comes with 2 free limited edition art wraps which is not available in the Smart units. The free art wrap however is until October 31 only.

This is a very good buy and I can attest myself the superb performance of the Galaxy Y. It's the best bang for the buck Android smartphone right now. Visit Samsung Philippines' website to see further information about the Galaxy Y and for information about Philippine Stores where you can buy it.

Train Ur Brain Game

Just downloaded a free app from the Samsung Apps widget in my Galaxy Y and it's called TrainUrBrain. The game is very simple but very cool as it lets you improve your spatial remembrance abilities. The objective of the game is to remember the location of each bird randomly positioned on the screen. The birds are five in all and are of different color and shape. What you need to do is to drag the bird to its original location after it has been shown on screen for you to memorize.

Very simple as the the game may seem but its very challenging as the game progresses. The first several arrangements of the birds are very easy but as soon as you get the learning curve, if there is, you will find it hard to memorize and replace the birds to their original locations. This is where your spatial remembrance abilities gets trained and exercised.

The vivid picture of the birds is how I re-arranged the birds and the silhouette bird background is the original location. This lets you compare or see your accuracy. This shown only after you tap on the "Snapshot" button from the Score Menu.

The score shows how accurate you placed each bird.