Ohohoy!

Recently got hold of the latest product offering from Torque, the D110 Metal. You will really love the look of this one, elegantly styled with its classic metal casing and wait till you get to actually hold the actual unit, it’s a heavy unit for its size and thickness. It’s truly leaving up to its name - D110 METAL. Though the keypad buttons are a bit bothersome after a period of using it. At first you would think that those cute stainless buttons would make texting easier, but its tiring using after a while. But I get to give it to the designers of this brand, this is really one beautiful handset.

Looking under the hood, the D110 Metal is a Dual Sim Dual Standby phone, quadband, sports a 1.3 megapixel camera, its Bluetooth enabled even for a Bluetooth headset, it can play videos on its 2.2” QVGA monitor and play mp3/mp4/3gp files. It doesn’t have WIFI but you can connect to the internet using its GPRS/WAP connectivity function. I can say that this model just provides the basic comforts of a basic phone for calls and texting. After testing this unit for a few days, i noticed that the SMS is quite slow after typing in more than ten words or so. After typing in a few words, you will notice that you are not already typing in the words in real time, there is a lag of two or more words. People behind Torque should do something about this, its really frustrating sending SMS like this.

One cute feature of the D110 Metal is its motion sensor. With just one shake of the phone, you can program the phone to either change the wallpaper, play the next music track, or silent your phone when you are in a meeting.

If you are a style conscious person but don’t have the budget to afford those big name brands in the market, the Torque D110 Metal is just right for you. It retails only at P 3,299.00. Heavy on the hands, but not on your pocket.

Gadgets are becoming even smaller with manufacturers finding ways to create smaller components giving the word “handy or portable” a new meaning. Take for example Torque’s latest product, the ES-5HD, one of the smallest HD video camera in the local market. It claims to have an 11 megapixel maximum still resolution for its digital camera while for its High Definition video recording, a maximum of 720p/30 frames per second. The ES-5HD has a 64MB internal memory with an expandable storage up to 16Gb SD card slot. I only have a 1Gb SD card that usually give me about 25 to 30 minutes of HD videos, for the D1 video resolution (PAL/NTSC), it will give you about a little bit over an hour worth of videos.

Aside from the usual Audio Video jack output, the Torque ES-5HD is equipped with HDMI for those who want to directly show their videos on their LCD screens at home. With its small size of about 100 x 57 x 17.9 mm, it easily fits the palm of your hand or in your shirt pocket. It’s almost the size of a regular pocket pc phone. Video quality is quite good if you compare versus the camera phones. But with its very portable size, video output seems to be a bit shaky. Not recommended for those suffering from trembling or pasmado hands. But there is a built-in stabilizer; the drawback using this feature is that it disables the digital zoom feature. Having that trusty tripod at hand will greatly improve your shots.

This is also useful on “spy” missions due to its very compact size.

Also the function buttons and the jack outputs are all located on one side of the camera, easy for those who have petite and cute fingers.

Picture resolution is good especially for outdoor shots. But for low light conditions, it just gives you dark or sometimes blurry pictures even with the use of the built-in flash. Video output is relatively good both for outdoor and low light conditions. Turning on the night mode function improves it a little bit except if you are shooting moving objects.

Sample outdoor shot taken from the ES 5HD during one of our out of town trips. Color registration is quite good

Indoor shot of the packaging taken from the ES 5HD

It also has a motion detect function useful for monitoring purposes. It stops recording when it doesn’t detect movement anymore. Perfect to spy on your nanny and kids if you are always in the office.

The ES 5HD can also function as a Web Cam so need to buy and upgrade from your Winnie the Pooh web cams if you have this camera. It also boasts its music player capabilities but it can only play mp3 files. Sound quality is average using the stock earphones, though you can use your iPod earphones for improve music experience.

For the price of the ES 5HD at P4,999.00, not bad with all the features you get in just one small gadget . Though not recommended for the discerning photo enthusiasts or videographer, but very useful for your everyday use.

Sonim Technologies just recently announced their latest product offering together with British manufacturer of all terrain vehicles Land Rover. The rugged S1 Land Rover, comes with a protective case made of Xenoy, a high tech polycarbonate material allegedly 20 times stronger than metal and offers outstanding performance in applications that are exposed to harsh conditions.

According to Land Rover, the S1 Land Rover is completely waterproof up to a certain depth, can withstand thermal shock (-20C to 60-100C), humidity and a 1.6 meter drop. Talk about durability! Most phones with a drop of 2-3 feet will leave you with a broken LCD or a new paperweight.

Confident with its durability, the S1 Land Rover was tested to its limit by having it run over by a Land Rover, roasted in an oven, soaked in beer, submerged in mud then have an elephant stand on the phone.

Launched last July 2009, it hasn’t reached our shores yet, but it will have a price tag of approximately P26,000 to P30,000 once its locally available.

Dubbed as the world’s strongest or toughest phone, it sports of the usual features such as Bluetooth, a 2MP Camera with flash, torch light, a built-in GPS, WAP browser and an FM Radio (might not be handy if you’re in Mt. Everest). It’s also equipped with an “extra loud ringtone” in case you need to find your phone under an elephant.

(After much prodding and due to tempting offers that border on kinky , Ohohoy! will be publishing reviews of the latest gadgets and gizmos being spurned out by today’s technology, courtesy of Mr. O.  The article that follows makes for an intriguing first salvo and runs smack into Mr. B’s year-old mindset that life revolves around the iPhone and the iPhone only.)

I just got hold of a new mobile phone unit from a new player in the local market – Torque. It’s a local brand and most of their phones are sourced from China. The model that I have is the DTV 100, it’s a dual sim (standby only) with a built-in TV and FM radio.

Before we go into the details of the unit, let me give you a brief on dual sim phones for those who are new to this. There are 2 types of dual sim, the dual active and dual standby. Most of the dual sim phone models that were released in the market a few years back are mostly dual standby, which means that while you are using one line, you cannot receive any calls or sms messages on the other line. For the dual active, both sims are working at the same time. You can receive another call on the line (just like call waiting) and receive it at the same time (just like conference call, though some models only work if it’s within the same network). This holds true also with your text messages.

Now going back to the DTV 100, the packaging is quite attractive if you’ll compare it to the other brands in the market, you can’t help but notice that the box is somewhat similar to the iPhone.

The DTV 100 unit is quite sleek with its black thin casing, I just got disoriented with its keyboard layout. Half of the keyboard is for the menu and function keys and the other half is the numeric keys. The keys are small enough not to accidentally press the other keys but if you have large fingers, this is not the phone for you. It might take you some time to get used to this kind of keyboard layout especially if you’re used to doing other things at the same time while using your phone.

The interface takes time getting used to especially if you’re setting up the phone for the first time. Though it has several user profile settings which you can program based on your type of mood for the day. The response time of its function keys is quite fast compared to the other brands but going through the several features of the phone is quite bothersome since you have to go through to a lot of commands just to confirm a function. Take for example send an sms, it will take you an average of 8 presses just to send a message. It’s sms inbox has a separate folder so you have to go through a few folders just to check on your inbox items.

The TV function is basic but very useful especially when you need to check on your latest local shows. Watched the funeral procession of Pres. Cory Aquino from LSGH to the Manila Cathedral last week on the phone the whole time. It’s a good thing had the phone fully charged that morning. The TV mode uses a lot of power from the battery. Be sure to have the charger always on hand. It has a dedicated TV key on the keyboard so going to the TV function is just one press away. The signal depends on your location, but I noticed that it’s easy to get a good reception from QTV and Net 25 anywhere I go. It also has a landscape view where you can watch on the whole 2.4” screen of the phone. The antenna is a bit tad, using the old style retractable stainless type that you see in old transistor types of radio in the past. The DTV 100 is also equipped with a micro SD expandable memory where you can store and watch your videos through your supplied earphones. But if you are into high fidelity sounds, replacing the stock earphones may not be that easy since the DTV 100 uses only a mini-usb type of jack for everything aside from the earphones, this goes the same for charging and file transfer (aside from Bluetooth). The radio function also has a dedicated key on the unique keyboard layout.

Transferring your contacts from your old phone may be a bit problematic. You can only transfer your address book via your sim card and Bluetooth (one at a time!). But according to the manufacturer, they are already developing a third party application where you can extract your address book either from outlook (for pocket pcs) and other formats from your Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. This will be available thru download from their site at torque-online.com in the coming months.

The built-in 1.3 MP camera is very basic. Actually most phones right now have either at least 5 MP in their arsenal, so don’t expect anything with this camera.

Overall, the DTV 100 is a nice weekend phone where you can store your entire address book (1000 phonebook entries) from your 2 lines and just bring one phone anywhere. Features are basic with the extra TV feature (not HD though) but it keeps you entertained. And for the price of the DTV 100, P 5,499.00, very reasonable compared to the other branded phones with the same features.

Scofield wallpaper? The iPhone has never been gayer.

Yes, you may now call me Scofield.  I bit the bullet, I scratched the itch, I went over to the dark side.  And I’ve never been happier.  Or felt geekier for that matter.

Jailbreaking an iPhone, I realized, is a matter of knowing how to use mighty Google and having a 7 year old’s comprehension level.  It’s friggin’ easy man!  So easy I jailbroke 3 iPhones in one week alone.  But there’s no rest for the wicked: I was recently tasked by Mr. A — yep, the iPhone basher himself — to tinker with his wife’s freshly acquired iPhone 3G so he didn’t have to.  Such a sweet hubby, this Mr. A.

(Just an aside before we go into the wonderful world of jailbroken iPhones: Mr. A doesn’t know it but it’s just a matter of time before he finally shifts allegiance to satanic Steve Jobs. Apple products are so diabolical they only need to be tried by one family member and the rest will hypnotically follow suit.  Having THAT one family member as his wife practically seals Mr. A’s impending doo…I mean, switch to the fruit logo.)

In the iPhone context, “jailbreaking” means opening up the phone for installation of third-party applications not sanctioned by Apple.  It is often, but should not be, confused with “unlocking,” which is the process of opening up the phone for use with SIM cards not officially approved by Apple.  In the Philippines, for instance, the iPhone 3G - assuming it is sourced through official channels - is locked to Globe Telecom, leaving local competitors Smart Communications and Sun Cellular at the mercy of “us bad guys” to give their subscribers a taste of mobile heaven.  Unlocking charges range from Php10,000.00 (for the most gullible customer) to free (for my luckiest friends), but I digress.

A jailbroken iPhone, simply put, has access to these third-party apps that happen to resolve the issues I raised in my previous article, and much more.  My MMS issue, for starters, has been resolved by SwirlyMMS. Then there’s biteSMS that enables text and contacts forwarding from an iPhone.  Lesser-known CopierciN now makes it a possibility to copy and paste text between messages, emails, notes, contacts and files. Snapture has empowered the iPhone camera with more advanced features like digital zoom, greyscale and auto-rotation, while Cycorder has given it the capability to record videos.  Lastly, with proper guidance and just the right amount of testicular fortitude, you can tether a jailbroken iPhone to a laptop for more convenient surfing using your iPhone’s internet connection.

Okay, a jailbroken iPhone’s Bluetooth connectivity is still practically useless, and it would take another definition of “jailbreaking” to make the iPhone’s battery removable (and good luck to the brave soul who would attempt it).  But these current limitations are somehow compensated for by the high degree of flexibility the iPhone acquires once unleashed. You want a complete makeover, with customized icons, bigger keyboard, cool slider and the like?  Done.  A SpringBoard theme based on “Dexter” will make your day?  Check.  And it’s not all aesthetics, mind you.  There are apps to help you perform tasks more rapidly, apps to clean up your SpringBoard clutter, and apps to open your phone up for further customization. The possibilities are…well, you know the cliché.

So there you have it, folks: the one thing you need to do to unleash the power of your iPhone. A warning is appropriate though: jailbreaking will void your iPhone’s warranty! If you get caught, that is. And by caught, I mean being dim enough to bring a jailbroken iPhone to an Apple Store for repair. For sure those Mac Geniuses will not entertain you under such condition, so you need to restore your iPhone to its original settings (a.k.a. “unjailbreaking”) before you avail of your phone’s warranty.