My Virgin Android Experience

Okay. I've never use an iOS or Android phone before. The only smartphone I've been using is my two years plus Nokia E7 which runs on Symbian, which I've upgraded to Symbian Belle. So last week I've got the opportunity to review not one but two Android phones for a week. One is the mid level Ninetology's U9 X1 priced at RM 1099 and the other is HTC One, priced at RM 2299.

Taken with HTC One

Taken with U9 X1

Yes. There's a huge price different between the two, how to compare? Oh, well. For an Android virgin like me it's easy. With the premium price, you'll get the aluminum body of the HTC One and a plastic one with U9 X1. Thew downside of aluminum body is weight is a bit heavier and heat transfer fast. So, it gets kind of hot when I used the HTC One for more than an hour and the heat is bearable for U9 X1.

Usability wise, both are quite the same while I found that U9 X1 seems a little bit more user friendly. I like the HTC Blink Feed though. It summarizes all my social network in one page and all updates are shown. Kind of cool too.

Phone camera nowadays is one of the function that people compares in a smartphone is the camera. X1 has a 13 megapixel camera while HTC One has a 2 micron ultra pixel camera which gives a 4 megapixel photos but with great sharpness and details. To me, HTC One's camera is slightly better but still U9 X1's camera is way better than my Nokia E7's all focus camera.

Taken with HTC One

Taken with U9 X1

Taken with U9 X1 in low light no flash

Both phones are quite responsive with HTC One had a bit of edge, maybe due the the processor speed different. I have not issue running Candy Crush or War of the Fallen. I even can send requests to friends in Candy Crush with little or not lagging at all.

One thing the X1 lack of is the built in application, it's pretty much comes with the standard Android Jellybean default apps while HTC One has quite a few of their own apps like HTC Zoe. Oh well, for RM 1099, I found it to be a pretty decent smartphone in terms of usability. It suit my needs for Facebooking, Twittering, Instagraming, Gmaling, surfing and occasional gaming. Oh, it has dual sim cards. I can put my normal size SIM card and use but not the HTC One because only micro SIM can be used. Also, Google Play would have tons of app to download so for me built-in apps design by the phone manufacturer is just a bonus.

If I am low in budget and looking for a decent Android phone, U9 X1 would be one of my choice. For the higher end phone and has the budget to splurge, well, there are a lot more choices aren't there?

Oh, you're a blogger too? Then join the Tech Kaiju to get a chance to review phones and gadgets too! More details here.

Which U9 Smartphones Is Your Choice?

Here's a simple guide for you to make your decision on a Ninetology U9 Smartphone.

Hope that will help. If not, you can always click here for more information. All 3 models are powered by Android 4.2 and a MediaTek MT6589 1.2GHz Quad-core processor. Price range from RM 1099 to RM 1299.

I went for the launch of of U9 Smartphones and got something to share.

Are you a blogger? Then here are some good news for you.



Blogger’s Review Program – “Tech Kaiju Arena”

Purpose: 

To promote transparent blogging as part of Ninetology’s yearlong ethical blogging initiative that will go hand in hand with sharing the latest gadget information, both Ninetology and other competitor brands.

Objective:

To create an archive of creative blogpost contents monthly until the end of campaign date. This is themed as ‘Combined product review blogpost’, which do not only have to be a e.g type of content - comparison blogpost; we are looking forward to more creativity from bloggers to formulate new ways showing two brands of mobile devices in a single blogpost.
We will also need the bloggers to include the Ninetology banner which works as a link to a subscription form for Ninetology’s newsletter.

Contents of the newsletter will include (not final):
• Featured blogger’s post under the “Tech Kaiju Arena”
• Ninetology’s latest product news
• E-Vouchers

Campaign Period:

“Tech Kaiju Arena” will commence on the 12th of August 2013 till the 31st of December, 2013 with different themes every thirty days.

How to join? The Process:

1. Register with Samuel Lee – email contact: samuellee@ninetology.com
Required Details:
• Name, Blog URL, Email, Contact Number and the units which you wish to loan; 1x Ninetology Device + 1x Other Latest Mobile Brand available

2. Wait for a call from Ninetology to confirm the collection venue of the loan units which will ONLY be within Klang Valley.
Note:
• Do keep in mind that you are only allowed to hold onto the loan units for a duration of a week

3. During the collection day, you are required to sign a T & C Loaning form which requires you to be liable for any lost or damage of the units.
4. On the day to return the loan units, you will also be required to submit your blogpost(s) URL to be fully eligible to participate in the contest.

To be eligible:
• A ‘Combined Product Review Blogpost’ must also have an embedded Ninetology Banner.
• A write-up of 200 – 250 words
• Min. of 3 photos and/or images

Rewards:
1. By the end of the campaign date, we will select three bloggers who drove in the most subscription via their post and will be rewarded as follows:
a. Grand Prize: A Ninetology’s Latest Device and RM3000
b. 1st Runner-Up: A Ninetology’s Latest Device and RM2000
c. 2nd Runner-UP: A Ninetology’s Latest Device and RM1000

2. Every month, within the campaign period, Ninetology will be having different themes for blogging contents for the ‘Combined Review Blogpost’, the monthly themes will be announced as a surprise every 30 days.

a. The Rewards will be in the form of a range of items which can be Ninetology’s devices, vacations, movie tickets, other mobile brand’s devices and so forth.

3. There’s more, we are even rewarding your readers! Monthly, we will be allocating from RM15,000 to RM20,000 worth of Ninetology E-Vouchers just for the 1st 100 readers who subscribes to our newsletter via the banner. The vouchers will enable them to purchase our products at a discounted price.

Let's start with Tech Kaiju Arena – Quest 1 ‘August 2013’- The Wall of Pledge

Wall of pledge info: http://on.fb.me/10UNzoG

Quest: Using the theme emphasizing on the importance of ethical blogging and the purpose of the ‘Wall of Pledge’ and ‘Responsible Blogging’; blog along with the ‘Combined Product Review’
Commencing: August 12th 2013 - 11th September 2013 or when 30 Blogposts are submitted (dateline will be prolonged in the event if 30 blogposts are not met)

Rewards:

Best Blogpost – Ninetology’s U9Z1+ worth RM1299
Top 10 Chosen Ones – SKROSS World USB Charger worth RM120
Submission: Provided google docs e-form
Requirements:
1. 200 – 250 words
2. Min. 3 Photos or Images
3. Ninetology Banner

HTC ONE Launching

OMG! It's been so long I didn't update my blog. I've been too busy losing weight kekeke. Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How. Okay, a few weeks ago I went to the launching of HTC ONE in Studio Lounge, Tropicana City Mall. I asked Emily to come for the event too as she wanted to buy HTC ONE as her first smart phone. Yes, you heard that right.First smart phone. Better late than never, right?

I won't be writing down the specs here cause you can always Google it. Here's a video of the demo by the HTC Product Specialist.

Here is the video of the design and specifications.

I won a HTC ONE phone casing for Emily and she won a HTC One X Windows phone. OMG. So lucky. She's now using HTC ONE already.

For more information, visit HTC’s webpage www.htc.com or HTC Malaysia’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HTCMalaysia?fref=ts.

Maxis10 Nokia E7 Review: Work

The Nokia E7 is a smart phone design to help professionals to be able to continue their work even if they are on the go. Best suited for those that are always traveling from one place to another.

Nokia E7 provides real-time business email with Mail for Exchange – no extra fees and no additional hardware required. You can also setup your personal email account with push mail feature from your Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or whatever email service you're currently using. I setup my Gmail and once activated my mail is being push so fast that I worried that it will takes up 3.9GB of space. That's how much the space my Gmail is occupying. Haha, lucky there's option to set the limit of mails that is stored in the phone mail account.

With Maxis 3G connection the mail was very fast sychcronized with my Gmail account. Sometimes I am quite worry that it will used up my Hotlink 100MB mobile Internet plan that I've activated. RM18 only mah, I'm very kiamsap one :p

In the Office folder there are some preloaded apps that will help those that has to work while traveling. To be a mobile office. One had to have the ability to read and write work related documents on the go. In Nokia E7, come loaded with Quickoffice. You can view and edit Microsoft Office files like Word, Excel and Powerpoint. It says to support up to Office 2007 but I tested with Word and Excel files save with Office 2010 yet it still can be opened. I think as long as the extension is .doc, .docx, .xls or .xlsx then there will be no problem.

The viewable files that can be accessed by Quickoffice are shown.

Viewing and editing Excel spreadsheet using Quickoffice. The 4" screen really make view easier.

Below is a short video on the demo of viewing and editing Word document and Excel spreadsheet using Quickoffice.

For many corporate executive, in their mobile devices usually stores confidential and sensitive materials, such as bidding price, unannounced product pricing and etc. If the mobile device containing this confidential and sensitive data was stolen or lost, then the information might leak out and do a great impact on the company's secret.

Having thought of this, Nokia preloaded F-Secure Anti-Theft service in Nokia E7 smart phone. By activating the service, it can help protect important data with remote device management options such as device lock and device wipe. Locate your phone if it is stolen – see where it is on a map with the theft control feature. Keep important work files safe.

In Nokia E7, you also can connect to your company intranet quickly and securely with built-in Nokia Mobile VPN. You can tend securely access the application and files stored in your company's Intranet.

Oh. There's also Adobe Reader. I found it very useful for me to store my flight itinerary from Air Asia. This can help to save paper and help the environment a bit because now I don't have to print out the itinerary. I can also use Nokia E7 to do mobile check-in, no hassle of queuing up. To bad I still have to print out the boarding pass from the kiosk in LCCT. Air Asia should learn from MAS to provide e-boarding pass.

Viewing my flight itinerary that is in PDF format.

The above are just some of the extensive features Nokia E7 has for people that work on the go. I myself only able to utilize maybe 20% of the features because my work has to be done sitting in front of a desktop in the office for 12 hours a day. I don't have to meet clients and have to reply important emails while I am outside of office.

Check out the rest of my review posts here. ;)