Men's Health Philippines July 2014: John Spainhour

Garage Magazine July 2014: Michael Christian Martinez and LA Aguinaldo

Olympic Figure Skater Michael Christian Martinez lands on his first ever magazine cover for Garage 50th edition alongside with model LA Aguinaldo for the Sports and Style issue this July.  

FHM Philippines July 2014: Rochelle Pangilinan

Former Sexbomb Dancer finally lands on her own solo cover after 10 years (Last one was with the Sexbomb girls, March 2004). Also featured in the issue is the 100 sexiest woman in the world 2014 supplement that contains the full list of this years 100 sexiest. The issue will be available on Monday for Php 195 

FHM Philippines Sexiest Woman for 2014

Kapuso Primetime Queen Marian Rivera bagged the Sexiest Woman title this 2014 by FHM Philippines garnering a total of 1,529,974 online and ballot votes. Making her the first ever Pinay to win the title thrice.




Close second is Sam Pinto with 1,482,072 votes, at 3rd is Angel Locsin with 1,042,226 votes, this is Angel's 10th year in the Top 5 she hasn't missed it since she entered and won the Philippines Finest title back in 2005. At number 4 is Jennylyn Mercado with 1,025,702 and wrapping up the Top 5 is Cristine Reyes with 858,283 votes.




The full list of the 100 sexiest women will be revealed in the July issue of FHM coming out this June 30. So don't forget to grab a copy.

Metro Him July 2014: Joseph Marco

Metro Magazine July 2014: Kathryn Bernardo

Teen Queen Kathryn Bernardo headlines the celebrity issue of Metro Magazine this July!. 

Nokia X2: The Next Generation

Yesterday Microsoft Mobile announced their newest product, the Nokia X2. The X2 is the 2nd generation of the Nokia X line of forked android devices that Nokia announced last February before Microsoft took over last April. 

The Nokia X2 features much better specs than its predecessor, it features a 4.3 inches WVGA screen that has a Nokia Clearblack technology making the resolution much sharper and crisper specially in black background.

The new device is now armed with a 1GB of RAM, and a newer Snapdragon 200 chipset and with a dual processor clocked at 1.2 gHz. The Nokia X2 is powered by a newer Nokia X Platform 2.0 that is based on Forked Android 4.3 OS. 

The X2 supports a 5 megapixel rear camera with a single LED Flash and a VGA front facing camera. 

When it comes to the UI it now supports 4 columns of apps, the fastlane is still there and there's a new page in the home screen which is the App list like the one in the Lumia that shows all the apps installed. The phone also features a new capacitive button aside from the back button there's a Home button that makes multitasking easier. 

Microsoft promised before that they wouldn't cut the support for the Nokia X line, but surprisingly the Nokia X platform 2.0 will not support the earlier X devices because of certain hardware limitations. 

The Nokia X2 is priced at €99 or roughly Php 8000 here when it arrive soon.  

Rogue Magazine June 2014: Valerie Weignmann

Nokia Z Launcher: The Beginning of a New Era

Months after the Devices Arm of Nokia was bought by Microsoft, Nokia released their 1^st ever Android Launcher the Nokia Z, and yes you read that right it is for ANDROID. Since Nokia cannot anymore do hardware stuffs because Microsoft already took over it, they are now venturing on what is left on their company and that is the software development.

The Nokia Z launcher was introduced last Wednesday by Nokia as a Beta launcher for several android devices, and yes it is free to download on the Google play store. So what makes the Z launcher special? Well it offers a draw a letter feature that when you draw a letter on the screen using your fingers the apps and contacts with that letter will appear on the screen.   

The launcher is on Beta status it is only available for Samsung S5,S4, LG G2, G3, Nexus 4 and 5. Sadly the Nokia X android family is not compatible with it so far.

By the way Microsoft Mobile Oy is releasing a 2^nd generation Nokia X on June 24. 

One Plus One: Equals the Flagship Killer

These past few days I have been seeing this “OnePlus One Smartphone” on my timeline on twitter, that it made me so curious that I made research of it. First I thought that it was the same as the “O+” Smartphone brand that Vic Sotto is endorsing but well it’s a different product.

So what are the specs of this OnePlus One and what makes it that it was dubbed as the FLAGSHIP KILLER.

• 5.5 inches 1080p Full HD JDI Screen with IPS LTPS Technology.
• 8.99mm thin
• 2.5 GHz Quadcore Processor
• 3GB RAM/ 16/64GB ROM
• Snapdragon 801 CPU
• 13 Megapixel 6 Lens rear camera with Sony Exmor IMX 214 Sensors
• 5 Megapixel front facing camera
• 3100 mAh Battery
• 4G LTE Ready
• Cynogenmod 11s based on android 4.4.3 OS

 The OnePlus One features great specs for its price of $299 for the 16GB edition the 5.5 inches Full HD JDI screen with LTPS Technology gives out high pixel density and sharper images on the screen,  plus the IPS on the screen makes the viewing angles and sunlight readability high even in different angles and even under bright sunlight, also with the Touch On Lens(TOL) technology makes the phone very responsive with only minimal touch.

The One also features an On Screen Gesture ability that gives you an option to create app/features shortcut by simply swiping in some gestures on the screen of the phone (e. g. swiping your finger on a circular motion to make it a shortcut to the camera application).

The Cyanogenmod 11S is the software that the One is using as you know cyanogenmod customizes android phones very well and that made the One the best since it is made by the people who really tinker with the OS to optimize it and to make it even better. But if you don’t like the 11S you have the option to use the stock Android 4.4.2 Kitkat Stock ROM.

The design of the OnePlus One made me more interested with it, since the back cover will be interchangeable to different kinds of back cover that is not just simply plastic, it also has a Kevlar, Wood and Bamboo like the one in the Moto X, it also have a Denim edition. But its not yet available. If you buy one unit you have 2 options the Silk White or the Sandstone Black that supports 64GB but still coming soon.  

The One Plus One can be purchased if you have an invite so how would you get an invite, just go to their website at Oneplus.net or like their Facebook to win invites but you need to join a game. Sadly the One plus one is not yet coming to the Philippines.    

Mister World 2014: Winners

8^th edition of the Mister World Pageant just wrapped up at the Riviera International Conference Center in Torbay, Devon, England, and Mister Denmark Nicklas Pedersen won the Mister World 2014 title, 1^st runner up is Mister Nigeria Emmanuel Ikubese and the 2^nd runner up is Mister Mexico Jose Pablo Minor. Our candidate Mister Philippines John Spainhour, though they say has a lot of chance in bagging the title wasn’t able to finish even in the Top 10 of the competition.

Here are the other candidates who made it to the top 10.

Curacao- Zuemarik Veeris

England- Jordan WIlliams

India- Prateik Jain

Moldova- Valeriu Gutu

Netherlands- Demian Overdujin

Puerto Rico-Alberto Martinez

Ukraine- Bohdan Yusypchuk

The finals were hosted by Frankie Cena and Miss World 2013 Megan Young.  Next year it will be Sam Ajdani’s turn to join the Mister World can he finally bagged the title? Meanwhile the Miss World –Philippines is set to be on August or September so watch out for it for sure this year will be BIG! :D 

NCAA Season 90: We Make History!

The oldest sports league in the Philippines celebrates their Emerald year this 2014, the National Collegiate Athletic Association is set to open their 90^th season on June 28 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

This season’s host school will be the Jose Rizal University, the opening ceremonies will start at 12nn to be televised live on TV 5. Right after the opening ceremonies it will followed by the opening game of the basketball tournament where the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers faces the defending champions San Beda College Red Lions, that will at 1pm after that San Sebastian College- Recolletos Golden Stags will battle against the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights at 3pm.

This will also be the last year for the Lyceum of the Philippines University and Emilio Aguinaldo College, if their performance this season will not suit up to be regular teams.

No full schedule was given yet and also I am not sure if all of the games will be shown on TV either via TV 5 or Aksyon TV Channel 41, so far all I know is that there will be 4 day game schedule that will be on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays I think. So there will be at least 7 or 8 games to be played per week.

I will post an update as soon as I got a hand on the schedule of NCAA season 90. 

Maligayang Ika-116 Araw ng Kalayaan ng Pilipinas

NOKIA XL: Bigger and Bolder (Full Review)

Introduction:

The Nokia XL is the youngest and also the biggest member of the Nokia X Family from the Finns that was announced last February, in case you missed it the X family of Nokia is runs on android but it is heavily customized to fit with the Nokia ecosystem and not with Google though it is based on Android Open Source Project or AOSP that is on android version 4.1 (Jellybean) it won’t be able to run any Google application such as Gmail, YouTube, GMaps, Google Plus, etc. Instead Nokia is offering you their own Nokia Store that features Android Apps for free or you can choose to have a third party app store like Apptoide, 1 Mobile Market, etc.

So if you’re relying too much on Google then this phone is not for you. Going back to the Nokia XL, I will be discussing the Packaging, Screen Size and other features and the hit and miss of the device on the next line.

Packaging:

The Nokia XL comes with a new design on the box from the usual blue Nokia box it is now colored white, they say it is what Microsoft wanted to look like since they are the once that owns the Hardware and Mobile division of Nokia. The box contains User Guide, Nokia Care Card, Headset, Charger, Battery, and the Unit itself. I was kind of disappointed that it didn’t have at least a USB Cable for data transfer purpose or the 4GB Memory card that Elop said when he was introducing the product at the MWC, but anyway it has a better package content than the Nokia Lumia 630 that doesn’t have a Headset just a charger and the unit itself. 

Any way the Nokia XL is priced at Php 8990 or if you’re lucky to find a store that offers it with a bit lower price. I got mine for Php 8750. The next paragraphs will be about the phones specifications so please continue reading. 

Screen Size and Body:

The XL features a huge 5 inches WVGA LCD Display that is Multitouch capable up to 6 fingers. I think this is the biggest phone that I ever have, well I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 that is 4.99 inches and a Nokia Lumia 920 with 4.5 inches of screen size but the XL dwarfed them literally the two phones looked smaller beside the phone. Maybe the bigger bezels of the XL made it more bigger and because it is bigger it is a bit heavy though I think the Lumia 920 is heavier, the bigger size and heavy weight of the XL gives it a very strong built as it looks very sturdy, well it’s Nokia so better expect very sturdy design.

Though the body looked so strong the glass used on the screen is just ordinary, it doesn’t feature anything fancy, no Gorilla Glass nor any kinds of protection from scratch so you better have it screened protect or don’t remove the temporary screen protection that Nokia placed on it.

 Like all the new Nokia Smartphone that was released the Nokia XL is made up of Poly carbonate Plastic that offers a good quality of back case, the available colors of XL here in the Philippines is Orange and Bright Green. The Phone doesn’t look cheap thanks to the bright colored poly carbonate back panels unlike other Smartphone that despite the price range of the phone it still feel cheap because of the plastic that they used on their phones.

Specifications:

Nokia did a little improvement on this X family member the only thing that keeps the XL different from the X aside from the screen is the RAM Size and the Battery, instead of having a lower 512MB of RAM it now features a 768MB of RAM that is also featured on the X+. aside from that almost all are the same with the three Nokia X members.

It runs on an older 1 Ghz Dual core Processor with Qualcomm Snapdragon Chipset. Though it's running on older chipset the Nokia XL still performs smoothly, but when I first powered the phone on it is a bit laggy and unresponsive but after a few seconds everything runs smooth with some lags that is still bearable.

I have been using the phone for more than a week now and I could say that the 2000mAh of battery performs very well, the battery lasts for 14 hours on regular cell phone use and 7 hours on heavy internet use.

Fastlane and User Interface:

As we know the Nokia X Family runs on heavy forked android 4.1.The design of the user interface looks the same as the Nokia Lumia Family it features tiles but unlike the Windows Phone counterpart it doesn’t feature any live tiles, but it lets you resize, move and change the color of the tile whether you like it green, blue, dark blue, violet, or orange, but it has a bigger screen three tiles can only fit in one row.

And because it is not your common android device, the XL only features 2 screen the Home screen where all the apps downloaded appears and the Fastlane where all of your recent applications are placed, it’s like a bookmark plus it serves as the place where you can close the apps you used by simply long pressing a certain content on the Fastlane and then press either the X on the right side or press the garbage can icon at the bottom of the screen

One unique feature of the Nokia X Family is the < capacitive touch button that serves as back button for you to exit an app. It doesn’t have any other purpose. The Nokia X platform also has the swipe to left or right for you to exit an app, only few apps supports it specially those apps that were pre installed on the device like Messaging and Web browsing.

Though the XL is not your typical android phone, it also features widgets for BBM, Text Messaging, Twitter, Facebook, and even an Analogue Clock, but don’t put too much widgets as it will put too much load on the processor and your phone might get laggy. 

Web Browsing and Keyboard:

The Web Browser on the Nokia XL is very fast in loading web pages, the only problem I encountered yet is that whenever I try to reload a page it doesn’t show anything it will just surprise you when it is already opening the page your trying to browse.

The keyboard works perfectly with the huge screen of the XL plus it features a swipe to input function that makes it easier for you to type. One good thing on the keyboard is the dictionary it shows words that you need in forming a sentence in making a text message, tweet, or status in Facebook.

Camera:

A higher resolution 5 megapixel shooter is equipped with the Nokia XL with single LED Flash unlike its older but smaller siblings that only packs a 3.15 camera.

The Camera takes good to decent photos depending on where the photo is being taken and as compared to other 5 megapixel camera of other brands it gives much better quality.

The downside of the camera is the flash as instead of making the picture brighter and more vibrant the photo tends to be darker. Here are some camera samples of the Nokia XL.  

Gaming:

The Nokia XL comes pre installed with several games like Plants vs Zombies 2, Tetris, Green Farm 3, Bejeweled 2, Danger Dash, and Wonder Zoo all of them works perfectly with the Nokia XL. No Lags or Hanging that occur while I was playing the pre installed games on the phone.

I also installed Candy Crush, Temple Run 2, Clash Of Clans, 2048, and Dumb Ways to Die and so far I haven’t experienced any lags or forced close issue, it worked fine and smoothly.

I just had an issue when I tried to install the Candy Crush from a 3^rd party ap since it is not available in the Nokia Store, when I opened the app it just show an orange screen and then it forced closed so what I did was I uninstalled the app and download a new one from a different store and it worked properly.  

Application Store:

The pre installed Nokia store in the Nokia XL doesn’t have it all but it offers different third party app store on it, I recommend Apptoide and 1 Mobile Market but I suggest you use only 1 third party app store since you’re Fastlane will be flooded by Updates of Application asking you to update it.

Verdict:   

The Nokia XL is not a must have phone as it is working on a baby platform from an old operating system, Nokia haven’t perfected the formula in making an excellent phone that is android based. It's not the best that Nokia can offer so far but it is still a good one though. 

At the price of Php 8990 you can already buy a Midrange android phone or a higher spec one from your local android phone maker and also if you are dependent on Google Apps this phone is not for you, but if you’re an android user or a new Smartphone user looking for a differently and newly styled phone this is worth to try. Or if you want to try the Nokia X and you are not contented with the Specs of the X, X+ and XL you can wait for the “rumored” 

Nokia X2 that is a 2^nd generation Nokia X device that has a better specs than the 1^st one, it is said to feature a 4.3 inch screen with 1GB of RAM and a newer processor.

That’s it thank you for reading, if you want to ask something regarding with this review, gadgets, sports, etc. you can email me at orionz2@ymail.com. Or tweet me @bigbeezbuzz again thank you J