Tag Archives: Ice Cream Sandwich

Acer CloudMobile S500 – An Elegant Stainless Steel Looking Smartphone

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Acer has been a tad quiet in the Smartphone arena. They have launched a few Android Smartphones locally which include the Acer Liquid, the Acer beTouch and the Acer Liquid Mini. The Acer Liquid was in fact coupled with a plan from Smart Communications. However, things didn’t go as planned for Acer both locally and globally.

During Computex 2012, Acer announced a lineup of new Smartphones which included the Acer CloudMobile (S500). The Acer CloudMobile (S500) has won several international design awards with its stainless steel finish on both the top and bottom of the Smartphone. Furthermore, the Acer CloudMobile is running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Dual-Core 1.5GHz processor with 1GB of RAM. The device features a crisp 4.3inch screen paired with a 720p high definition resolution. On the rear of the phone there’s an 8MP camera with LED flash while in front there’s a HD front-facing camera. On top of all of that, it’s running on Ice Cream Sandwich.

Acer CloudMobile S500

The Acer CloudMobile at first sight looks sleek and elegant. It doesn’t look cheap at all compared to the “plastic” looking Samsung Galaxy S3. The stainless steel on the Acer CloudMobile made a difference. Additionally, from the name itself, the Acer CloudMobile will feature Acer’s very own cloud storage service similar to Dropbox and the likes of many others. The cloud service comes with unlimited space. Sadly, not everything in life is free. The cloud service provided will only last for 30 days.

Acer CloudMobile S500

The Acer CloudMobile will be made available internationally and in the Philippines by the third quarter this year. There has been no mention yet on price points. However with the specifications and the design of the Smartphone, I would say it would fetch a price tag of at least PHP23,000.

How do you find the design of the Acer CloudMobile? Will Acer finally set foot in the Smartphone arena with this phone? Send us your opinions and comments below Drons!

HTC Desire C, Perfect Budget Smartphone – First Impressions and Hands On

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Here’s a budget Android Smartphone worth every penny, the HTC Desire C. The HTC Desire C is one of the latest from the Desire lineup. It features a solid gorgeous body with a 600MHz processor, 512MB of Ram, 5MP Camera and to it all its flavored with Ice Cream Sandwich all over.

The HTC Desire C comes with a PHP10,000 price tag which is a bit step compared to other Android budget Smartphones in the market like the Samsung Galaxy Y. This can be due to the 5MP camera and having Ice Cream Sandwich on the device.

HTC Desire C

Is it worth purchasing though or should one stick to Smartphones which are priced a lot lower? Do you have any recommendations to bust the HTC Desire C? Send us your suggestions below!

Gigabyte GSmart G1342 Android 4.0 ICS – First Impressions and Hands on Computex 2012

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Have you heard of a Smartphone coming from the likes of one of the world’s top motherboard manufacturers, Gigabyte? This is my second time to encounter a Gigabyte Android Smartphone as a I reported a few others during last year’s Computex show. Things were quiet at the Taiwan World Trade Center (TWTC) halls except for a corner of one of the halls where Gigabyte had set up camp with a few hidden gems, the Gigabyte GSmart G1342.

During Computex 2012, Gigabyte reveled their flagship products which included gaming laptops, ultrabooks, smartphones, graphics card and the well-known Gigabyte motherboards. However, tucked away in a section of the Gigabyte booth, where no one seemed to be taking interest, were Gigabyte’s Smartphones powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Gigabyte GSmart G1342 is one of the only few (excluding the countless China made phones) dual-sim Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phones on the Smartphone arena. It is powered by a mediocre 800MHz processor and 512MB of RAM. Additionally, the device comes with a 3.5 inch screen with a resolution of 320×480 pixels and a whooping 5MP Camera with Auto Focus and a LED flash.

Gigabyte GSmart G1342

The GSmart G1342 isn’t your high end Android Smartphone that can blow away all the benchmarks with impressive framerates and take photos that can say not a thousand, however, a billion words. It’s a humble, fully functioning and affordable dual-sim Android Smartphone running on one the latest Android operating systems, Ice Cream Sandwich.

I tried the Gigabyte GSmart G1342 for a few minutes or so (there were a few folks waiting for their turn on the device) and I must say, it’s darn impressive. The Smartphone wasn’t as smooth in terms of transitions and animations, however, it was acceptable with the power the GSmart G1342 was capable of producing. The screen might not be so large compared to the monstrous Samsung Galaxy Note, though it produces excellent colors.

On another note, the Gigabyte GSmart G1342 is the perfect Smartphone for first-time users who are venturing out to the Android world, frugal users or a gift for your old folks.

I am not quite sure on the release date of the device as Gigabyte tends to sell their devices directly to Smartphone brands and cellular phone carriers who just stamp their name and logo on the device. Nonetheless, there is a high possibility that the device will come out in the Philippines as Cherry Mobile, a local Philippine cellphone brand, as the company has tied up with Gigabyte a couple of years ago and have already released their own versions of some of Gigabyte’s GSmart series.

The Gigabyte GSmart 1342 will sell for less than $200 (P8,400) and will be available in stores locally in the Philippines by the year end. These are my predictions and I have yet to contact Cherry Mobile for any comment.

What do you fellow Drons think of the Gigabyte GSmart G1342? Will you purchase one just to try out Android while you text away with the outdated Apple iPhones? We would love to hear your views, positive or negative, left and right, up and down. Just head below and share it with us!