How to Spot Fake Moshi Moshi Handsets

There are a lot of imitation products out there. For some, this is the best way to know and measure the success of a product. Problem is, people aren't getting the quality products they are supposed to. There's a reason why a product is priced like such and it is something cheaper imitation products won't be able to deliver.

For Native Union's Moshi Moshi, it didn't take that long before China manufacturers copied their design. This handset was already here 4 to 5 years ago but the company that imported it now made it famous, thus, the proliferation of imitation handsets.

Here's a guide on how to spot the imitation units of Native Union's Pop Phone:

If you have more questions on verifying the real and imitation one with regards to Native Union products, leave a message at the comment section below and I'll do my best to reach them and answer all your inquiries. Thanks!

Christmas City 2011 - Railroad (Plarail) final layout [Plarail patterns]

Finally, we have finished doing the layout for the railroad. The railroad we used is Plarail, made by Tomy. From the tables below, the train climbs up to our electronic fire place. Below, you can see photos of the entire city, portion by portion.

We now have 3 train sets. 2 passenger type trains and one cargo train. The cargo train has a snow plow in front of it (to fit the Christmas theme) and we bought additional cargo cars for the train to pull. As seen in the photo above, there's a bridge. This part is the government part. This is where the town hall fire station, hospital (bank turned hospital) and police station is based. When the train goes up, it connects to the photo below...

Christmas City 2011 - New Buildings (Part 1)

Our stairs from the the top to the ground floor has garland now! Lights are actually switched on and you can feel the Christmas spirit inside the house already. Well, at least when going up and down the stairs.

As I've said in my "Christmas City Preparation blog", mom has been buying dozen of houses yearly! This year, she bought 20 new structures for our Christmas village! Since it's very hard to take note which structures we already have, we have a lot of "doubles". What we do is we sell them so we can buy other unique structures. (Interested in the doubles? email me at chef_tonio (yahoo) dot com)

Christmas City Project 2011 - Preparation

It's the -ber months again and here in the Philippines, we see traces of the arrival of Christmas as early as September. You can see local Christmas decors like parols being sold by the road, toy stores playing Christmas songs and homes being decorated with Christmas ornaments. Yes, as early as September.

Last year, we started early November. We create a Christmas city diorama yearly. My mom loves collecting those houses and we started with just 2-3 houses. A few years back, we agreed that we would only buy 2-3 houses yearly. Well, for the past 3 years, we've been buying 10-20 houses a year! Can't blame mom. She loves Christmas stuff.

This year, I think we are starting early. This year, we started on the first week of September. We already fixed the new table layout where the Christmas village/ city will be placed and I'm excited that we will be utilizing the fire place this year. Also, we bought some new items including around 10 new houses and a line up of police cars. As I was searching for police cars, my brother noticed this highly detailed British police.

Impulsively, we bought all the Mitsubishi Evo X british police made my Tomica in that toy shop that day. Tomica is one of our favorite toy car makers. This Evo X police has the number 39 in the box. This will serve as our police car for the police station from now on as we have random, no alike police cars for the past few years. Price per toy car was Php 169.00 each.

That is our city plan this year. Those gray shades are tables in different elevations. The yellow line is where the train tracks will be. Our train and tracks are from Tomy. I invested in one last year. Of course, this is not a business investment but more of a happiness investment. I loved trains since I was a kid and this is the only time that I bought one. We would be needing a huge amount of tracks this year as the set I bought last year is only good for the circular table as seen in the layout above. If only I could get a toy store here in the Philippines do an ex-deal with me hahahaha!

Snow plow train | Php 1,700.00

If you are interested to know the development of our Christmas city, check out this blog of mine. I will keep you updated. 

Crown Regency Cebu - Don't Miss this Deal!

As we know, group buying has recently started in the Philippines and all these websites have been offering us the greatest of the great in terms of deal. It's a win-win situation and I love how these deals are, well mostly, to consumers advantage!

Just a few days back, I saw this deal that made me really want to visit Cebu ASAP! It's a deal worth blogging about as travelers and foodies will surely want to grab this deal.

Protect Your Gadgets using OPT! Now available in the Philippines!

Attention gadget lovers, especially Apple fan boys! OPT just launched last November 26, 2010 Philippines. For those who doesn't know, OPT products are stlyish and functional at the same time. Here's a brief description of what to expect..

OPT Armor Cases are premium cases for the Apple iPhone and iPad.  All OPT Armor Cases feature a patented corner protection which guards your device from damage caused by dropping and accidental bumping.  Its microfiber lining is also a patented screen clean function to remove unsightly finger smudges.

The OPT iPhone 4 Armor Case has a specially engineered camera hole that allows perfect flash pictures even in very dark conditions.  The case is also designed to shield the antenna from accidental touching, which can cause dropped calls.   It uses tough high-grade PU leather in fashionable lizard skin, 3D carbon fiber, and premium genuine leather. 

OPT also has a line of Armor Cases for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, iPod Touch 2G and 3G, and iPod Nano 4G and 5G.

Below are several photos from the OPT line:

MiLi Philippines Officially Launched

The branded battery-problem solver  (For Apple products and almost ALL other mobile devices like Blackberry and Nokia) known in most Asian countries, MiLi, officially launched here in the Philippines last November 26, 2010 at the A Shop in The Podium.

   MiLi is a line of external power packs that have been certified as meeting the quality standards worthy of the much sought after “Made For Apple” label.  Its flagship line is a range of charging cases made specifically for the Apple iPhone, which give additional battery life.  Equipped with a USB port, the MiLi Power series can be charged directly through a USB wall charger or by plugging into a computer’s USB port.  These also double up as an attractive casing for the iPhone, and can also be used to sync your iPhone to your laptop.

We've already reviewed some of their products like MiLi Battery Packs and MiLi Power Pack and Power Skin review. Soon, we'll be reviewing more items from them so watch out for it!

MiLi Philippines Officially Launched

My Dream Laptop: Alienware M11x

My current laptop is my trusty 'ol steed. I asked someone buy it in Singapore and for that price, I could get a MacBook Pro now!

No regrets as my laptop is performing very well. It's a Taiwan brand -- Twinhead. Model is H12Y. The specs was high-end, at least for the year 2006.

HMR Manila Philippines- Licensed Windows XP Pro for only 2100 pesos!

I found this amazing place where I can buy licensed Windows XP for only 2,100 pesos! That's one of my major dilemmas before when putting up my office -- where to find discounted Windows XP that's licensed.

HMR, located in 3 places (see address below), is also a Microsoft Registered Refurbisher Program (RRP): This means that they are accredited by Microsoft to sell RRP Software which consists of the following:
Operating Systems
XP Starter - P990 (limited features)
XP Home - coming soon (can network up to 3 units, ideal for family home network connection)
XP Professional - P2,100 (complete encryption security services and networking capabilities, ideal for businesses with networking requirements.)

Want to know more about it?

Mobile Internet Gadgets - Sapido, Huawei and ZTE (MiFi for sale)

I like mobile gadgets. Those gadgets that help me be productive on-the-go. In fact, the first time Globe released a postpaid plan for Globe Visibility last 2008, I immediately subscribed. This is the Huawei e220 that came with it.

Globe and I was in a cat and dog relationship when I was subscribed to their Plan 2000 Globe Visibility package so after 2 years+, I decided to have it cut. Then, I switched to their competitor mobile broadband network - Sun Cellular Wireless Broadband.

It was a big help in terms of cashflow because from paying 2,000 pesos a month, I only paid 650 pesos a month for a similar but more reliable service. This was more than a year ago. I've heard good feedback now about Globe Tattoo. My cousin is subscribed to the Supersurf plan (Php 1,200) and when we did speedtest, I was amazed on the improvement of Globe. Given the chance that Sun won't improve the speed, I might be tempted to return to Globe but like I said, Sun never let me down. I am having second thoughts of transferring to Globe but if they can prove that they are as reliable as Sun Cellular, i'd gladly switch back to Globe.



My most used broadband stick now is a ZTE MF627. I openlined it by myself.

People get confused when they ask me what network I am using. You know why? Since it's network unlocked, my modem is a La Salle Smart Bro branded MF 627 stick, the interface I use is Globe Tattoo (when I plug the stick, Globe's dialer program autoruns) but, my simcard is Sun Cellular.

My problem that time (2008) was, how to share my mobile broadband connection to other people around me. I checked out some US stores and did a little research. After which, this lead me to the Windy USB WiFi Router. It works this way...
Connect your mobile broadband connection normally via laptop/pc - insert windy USB WiFi router to your laptop/ PC - a little configuration then, you can now share your mobile broadband connection!

I imported several units of the Windy USB WiFi Routers and sold it at around 6,500 pesos. It was expensive back then -- before the Sapido and the other MiFi gadgets arrived. I actually have one more unit of this, stuck at home. (Willing to let go at a low price)

At home, I'm currently subscribed to Sky Broadband plan 999 (I think). I'm pretty contented with it. If I can already 'slightly' recommend Globe Tattoo now versus before, I still DO NOT recommend you getting Globe Broadband. Just believe me. If Sky Broadband conks out on me once every 3 weeks (one day, the longest), Globe Broadband conks out like Once a week, sometimes, reaching 2-3 days before it gets fixed again. You can ask my friend, Hrudu and he'll be happy to tell you what he just experienced just several weeks ago.

If my Sky Broadband is down, I just plug my ZTE MF 627 into my Sapido GR-1102.

..after plugging my broadband stick to the Sapido then plugging the Sapido to AC power, I now have an instant WiFi network! Anyone around me can connect to my mobile broadband connection now. Of course, the speed of your connection depends on the speed of your internet. I bought my Sapido GR 1102 in Greenhills for 3,300 pesos (Add 200 pesos for the car charger).

Lo and behold... a few weeks after I bought that thing, a new gadget arrives!!! (Shucks! I shouldn't have bought the Sapido just yet!) An ultra-portable mobile wifi device called MiFi. It did cost a lot at that time.. The Huawei e5830 MiFi was selling at around 7,500 - 8,000 pesos. I just thought that it was too expensive so I waited.

Now that I can't wait, I got some units of Huawei e5830. I checked out stores and it's selling at 8,000-9,000 pesos (Tipidcp/ Tipidpc). Since I don't need a lot and I just bought it in bulk, I decided to sell the other units.

This is an openline Huawei e5830, brand new by 3uk. Guaranteed to work in the Philippines with your preferred network.

How does this work? Simply put your simcard in the unit, switch the e5830 on and there you go! You already have a WiFi network wherever you walk (don't forget to wear the shirt above!). This gadget can accomodate up to 5 gadgets -- PC, laptops, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Nintendo DS.. Any gadget that has WiFi!

I'm going to sell this Huawei e5830 MiFi for only 5,700 pesos, free shipping to the province or wherever Metro Manila. I DO NOT ship to Nigeria, sorry :)

Note: This is networked unlocked so you can use Smart, Globe or Sun sims.

For more questions, just leave a comment below and I will answer them. If you want to order, leave your mobile number and name in the comment section below and we will get in touch with you. I won't publish mobile numbers to prevent mobile spamming.. I will only publish legitimate queries that may help other readers and serve as an FAQ.

Do check out the photos of the Huawei e5830 MiFi (Mobile WiFi)











Reasons to buy this gadget?
Let me tell you this. If you have multiple gadgets that are WiFi enabled - This is for you! Why bother subscribing to several broadband plans when you can just subscribe to one and use this gadget as your internet connection, wherever you go.

If you have an iPad with no 3g, this is also for you! The price difference of the Apple iPad 3g and the non-3g version is around 130 US dollars.. That's like 5,600 pesos ++. Why bother getting the 3g (unless you have the budget, of course) that's more expensive when this can do the same. Also there are programs that can't be used if you're connected via 3g. This will solve your problem. ;)

If you want to save on battery, this gadget will save your phone's battery. Connecting via 3g will drain your phone battery faster versus using this.

If you're a bachelor or just living alone at home and you don't want to have a separate internet subscription at home, get this! It's like bringing your home internet with you, wherever you go! This is better than you getting a subscription at home and your maids end up using it (or maybe your dogs)

Leave your contact details below if you want to order. After purchasing, I can also help you setup your MiFi via email. I won't publish your mobile numbers, don't worry. Only legitimate and sensible questions will be published as a FAQ for all readers.

Thanks for reading! :)

Do you own this product? Leave it in the comment section below and share your thoughts about the said gadget! :)

Related Post:
How to Setup your Huawei e5830 MiFi (Mobile WiFi) and how to make it work with Globe, Smart and Sun sims

[Update]
Thank you for the overwhelming support! That many units, sold in just 2 days! Put your numbers below to pre-order. Next shipment will be very soon (week of oct 18)

[Update] - Oct 14, 2010
Above prices are now accurate.

[Update] - Nov 01, 2010
Sold out. Standby for info on when the next shipment will arrive. Thanks for ALL who bought and read this blog! +)

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPad]

Related Huawei e5830 articles:


~ Order your network unlocked Huawei e5830 in Manila here!
~ Make your unlock openline Huawei e5830 work for other networks like Globe Tattoo, Smart Bro or Sun Broadband.
~ Password protect your mobile wifi (Huawei e5830 MiFi) connection.
~ How to setup your Huawei e5830 MiFi using your Mac, iPad, iPhone or any WiFi enabled gadget you have.

The Snickers Hunger Buster Challenge

My favorite bar, Snickers did it again! After coming up a few months back with their Hungry for Football Snickers game, they are now announcing a new game to satisfy our cravings -- energy-wise, entertainment-wise and gadget-wise, all at the same time!!!

How did it satisfy my cravings? It consists of peanut nougat topped with roasted peanuts and caramel covered with milk chocolate.

How to play the game:
1. Hunt for the Snickers bar and energize the people in the city of snickers
2. Locate the Snicker bars the fastest time possible and you can win fabolous prizes!
3. Participants who manage to locate all SNICKERS bars and restore energy of the people in shortest time will be winning fabulous prizes

There's a bonus game this time. Hunt for the GOLDEN SNICKERS bars across the worldwide web and stand a chance to win yourself a prize! Look out for the clues on www.snickersgame.com, Twitter & Facebook and find out where are the Golden SNICKERS bars.

They never fail to surprise us!!!

What are you waiting for? Go help energize the city of Snickers by playing the game at www.snickersgame.com

Prizes : Sony Play Station, Sony Ericsson mobile phones, Canon cameras, movie tickets and many more mystery gifts to be won!

The contest is open to Malaysian, Singaporean and Filipino from 8 July – 21 August.

www.snickersgame.com

Lowepro Classified Sling 180 aw - Camera Bag Review

After a long search and research for the perfect DSLR/Laptop/Tripod bag for me. I've seen actual bags and my alternative to the Lowepro Classified Sling 180 aw was the Tamrac Aero 85.


Before I proceed, here are the specs from the Lowepro website:

Interior:
9.3 x 4.4 x 12.6 in.
23.5 x 12 x 32 cm
Exterior:
10.6 x 8.9 x 16.5 in.
27 x 22.5 x 42 cm

Fits:
DSLR with standard zoom lens attached; 1-2 extra lenses (up to 70-200mm f/2.8) or flash; accessories; personal gear; 7-9” netbook in front pocket.
Note: This bag meets most airline carry-on size requirements.




Photo below by AQC photography


Lowepro Classified Sling 180 aw


Left view


Notice the cool security feature? The zipper to access the inside of the bag cannot be opened. :)





Right view - Tripod holder tucked inside. (below the orange tripod icon)


Left side of the bag where the main pocket can be accessed.


memory card pockets - notice the "flappable" memory card icon? cool!








This is where the All-Weather raincoat is hidden :)


You can also pick it up like an ordinary bag! Check out the bag handle...




Huge capacity!


Top portion of the drawer - That's my ENL3e battery


My ENL3e battery plus my Nokia e63


Top view - with my lenspen visible.


Additional pocket on the flap.


What's this for? I don't really know..




The laptop slot in front. According to Lowepro, it can only fit 8-9" netbooks. According to my test, my 12" laptop can fit! coooool!!! (I'm pretty sure laptops bigger than 12" won't fit)






Bottom part of the bag.



Brand and model name tag


The cool zipper protection lock :)


You can attach Slip lock cases (where the Lowepro logo is located). Here are several sliplock optional accessories you can purchase.

To tell you the truth, every single feature I can think of at the time of not knowing the feature exists is in this bag!! I'm very impressed and contented. Now.. I'm going to take this bag to my trip this weekend and test it some more. Follow-up review to uhm, follow.

(While researching, this was the only other review for the Lowepro Classified Sling 180 aw I found)