Philippine Android Apps

Thought I'd do a little research to find out what kind of local Android apps we have from the Philippines. Here are some:

News

Philippine Daily Inquirer
GMA News Online
Philippine News by Danigo
Philippine News by Levitan Software (company based in Aklan)
Kabayan News by Harold Mondonedo

Mobile/SMS

Chikka
Globe Muzta
Vo-Fone

Entertainment

Movies for Smart
Games for Smart
Music for Smart
Flames by Jerome Locson
Life Stories by Marc Tan
FML Widget by Marc Tan
Manila: Open City Movie

Sports

PBA Official
Cebu Running Events by Max Limpag

Travel

Philippines Travel Options
General Douglas MacArthur
NDrive Indonesia & Philippines
MRT-LRT Station Guide
Manila Manual
Taxi Mate (Manila)
Manila City App
Manila Street Map
The Last Jeep to Baclaran
Cebu City App
Travel Guide - PH - Cebu City
Davao Manual
Baguio City App

Stories


Magical Shirt
Ang Mahiwagang Kamisetang Lite
D Source Boxing

Info

Click the City
Philippines Quick Facts
Flashcards - Tagalog
Conversational Tagalog
Moon Phase Widget by Marc Tan
125+Venture Capitalists by Marc Tan
Order ni Mrs. (recipes)
FilAssist

Real Estate

It's My Pad

Business/Discounts


Enjoy PH
Tapa Boy
SM Malls Map and Directory
Jobstreet
FullPage for Ebay PH

Others

Philippines ADW Theme
Mercedes Benz PH
APKoptic by Marc Tan
Handy Poll by Marc Tan
Clickr by Marc Tan
Piclyf
Shake2Random by Jerome Locson

Language/Translation


Learn Filipino Free Wordpower
Tagalog Slang
English to Filipino Flash Cards
My Words Learn Filipino
Tagalog Verbs
Tagalog FilipinoTranslator
Tagalog Basics
Flashcards - Tagalog
Learn Tagalog
123s sa Tagalog
Lingopal Tagalog (Filipino)
Filipino English Jibbigo
Tagalog Daily 10
Tagalog Vocabulary Quiz
Plugin Filipino Tagalog
Tagalog Tutor
(and there's a lot more in this category)

I just found these by doing a search for "Philippines" on the Android Market. Please let me know if you know of any Philippine-made Android apps.

The Chromebook

You've probably heard the announcement about Google's Chromebook which is coming out on June 15. The video above describes perfectly what the Chromebook is. When you turn on the Chromebook you are immediately brought to the internet without having to open a browser. This is definitely a new idea and would work perfectly for people like me who have everything (if not most) on the cloud.

I've been waiting for this to come out for a long time now and hope to experience working on it soon.

Paid Android Apps Now in the Philippines

Google announced last Thursday that Android users in the Philippines can now buy paid Apps on the Android Market - that means we can buy more games, social apps and work (productivity) type of apps. There are over 200,000 free and paid apps today on the Android market. Price of apps though are in US dollars, but you can buy it through Google Checkout which supports both Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Hoping to see more locally made Android apps!

Globe 4G

Last week, my vlogging partner, Coy, invited me to attend Globe's 4G presscon. Since I was in the area I said I'd go. It took me awhile to make my post coz I had to digest all the nosebleed, techie stuff that was discussed there.

So... I will not attempt to explain the technical discussion since I honestly did not understand any of it. What I understood though is the following:

1. Globe's 4G is still on its way. They just have a handful of sites that are up (one is near Heritage Hotel in Pasay).

2. 4G technology isn't really here yet. They mentioned that their 4G mobile technology utilizes the global standard HSPA+. In lay-man's term, basta di hamak mas mabilis!

3. You need a new device so you can enjoy the new network. If you don't have one, the new network is going to help improve connectivity for 3G users.

4. Globe is aggressively expanding availability and here's the map (unfortunately no roll out where I live). They have deployed it in 19 areas, namely Marikina, QC, Makati, Pasay, Las Pinas, Taguig and Manila.

5. Watch out for handsets, devices and apps that Globe's launching this May. I spotted a nice and shiny Android phone during the event :)

So, what do you think?

Smart Bro APN Settings

I had a problem getting my Cherry Mobile Android tablet to go online using 3G. I wanted to use a Smart SIM on it , but wasn't sure whether it was okay to use a Smart Buddy SIM or if I needed a Smart Bro SIM so I could go online. With Globe they don't have that differentiation. I tried to ask advise from Smart's customer care on Twitter, they acknowledged my query, but they never gave me an answer. I got advise from some friends in Smart and they said it's best to use a Smart Bro SIM on my tablet if I was just going to use it mostly for connecting to the internet.

So I did. The next question was about the APN settings. I did some Google searches, but nothing really helped. The Smart website didn't have any updated info on APN settings for a Smart Bro SIM. So I went to a Smart Wireless Center and showed the customer service person my settings and he said said they were fine. I wanted to check whether it would work, but he said I needed to wait an hour. I felt that he really didn't know and wanted me far away before I got the chance to check whether the settings I tweaked last night was indeed correct.

It didn't! So essentially I just wanted 30 minutes of my time waiting at the Smart Wireless Center and what "expert help" I was supposed to get wasn't there. That guy made me believe that my settings were correct and that it would already work. Argh.

So back to square one. I searched again on Google and chanced upon a comment in one of the forums. I tried several suggestions, but this one finally worked (I use an Android tablet):

APN Name: smartbro
APN: smartbro
MCC: 515
MNC: 03
Authentication type: PAP

I simply added an APN and inputted "smartbro" as the APN Name and APN, saved it, and finally managed to go online.

And to that customer care guy, well, gee, you should have just been upfront and said you were not sure.