My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica

Sunday, December 14, 2014

JA$2999+GCT Huawei Ascend Y330 Sale at @FLOWJamaica - Digicel DL750, DL800 Sale makes JA$6,907.92+GCT per month Samsung Galaxy Note 4 a Steal

Introducing the JA$2999 + GCT (JA$4375.75 with Tax included) Huawei Ascend Y330 smartphone sale that just started on Sunday December 14th 2014 from 2pm to 3pm at select LIME Stores listed on their LIME Facebook  Page as per their recent posting on their LIME Twitter Page.



I should have seen this coming!

Telecom Provider LIME isn’t gonna take a JA$1000 sale on the DL750, the DL800 and the Alcatel One Touch C1 as detailed in my blog article entitled “JA$6,950 DL750 and JA$8,250 DL800 on Sale at Digicel – Alcatel One Touch Pop C1 as ZTE Force Awakens and Alcatel’s Empire Strikes Back” from Telecom Provider Digicel lying down.



Especially now that Telecom Provider Digicel is opting to double you credit once you top up with amounts between JA$200 to JA$1000 as stated on Digicel’s Twitter Page.



That’s probably why on Friday December 12th 2014, Telecom Provider LIME rolled out an offer of 50% off at all of the LIME Stores listed on their LIME Facebook  Page, based of course on their recent posting on their LIME Twitter Page.



Their JA$3999 + GCT (JA$5375.75 with Tax included) Huawei Ascend Y330 smartphone sale that started back in November 2nd 2014 as stated in my blog article entitled “JA$3999 + GCT Huawei Ascend Y330 from @limejamaica - JA$13,688 DL750 price cute expected from @digiceljamaica for Christmas 2014” has now blossomed to a new initiative that slashes the price on all their smartphones by 50%.


Thus, crowds are expected, base on the slideshow shown above!

LIME sells the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 – JA$6,907.92+GCT per month for an oversized Tablet

Interestingly, Telecom Provider LIME has begun selling the JA$122,000 (US$1089) Samsung Galaxy Note 4 that's that launched at their Samsung Experience Store since launch on Friday October 24th 2014 as detailed in my Geezam blog article entitled “Arrival of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 – a Selfie-Themed Affair”



Telecom Provider LIME also had a Launch Event for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, apparently to signify that they’d signed a contract with Samsung to sell the phone for $6,907.92+GCT per month, once you signed up to a Data Plan and a Voice Plan of course. Green, Blue and White themed launch Event to launched this slightly overpriced smartphone.



Telecom Provider LIME is already selling the Apple iPhone 6 and the Apple iPhone 6 Plus since Friday, November 14, 2014 as reported in my blog article entitled “@limejamaica Launches Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus – Spanking New Press Release Website tied with Social Media”.



Will it do as well or better than the Apple iPhone will be seen, as I’m yet to do a price comparison on the Apple iPhone 6 and the Apple iPhone 6 Plus to the recently launched Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Plus, Telecom Provider LIME is soon to launch the Huawei Ascend P6, which is also on sale for JA$24,195.00+GCT as per the adert below.



Lots of Crazy things going on a Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom Provider Digicel this Sunday December 14th 2014 as the competition heats up!

Check back with my blog or just follow Digicel Jamaica’s website Digicel Jamaica YouTube Page, Digicel’s Facebook Page and Digicel’s Twitter Page  As usual, for the latest news on Telecom Provider LIME, follow the action for Telecom Provider LIME on their LIME website, LIME’s YouTube Page, LIME Twitter Account and LIME Facebook Account.




Posted by at 12:37 PM 0 comments

Saturday, December 13, 2014

JA$6,950 DL750 and JA$8,250 DL800 on Sale at Digicel – Alcatel One Touch Pop C1 as ZTE Force Awakens and Alcatel’s Empire Strikes Back

Today is a great day for a Sale at Digicel.

So it would seem as since Thursday December 11th 2014, Digicel has quietly announced a sale on their Digicel Twitter Page for the DL750, DL800 and the Alcatel One Touch Pop C1.



Also the DL750 is back on sale down from JA$7,950 to JA$6,950 along with the DL800, which has also taken a price cut from JA$9,250 to JA$8,250. The News here is that the Alcatel One Touch Pop C1 is for sale with its regular price reduced by JA$1000 from JA$4250 to JA$3250, Tax included of course as shown below.



So what going on? Looks like Digicel is “poppin” with more smartphones from the Alcatel line. But if so, who is the OEM (Original Equiptment Manufacturer) for the DL800 and the DL900?

DL750 and DL800 on Sale at Digicel – Alcatel One Touch Pop C1 is the latest drool-worthy smartphone

The DL800 was actually priced much higher at JA$11,563 inclusive of tax on Prepaid with a special discounted offer of JA$9250 for persons with Corporate ID at the Digicel New Kingston Store owned by Fimi Wireless as stated in my Geezam blog article entitled “Digicel launches DL800 aka ZTE Kis 3 Max Second after Digicel DL900 on Christmas 2014”.

Good to note here that Digicel has already done a fire sale for the DL750 which was selling for JA$3450 (JA$4312.50 when Tax is Included) on Friday December 5th 2014 as reported in my Geezam blog article entitled “Digicel launches DL900 aka Alcatel Pop C7 as Digicel DL750 on Sale for Christmas 2014”.



The following Saturday December 12th 2014 saw huge lines of people at their Downtown Store eager to cash in on the deal for the DL750!

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About time too, as the DL750 wasn’t much improvement over the DL700 save for the fact it ran Google Android v4.4.2 (KitKat) whereas the DL700 was running Google Android v4.2 (Jellybean) and had Flash as noted in my blog article entitled “JA$13,688 Digicel DL750 Launched – Alcatel One Touch Pop C3 with Free TV App, DL600 issues in X-Men Origins First Class Days of Future Past”.
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The price drop today to JA$6,950, albeit not as low as the JA$3450 (JA$4312.50 when Tax is Included) on Friday December 5th 2014 and Saturday December 12th 2014 is still noteworthy. So where did the DL800 and DL900 come from? The answers will surprise you.

DL800 and the DL900 Origins – The ZTE Force Awakens as Alcatel’s Empire Strikes Back

According to Digicel’s Twitter Page, the DL800 was launched on Tuesday December 2nd 2014 as shown below.



A day later, the DL800 was launched Wednesday December 3rd 2014, again based on their Digicel’s Twitter Page.



As can be seen from these Twitter posting from Digicel, the DL800 originally cost JA$11,562.50 Prepaid and JA$9,250 Postpaid. The DL900 on the other hand, originally cost JA$14,937.50 Prepaid and JA$11,950 Postpaid.

On Monday December 8th 2014, I went to the Digicel Stores in New Kingston owned by Fimi Wireless, Half-Way-Tree and Tropical Plaza. I then discretely requested to see the DL800, the DL900 and new Huawei Ascend P7 which I'd seen on Smile Jamaica Morning Time that very morning. I was able to obtain the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identification) Number and using my access to an IMEI lookup service I was able to identify the OEM of the DL800 and the DL900.

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Turns out that the DL800 is a ZTE Kis 3 Max whereas the DL900 is an Alcatel One Touch Pop C7, as per the results of the IMEI lookup as summarized in the Table.

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The use of a ZTE Kis 3 Max marks the first time that Digicel has decided to use an OEM other than Alcatel for their “DLXXX” line of smartphones. ZTE is a Chinese Telecoms Equipment Provider that also dabbles in the smartphone world with the following four (4) Series of smartphones:

1.      Grand
2.      Nubia
3.      Blade
4.      Kis

They introduced the ZTE Kis 3 Max at the IFA 2014 Trade show in Berlin, Germany on Tuesday September 9th 2014 as stated in the article “IFA Berlin: ZTE announces new smartphones from popular Blade and Kis series”, published 2014/9/4, ZTE Website, along with two other members of the Blade and Kis Series:

1.      ZTE Blade Vec 4G
2.      ZTE Blade Vec 3G
3.      ZTE Kis 3 Max

According to a ZTE Representative I spoke to at the Tropical Plaza Branch, the Digicel apparently were approached by ZTE to sell the ZTE Blade Vec 3G and the ZTE Kis 3 Max aka the DL800. The ZTE Blade Vec 3G wasn't available at the time I was at the store, but I was assured that it would be in stock by Thursday December 11th 2014.

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I haven’t gone back to make sure, but I will probably spin through the Digicel Stores on Monday December 15th 2014 to check to see if they have them in stock. I’d love to do a hands-on review of the ZTE Blade Vec 3G as well as the Huawei Ascend P7.

The DL900 aka the Alcatel One Touch Pop C7, on the other hand, is an older Alcatel smartphone that was among four (4) that popped up back on Friday September 6th 2013 at the very same IFA 2014 Trade show in Berlin, Germany as stated in the article “Alcatel announces four new One Touch Pop C-series smartphones” published September 06, 2013by Ketan Pratap, NDTV Gadgets.

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Those four (4) Alcatel smartphones in the Pop Series are:

1.      Alcatel One Touch Pop C1
2.      Alcatel One Touch Pop C3
3.      Alcatel One Touch Pop C5
4.      Alcatel One Touch Pop C7

Please note here that the Alcatel One Touch Pop C3 is the DL700 as reported back in my previous blog article entitled “Digicel has launched the DL700, an upgrade to the DL600 on Friday December 6th 2013 - The Alcatel One Touch Pop C3 is Digicel’s latest Unicorn that may be harder to catch”.

Digicel has apparently taken the Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 and rechristened it as the DL900 and the Alcatel One Touch Pop C1 launched it as is. Thus expected to see more Alcatel One Touch Series and ZTE Blade and Kis smartphones coming out later in 2015!



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So now on to the exciting bit, that being the specs of the DL800 aka the ZTE Kis 3 Max and the DL900 aka the  Alcatel One Touch Pop C7 as well as the Alcatel One Touch Pop C1!

Specs of the DL800, DL900 and Alcatel One Touch Pop C1 – Lots of horsepower, little Playroom

Since I’ve already dealt with the DL800 and the DL900 specs in my Geezam blog article entitled “Digicel launches DL900 aka Alcatel Pop C7 as Digicel DL750 on Sale for Christmas 2014” and “Digicel launches DL800 aka ZTE Kis 3 Max Second after Digicel DL900 on Christmas 2014”, I’ll simply present a Comparison Chart of the three (3) smartphones.

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Not surprisingly, the Alcatel One Touch Pop C1 is the lighter of the three (3) smartphones and also has the smallest screen. It also has fewer features, including no Front Facing Camera and no video on the Rear-Facing Camera.

But its shares equal kinship with its more advanced brother, the Alcatel One Touch Pop C7, in that it’s Dual-SIM Capable, which I noticed when I’d inspected the smartphone at the Digicel Store in New Kingston owned by Fimi Wireless.

I realize that it might be disabled but the fact that it’s there makes it attractive to anyone wanting to buy it, thinking they would unlock it and makes them into Dual-SIM phones capable of using both LIME and Digicel SIM Cards.

Unlocking a smartphone by the way, can cost as little as JA$6000 to as much as JA$13,000 based on the procedure as laid out in my blog article entitled “How to unlock any phone and put it on any Network - Guaranteed to unlock any Feature or Smartphone on the Chennai Express”, depending on where you go in Half-Way-Tree, Cross Roads or Downtown to have your smartphone unlocked.

Digicel betting on the Trend of Dual-SIM smartphones – Customer will love this New feature

Please note this is speculation on my part; the Digicel Representative was adamant that Dual-SIM wasn’t Digicel’s policy.

Still with MNP (Mobile Number Portability) and LNP (Landline Number Portability) approaching by Sunday May 31st 2014 and interconnection IXP (Internet Exchange Point) being a part of the overall plan of the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) for the Telecom Providers as noted in my blog article entitled “Jamaica's Local Internet Exchange Point - IXP Lower Routings, Web Hosting and Websites Loading on smartphones as Jamaican Domain Name Registration and MNP, LNP Approaches”, this seems likely to be their plan.

The logic may be that at JA$6000 to JA$13,000 to unlock a Dual-SIM smartphone, the subscriber would rather buy a second Digicel SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) Card and place it in the SIM 2 slot than go through all that hassle. This as JA$6000 to JA$13,000 would effectively be the equivalent cost of a second phone to unlock the Dual-SIM Feature, thus dissuading the subscriber from paying the cost to a smartphone unlocker just for that additional feature.

Digicel merely has to make sure the cost of the DL900 and Alcatel One Touch Pop C1 the doesn’t fall below JA$4000, as that would make it cost-effective enough some some Jamaicans to attempt to pay to unlock the Dual-SIM Feature to us any SIM Card from any Network.

So this may be a way for Digicel to meet some customer half-way by making their smartphones dual-SIM, albeit MNP and LNP doesn’t require that they be Dual-SIM. Digicel, by this clandestine move, may be simply acknowledging the eventuality of the coming of Dual-SIM smartphones as I’d predicted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Trend towards Dual-SIM Smartphones developing in Jamaica as MNP Approaches”.

So now that the choices are laid out clearly before you, which one of these smartphones will be yours for the Christmas 2014 and the New Year 2015, the Year of the Sheep? Check back with my blog or just follow Digicel Jamaica’s website, Digicel Jamaica YouTube Page, Digicel’s Facebook Page and Digicel’s Twitter Page.




Posted by at 5:16 PM 0 comments

Facebook Groups App and How to connect Groups on your Smartphone or Tablet

Facebook is churning out yet another App that’s basically been a trend for quite awhile now: Facebook Groups App.

That’s right folks!

There is now an App launched on Tuesday November 8th 2014 for Facebook Groups that allows you to go directly to your Groups that you regularly log into as well as create a new Group as explained in the article “Facebook singles out Groups, in trend toward standalone apps”, published November 18, 2014 10:00 AM PST by Ian Sherr, CNET News.

It’s called the Facebook Groups App and is available on both Google Play Store and the Apple iTunes Store as announced in a Facebook’s Press Release article “Introducing the Facebook Groups App”, published November 18, 2014 By Shirley Sun, Product Manager, Facebook Newsroom.

The Facebook Groups App is a product of Facebook Creative Labs, the same group also responsible for the not-doing-so-well Slingshot App as reported in the article “Facebook’s Newest App Lets You Chat in Small Groups”, published Nov. 18, 2014 by Jack Linshi, Time Magazine.




Facebook peeps often log in multiple times per day, more than any other Social Network, both Laptop and PC based and Social Mobile Networks on smartphones and tablets based on the statistics analysis of analyst Global Web Index as detailed in my blog article entitled “Global Web Index indicates Snapchat is King - Why Tumblr and Pinterest on the rise as Facebook has higher engagement levels”.


This is an indication of a very high engagement rate. Anecdotally, I rarely see anyone on Facebook anymore when I log in. Most of the status posts on my Facebook  Newsfeed are mostly within the various groups I’ve joined.

The rest is from the various Science, Technology and News Facebook  Pages I’ve joined to keep track of News to provide fodder for my blog articles as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Pew Research posits 3 in 10 get their News via Facebook as Paper set to go live”.

Facebook Groups App – How to connect to your Facebook Groups on your Smartphone or Tablet

Interestingly too, whenever I go onto Facebook  on my Laptop or when I’m logged into a computer in the E-Learning Lab at MICO University College, I mainly post in my groups. As you should know, there are three (3) types of groups, which this Facebook Groups App organizes for you quite nicely:

1.      Open
2.      Closed
3.      Secret

For this reason, I have a preset list of my favorite Groups to visit, as I usually just post on my page for the purpose of doing reflection of the day’s News and Personal events. That list of my favorite Facebook  Groups is as follows:

1.      https://www.facebook.com/groups/103769586401811
2.      https://www.facebook.com/groups/1planet.dj/
3.      https://www.facebook.com/groups/2222177833
4.      https://www.facebook.com/groups/70891779392
5.      https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamjamaica
6.      https://www.facebook.com/groups/JamaicanVybes
7.      https://www.facebook.com/groups/Pissout.mymind

I find the listing to the right hand side doesn’t seem to list all the groups that I frequently post in, but apparently lists them according to some unknown algorithm.



Truth be told, I spend more time on Twitter than I do in Facebook, as Twitter is more geared to discovering Technology News and News in General ever since their redesign as noted in my blog article entitled “How to Download Twitter user Pictures as Twitter makes Facebook Timeline changes”.

Twitter analytics allows me to gauge what News story is news-worthy and blog worth enough to blog about as noted in my blog article entitled “Twitter rolls out Twitter Analytics - Free Twitter Analytics Impressions, Engagement and Engagement Rate will boost Advertisers and Brands on Twitter”.


So now that there’s a Facebook Groups App that makes it easier for you to connect directly to your groups on a smartphone, where you can’t so conveniently keep a Text file list of your groups, their Engagement level will increase. You can even create a group right there in the Facebook Groups App.

If you’re apprehensive about committing to yet another app cluttering up your space on your smartphone, you can still access the Facebook Groups App functionality in the Main Facebook App.

Still, you’ll miss out on such unique gems such as the Facebook Groups App that pairs you with a group that suits you to a “T” as detailed in the article “Facebook Launches Standalone Groups App To Stoke Micro-Sharing”, published Nov 18, 2014 by Josh Constine, Techcrunch.

Even at the expense of your Facebook Newsfeed becoming a ghost town inhabited by News and Science Websites.

Here’s the link:
Facebook Groups App on Google Play Store
Facebook Groups App on Apple iTunes Store



Posted by at 10:15 AM 0 comments

Friday, December 12, 2014

US$490 Apple iPod Classic Revival – Hipsters go Retro for HD Audio Capable Music Player

Remember the Apple iPod Classic that Apple had discontinued selling on the Apple iTunes store?

Some time aback I did a blog article entitled “Apple iPod Classic is Dead as Apple iPhone 6 Rises - Why a US$250 Apple iPod HD Music Player with Streaming Option is Possible” stating that Apple might have plans to upgrade the Apple iPod Classic with more memory to a HD Music Player.

Well it looks like the fans of this retro 160GB player that’s capable of playing HD Audio might be getting a second life on Amazon for US$490 as reported in the article “Fans scramble for iPod Classic, the music player Apple killed off”, published Saturday 6 December 2014 16.49 GMT by Paul Gallagher, The UK Guardian.



Looks like we have another produce revival on our hands like the Flip phones that Vogue's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour helped to bring back as per my analysis in my blog article entitled
“Celebrities Return of the Flip Phones - Flip-Force Awakening Thanks to Fappening Herald Smaller Smartphones and Smartwatch phones”.

US$490 Apple iPod Classic Revival – Hipsters go Retro for HD Audio Capable Music Player

The Apple iPod, mostly used or in rare cases new, unopened 7th Generation devices, isn't too bad for a HD Audio-capable Player. It's pricier than the Apple iPod Touch at US$490 on Amazon, which recently got a price drop on Thursday June 26th 2014 as explained in my blog article entitled “Apple iPod Touch gets Price Drop as Apple Acquires Beats Electronics to jumpstart Streaming”.




Still at 160GB, it's larger than the pricier US$700 Sony Walkman NWXZ-ZX1 that's still in East Asia and stores only 128GB as noted in my blog article entitled “US$700 Sony Walkman NWXZ-ZX1 – Trend towards HD Audio in Asia and Japan will make it sell in the US of A”? 160GB can store the following:

1.      40,000 songs
2.      25,000 photos

The Apple iPod Classic is also a marathon Music Player that the hipster crowd will love when full charged:

1.      200 hours of video
2.      36 hours of music playback
3.      6 hours of video playback

I suspect that's partly due to the fact that it doesn’t have a massive screen.

At 2.5-inch, it's colour 320 x 240 pixel resolution LCD with LED backlight uses less power than the ginormous Apple iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 6 Plus that cost far more as noted in my blog article entitled “Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus - No Sapphire Screen but 128GB Storage and NFC-powered Apple Pay in Apple's Biggest iPhone Launch”.

So why doesn’t Apple just upgrade the Apple iPod to a streaming device or at least market it as a HD Audio player? Parts and the cost to upgrade, says Apple CEO Tim Cook as per the article “Discontinued iPod Classic Sells on Amazon”, published December 10, 2014 11:12am EST By Stephanie Mlot, PC Magazine.

For those of you still loving the Apple iPod Classic like a flip phone, check out the links below on Ebay or Amazon to get a slice of Apple history before the price goes up and they become museum-only pieces of Technology from the company that Thinks different.

Here's the link
Apple iPod classic (160GB) (Black) (7th Generation) MP3/MP4 Player on Amazon
iPod Classic 160GB 7th Generation on Ebay  



Posted by at 4:16 PM 0 comments
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