Author: Jay Lagare

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OtterBox Resurgence

otterbox-resurgence-frontiPhones don’t exactly have the best battery life. With normal use, they last me about a day. But with heavy use, which is often, I’d be lucky if they last till the evening. So I considered either a battery case or a power bank to address this limitation. Once, I spotted a Mophie Juice Pack but due to budget considerations I didn’t get it. When I finally decided to, I couldn’t find one anymore. So I settled for a power bank which does work but can sometimes a bit unwieldy and often get left behind. Then last Friday, I was looking at OtterBox cases when I saw the Resurgence. Being an avid OtterBox fan, I immediately got it.

The Resurgence is composed of two pieces. The front piece covers the sides and wraps around the edges giving the screen a slightly raised protective bezel. This protects the screen from direct contact when the phone is face down. The buttons have touch-through covers that are easy to press. Unfortunately, they are a bit loose and rattle when your shake the case. There are ports for the speakers that channel sound to the front. Finally, there are cutouts for the silent switch and the charging button on the back piece. The silent switch is still easily accessible with a finger.

otterbox-resurgence-backThe back piece is a big chunk that holds the battery. There are cutouts for the camera, flash, and silent switch. At the bottom portion, it has an internal Lightning plug, a micro USB port, a through-port for headphones, and the charging button which also acts as a battery level and charging indicator. It is coated with a black smooth material which seems less rubbery and more durable than similar coatings.

To install, you slide the phone inside the back piece and into the Lightning plug. Then you snap the front piece over the phone. The case comes with just a bit of charge from the factory so the first step is to charge using the included micro USB cable. Once charged, you press the charging button to see the battery level. There are four lights arranged around the button which shows the charge level in 25% increments. To charge, you press and hold the button for 3 seconds. To stop charging, you do the same thing.

The whole case fits the iPhone snugly and in fact it is very difficult to remove the phone. It looks quite rugged and could bounce off the floor. In fact, it is military-rated for drop protection (MIL STD 810G-516.6; Do note the Applicability to “ruggedized” consumer products section). So for a rugged battery case, I think it’s pretty good. I like it better than the Mophie Juice Pack though I’m not sure if it’s as rugged as the Mophie Juice Pack Pro.

Now for the bad stuff. The battery, although advertised to give you 2x (as in phone lasts twice as long), so far only get me (starting from below than 10%) to just around 70-80%. Quite frankly, that sucks. I’m hoping a few cycles will result in improvements. Another problem is that the charging button seems to be prone to cracking. Finally, there are quite a few molding imperfections on the casing. They’re small but they’re there. All these is unfortunate as OtterBox has, in the past, been known for quality. It seems the stiff competition is forcing it to cut corners. That’s bad news for both OtterBox and us.

Rating: 3/5

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PLDT and Rocket Internet

Almost a month ago PLDT invested in Rocket Internet, an e-commerce company known primarily for bringing successful US e-commerce ideas outside of the US. An example of their products is Lazada which aims to be the Amazon of Southeast Asia.

Original investors 90.00%
PLDT 10.00%
100.00%

Just a week later, United Internet also invested in Rocket Internet via new shares diluting PLDT’s share. Bummer. But hey, what can you do?

Original investors 80.70%
PLDT 8.60%
United Internet 10.70%
100.00%

Now the Rocket Internet IPO draws near. The IPO will be done via new shares which will further dilute PLDT’s share. Again Bummer. But hey, again what can you do?

Original investors 61.33%
PLDT 6.54%
United Internet 8.13%
Public 24.00%
100.00%

Well, I’m not doing anything. At the moment, that is. So maybe I can see how the IPO will impact PLDT’s value.

min mid max
IPO Price 35.5 39 42.5
Raised value (EUR B) 1.34 1.48 1.61
Existing value (EUR B) 4.26 4.68 5.10
Company Value (EUR B) 5.60 6.15 6.71
PLDT’s shares value (6.79%) 0.37 0.40 0.44
PLDT’s investment 0.333 0.333 0.333
0.03 0.07 0.11
Return 9.95% 20.79% 31.63%
Market Cap (PHP B) @close 9/29 690.00
Market Cap (EUR B) 12.04
Market Cap Impact 0.28% 0.58% 0.87%

It looks like the Rocket Internet investment is good (potentially 9.95-31.63%) but unfortunately it’s just a small part of PLDT’s overall asset portfolio and its post-IPO valuation will have little impact (0.28-0.87%). At the moment, that is.

PLDT’s investment includes strategic partnerships “to drive the development of online and mobile payment solutions in emerging markets” (that’s according to PLDT). That just might deliver dividends in the future that are not (yet) priced in.

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Two iPhones and a Watch

As widely expected, Apple announce the iPhone 6 at their September 9 event. Actually two iPhones. Specifications-wise, they’re actually average. So they’re quite disappointing to some (and always disappointing to Android fans). The features are pretty much normal for other (read: Android) phones. It doesn’t even have QHD (1440×2560) which some Android flagship phones like the LG G3 already have.

But Apple doesn’t usually go for bleeding edge technology for the sake of it. Why go beyond overboard with the pixels per inch (ppi) when you can make just the same (or actually much much more) revenue for less cost (of high-resolution displays). You probably can’t even tell the difference (I know I can’t) when holding the phone at normal usage distance.

Why use new technologies when they’re still unstable and potentially ruin the all-important user experience? Why offer 802.11ac when most installed routers and access points don’t support it? Why offer NFC when there’s no business case and corresponding strategy for it? But now they have Apple Pay, which was announced on the event.

But people are asking for bigger phones because of more media consumption (to quote a friend) and so they delivered a big phone and a bigger phone.

I do hope they will offer a smaller version for us who still like our things small and beautiful. Unfortunately, other than the display size and the NFC, the iPhone 6 and 6 plus are more incremental  improvements. So for now the iPhone 5s neatly fills in the slot for a small phone in the product range. That may show up on next year’s iPhone 6 upgrade or in two years on the iPhone 7 range.

But the big thing during the event was the now classic “one more thing”: the Apple Watch. It’s actually more of a fitness/health monitor with extra functionality which just happens to include telling time. Or you can also say it’s a watch because it watches your fitness/health :P In terms of the target market, it’s quite clear from the photos and videos they used: it is for the fashionable millennial fitness buff. And boy did they nail it!

The Apple Watch offers two case sizes (women’s and men’s), three case materials (stainless steel, aluminum, and gold) and a whole bunch of straps. Strap it on for the gym (or the route) along with the rest of your trendy gym wear, look fab doing your sets, and then go off to work and/or the coffee shop. If you’re still wearing your Apple Watch by then, even better. For Apple. Of course that would depend on the battery life on which Apple was silent. But if it’s better than the generally dismal battery life of most other, if not all, smartwatches, then Apple has a winner.

Most have known, or at least suspected that Apple is not just a hardware company, is not just a software company, but a lifestyle company. If you’re not convinced look at the iPod, the iPhone, U2, the iTunes festival, Beats, and now the Apple Watch which further reinforces that identity.

So a word of advice to Samsung and company: you’re not competing against a phone, you’re competing against a lifestyle. Good luck!

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I’m A Dad Again!

Probably stressed by Jeanne’s surgery and ongoing recuperation, Michelle started getting contractions. Her obstetrician prescribed her a medication but the contractions wouldn’t let up. So she eventually had to be admitted to the High-Risk Pregnancy Unit (HRPU) of the hospital. But after 24 hours and even with all the medications, the contractions still wouldn’t let up.

Finally, the doctor decided to go for an emergency cesarean. Michelle’s dad took my place watching Jeanne while I went to Michelle to prepare for the birth. Unfortunately, I was nursing a cough so I decided not to go into the operating room. I’ll just have to content myself with photos. But unfortunately still, we didn’t have the DSLR with us. And my iPhone just so happened to be low on battery! So I grudgingly give the nurse Michelle’s Note 3 (ugh!) for taking photos of the birth. Oh well.

After a rather lengthy wait, the nurse came in with my daughter, Charlie (that’s shar-lee) Melisande. And again, since I had a cough, I couldn’t hold her in my arms. Still, I’m one happy puppy, or rather, dad!

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Amazon Fire Phone

My first thought when I saw Amazon’s new Fire Phone was it looks like a midrange Android phone. And it is. My second thought was what’s up with all those cameras? What originally was rumored to be a 3D display turned out to be a regular 2D display with Dynamic Perspective which adjusts the display depending on what your head is doing. Kind of like the Kinect. That’s what all those cameras are for. And that’s one of the Fire Phone’s main or at least most visible features.

Then there’s Firefly which seems to be Google Goggles on steroids. Take a picture of pretty much anything and it will be recognized and offered for you to buy. A shopaholic’s dream. There’s also Mayday tech support on demand and a one-year subscription (or extension to existing subscribers) to Amazon Prime.

So why did Amazon come up with a phone? I think it’s because you use a Kindle e-book reader when you’re reading, a Kindle Fire tablet when you’re reading, watching videos, and other tablet stuff, and a Fire TV when you’re in the living room. But these days it is the phone that is with you practically all the time. That means more opportunities to shop. With Firefly. At Amazon. I think that’s really all there is to it.

So will the Fire Phone sell? Jeff Bezos apparently thinks so. He certainly hopes so. Because even if Amazon doesn’t usually plan to make money from its devices, it definitely wants users of those devices to shop at Amazon. And they can’t do that dangerously easy shopping if they don’t buy the Fire Phone.

But aside from easy shopping, which you can do less dangerously elsewhere, what else would make it compelling? As a phone, it’s a midranger and it’s not even really Android. Dynamic Perspective strikes me as a bit gimmicky. Mayday? You shouldn’t need to use it. Personally, I really can’t think of a compelling reason.