Take a look at Samsung SGH-U900 aka Soul

Who would refuse an armored soul? This one made by Samsung has been protected just partially with only the front panel and the battery lid made out of metal. The rest of the elements are made of black plastic, which prevents the phone from easily sliding out of your hands. All that is combined with a handy size (4.2 x 1.9 x 0.5 inches (106 x 49.5 x 12.9 mm)) and a well balanced body weighing 4.0 oz (112 g).

The display takes up 2/3 of the upper part of the phone. It supports a resolution up to 240x320 and up to 16 million colors, qualities that ensure fully saturated details and images. Unfortunately, it suffers from the typical for most fashion devices, mirror-like effect, which although giving the phone an additional shine effect, makes it hard to use.

Over it, is located the video calling camera and below, are the large and easy to press soft buttons and the widely advertised „MagicalTouch” pad.

That is a touch sensitive display, which replaces the D-pad, by changing the icons indexing the functions according to the corresponding menu. It has a very good sensibility (which can be adjusted depending on your needs), it can vibrate when touched, and the color of the icons and the effects, which are a part of it, are subjects to customizations (however, according to the manufacturer, red and orange are the same color and are visualized in the same way). Even though at first sight it looks like LG KF600’s InteractPad, its purpose is totally different and there are a few substantial drawbacks:

* First, the buttons in it (the arrow for example) are small and not convenient for use by people with big fingers.
* In contrast to KF600’s InteractPad, which can show less, but bigger and different buttons, the icons on it will always visualize in one of the four directions or the center.
* It only reacts to the touch of skin so you cannot even use it with thin glovers.
* The worst is that the rest of the buttons (the soft ones and the two receivers) are not touch sensitive and you’ll often wish they were, since you’ll get used to touching and not pressing (because of the “MagicalTouch”). Nevertheless, you’ll still have to press them, which will make you feel confused; once pressing, once touching. We expected to quickly get used to the system, but alas it didn’t happen even after a few days.
* The last thing that was annoying is the frequent accidental pressing of icons when opening and closing.


The keyboard is revealed in the bottom part. The rows are divided by protruding elements, and the buttons have a fine relief (on the digits), which couldn’t possibly help you find them by touch only (unless of course you have very sensitive fingers). The top row contents a video calling shortcut (left), the clear button and one for the switch menu (right).

On the right hand side, we have the camera key, which almost can’t be felt when pressed and the microSD slot. The opposite side houses the charger/data cable/handsfree connector and the volume rocker, which should have been positioned higher in order to make it more convenient to use.

On the back of the phone, we find the 5-megapixel camera, equipped with a tiny mirror and an LED flash. To get to the SIM card slot, you need to remove the back lid and the 880 mAh battery.

Overall, Samsung Soul is a very stylish device, and the combination of metal elements with a large mirror-like display would attract anybody’s attention.

FEU's Mac Mac Baracael shot

Bad news for the FEU Tamaraws supporters and fans. FEU's star player Mac Mac Baracael will missed the rest of the season due to an unfortunate event that nearly took his life.

Baracael was shot Thursday night at about 8:20 p.m. at the corner of R. Papa and Nicanor Reyes Streets in Sampaloc while walking with teammates Ryan Cabagnot and Robert Kabe.

They had come from the FEU gym and were on their way home, when a man walked up to them and shot Baracael in the back, the bullet exiting through the cager's chest.

His teammates took him first to Mary Chiiles Hospital, and he was later transferred to the Capitol Medical Center.

Witnesses described the gunman as about 5’-1" tall, wearing a red T-shirt, short pants, and slippers. He also had a backpack.

The rest of the Tamaraws must step up the level of their game in order to compensate for the absence of Mac Mac Baracael. Baracael is their go to guy, now JR Cawaling,Paul Sanga and Marlon Adolfo must show that they can also carry this team.

Let's just hope for the fast recovery of this promising player and maybe next year he'll be back again.

Baracael just did a splendid work on his last game, silencing UST 's main man Jervy Cruz. Who would have thought that it would be his last game of the season.

Watch the related video below.


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Watch The Dark Knight

I've just seen the movie The Dark Knight and I am very impressed of how the film was made. It was full of action and suspense.

Director Christopher Nolan has done a wonderful job of bringing back Batman back to the big screen once again.

Gotham City has a new villain and he's wreaking havoc and creating chaos and that you probably know is The Joker played by the late Heath Ledger. Ledger's acting here is way above exceptional,gives me a chill whenever he appears on the screen. Ledger's Joker gives a new meaning to villain compared to Jack Nicholson's Joker. Ledger's Joker is crazier and really is a menace. Bad thing though,no flashback scene were shown as to where The Joker originated from. Still the performance could give Ledger a nod for Best Supporting Actor.

As for Harvey Dent, also known as the White Knight, He brings balance to the chaotic city of Gotham. The Joker managed to create the bad side in him,thus creating Two Face. The make of Two Face was very impressive, you can see that his eye are moving in the same way with his eye for the normal side of his face.

Batman's new vehicle was outstanding,emerging from the Bat Mobile. The BatCycle or whatever they call it, is a collector item for Batman fanatic.

I won't say anymore, so I'll keep it up as a surprise for you to find out.The Dark Knight is one intelligent film and one of the best summer movie this year.Kudos also to the supporting role of Michael Caine,Gary Oldman,Morgan Freeman and Maggie Glyenhaal.

So watch it now and be entertained.

New Teams for some NBA Players

It looks like NBA teams are getting busy this early. One month after the Celtics bagged the NBA title, there are already a lot of blue chip players who have been traded to other teams.

Elton Brand will surely provide muscle for the 76ers who made a surprise appearance in the playoff last season. Partnering with Iguodala,Miller and Dalembert will give them a fearsome look.

Jermaine O' Neal boost the stock of the Raptors and somehow solidify the frontline of the team. Now the East have their version of the Twin Towers with Chris Bosh and Jermaine O' Neal.

Richard Jefferson has a new team with the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian. Looks like the Nets is gonna sport a new look this coming season.

My favorite team, the Indiana Pacers has seven new players in the team.Good thing they got TJ Ford,Rasho Nesterovic and Jarrett Jack plus two new rookie in the person of Brandon Rush, a 6' 6" swingman who played NCAA 2008 Champion Kansas, and Roy Hibbert a 7-2, 278-pound center, played four seasons at Georgetown, averaging 10.9 ppg and 5.9 rpg.

While the Orlando Magic has acquired the services of Mickael Pietrus to add more depth to their bench.

I'll talk about the Western team on my next post. So Keep it up here.

RESIDENT EVIL 5 trailer will give you goosebump

Check out this latest trailer of Resident Evil 5.

If you think that the first four Resident Evil are pretty scary, think again.

Set in Africa, this game has outstanding visuals, as you can see the colors are faded to give that creepy feeling about the game.

Problem is, we still have to wait for its release.

Syphon FIilter : Logan's Shadow is the best in the series so far

Syphon Filter Logan's Shadow is the heart-pounding sequel to the award winning Dark Mirror. You play as Special Agent Gabe Logan, and during a mission to capture a lethal weapon; you uncover some secrets, and learn that you can't trust anyone.
With your partner missing, you set out in hope to find her, while trying to stop the agency you work for to become corrupt.

Presentation
Syphon Filter Logan's Shadow is presented incredibly well, with nearly no bugs or glitches to speak of, a very sleek and neat looking menu, which is easy to navigate and short loading times. Top work.

Graphics
With some of the best graphics for the PSP to date, Logan's Shadow pushes the PSP's capabilities very hard. The in-game graphics are very good, with no framerate problems or slowdown, but the character models could do with a bit of work, well from a distance anyway. Enemies that are far away look similar to the poor quality that distant ones that Medal Of Honour has. But don't be fooled, Logan's Shadow still offers a very nice and detailed environment. The only slightly disappointing thing is that the online graphics are not quite up to par with the Single Player's, but no biggie.
The movie graphics are another story, they are absolutely incredible, a visual feat on the PSP. They are either equal or very close to the best-looking PS2 games movie graphics.
There are also no glitches to speak of… well at least during my 50+ hours of playing the game, I haven't found any.

Sound
Superb voice acting, and is very close quality with some PS3 games. But the guns don't sound like real guns; they sound more like a little kids toy, which is disappointing. But the noises of when the player moves around is spot on. And this all stays the same while online.

Gameplay
If you have played Dark Mirror, then you will be familiar with the controls, but this time round, Gabe has a few new tricks up his sleeve, including being able to do blind fire and… well I don't want to spoil it for you, so play it and find out. Logan's Shadow offers up pretty much the same experience as Dark Mirror did, but with a few changes. That's not saying that it is a bad thing though, it is still very fun to play. The only big let down here is the very confusing storyline, where you en up wondering which side you are on, good or bad.
Now time to move onto Multiplayer, Logan's Shadow's Multiplayer is again similar to that of Dark Mirror, but this time round it also has a free demo of Syphon Filter Combat Ops, which is a Multiplayer game only, where you can create your own maps, chose where to put guns, crates, barrels, ladders and zip lines, but the actual creation of the maps is very limited, but that's because it is only a demo.

Lasting Appeal
The campaign will last you around 7 hours, but you can always go back to unlock new guns and equipment, which will add another 5-12 hours, depending on how you approach it. Then there is also the very fun Multiplayer that should last for months. And if all that isn't enough, why not have a play around with Combat Ops and test the maps that you create.

Overall
All up, Logan's Shadow succeeds at almost everything it tries , making it the best shooter on the PSP, period.
Lets hope that Gabe's next instalment is as fun and challenging as this one was.

It's UAAP Basketball once again!!!!

College Basketball has always been exciting.

And its the start of the new season of the UAAP ( University Athletic Association of the Philippines )once again. Expect all the eight teams to give out their best to win the country's most prestigious collegiate basketball title.

And for this year, here are my choice teams who will make it to the Final Four.

De La Salle University Green Archers. No doubt about it, DLSU Green Archers have always been in the Final Four except in 2006, where they were banned from the league, but came back with a vengeance last year bagging the title against the unbeaten UE Red Warriors.

Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles.Barely making it to the Finals last year but lost to the eventual Champion DLSU Green Archers, expect the Eagles to soar this year. It will also mark Chris Tiu's final year and I am sure he wants to end it with a title.

Far Eastern University Tamaraws. Although they nearly make it to the Final Four last year with a bunch of Rookies and Sophomore, I believe that this team have already mature and are ready for the big time. Watch out for the 1-2 punch of Mac Baracael and JR Cawaling.

University of the East Red Warriors. Sweeping the elimination round last year but winless in the Finals, the Warriors are raring for a shot once again. Although they are no longer the same team last year with the departure of Mark Borboran and Kelvin Gregorio, still the team remains a potent threat with Elmer Espiritu, Marcy Arellano,Hans Thiele and James Martinez around.

Dark Horse is the University of Santo Tomas Tigers. This team have become unpredictable for the last two years,thanks to main man Jervy Cruz.

It's war in the basketball court.