I first tried out their prepaid plans, was satisfied with the satisfied then eventually, decided to upgrade to their postpaid plan with unlimited internet browsing for P999.00 monthly. It has been over a year, and gladly, I still get the speed I need for my browsing, downloading and blogging. Sometimes, I can even get up to 2.3 Mbps, much faster than my Bayan DSL connection, which only gives me 0.23Mbps based on Speedtest.net. So even though I got the latter as my home connection, I still can’t get rid of my Smart Bro Plug-it. It serves as my rescue unit when my home connection gets all crappy.

The new Smart Bro Rocket Plug-it promises up to 12Mbps speed. Photo courtesy of Yugatech.com.

I’m a happy subscriber of Smart Bro. I am glad that they are always finding out ways to satisfy us, their customers, even more. Recently, through Yugatech.com, I learned that they are starting to roll out their newest product called Smart Bro Rocket Plug-it. It promises a speed of 12 Mbps and uses a Huawei E353 HSPA+ USB dongle. However, it will be available only for prepaid plans. I do hope they make it available in postpaid soon.

Not so long ago, they also announced their Smart Bro Long Term Evolution (LTE), which received good reviews.

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Since my sister moved here in Manila, I have to get an internet service that is WiFi-router compatible. At first, I applied for Smart WiMax but had to withdraw my application because of poor signal. Then, I got curious of the SkyBroadband 5Mbps plan and immediately applied for their service. Bad news is, they are not yet servicing in my area. So I thought of applying to a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) instead. I thought of PLDT MyDSL first but it should be bundled with a PLDT phone. I do not need a landline at my house so I declined the idea.

What else is left? I tried Bayan DSL. Lola Techie’s TV commercial and their guaranteed 24-hour service (as they claim) are admittedly convincing. So I called their hotline to apply, and the next day, amid Typhoon Falcon’s heavy rains and floods, a representative came to give me my application form the next day. Impressively fast! I paid 899, gave my filled-up application form, and was told to wait 5 days at the most for the installation of my line. I got disappointed however, because the technicians came after 10 days. But I still went on with my application thinking they’d be faster next time.

Finally, my modem was installed. But just to dissatisfy. My newly-installed connection gave me crappy internet within the first 24 hours. I immediately called their hotline and they reasoned that “marumi ang linya” and said they’ve forwarded my complaint to the technicians. It was on the 8th of July. True to their words, their technicians came to check on my problem the following day. They left with no fix to my connection. They told me that the main line was the culprit and assured me that they will immediately notify the office. I gave them 1 day to fix it however I waited for nothing. So I called up their hotline and the customer representative told me that my problem has been dispatched to the technical team. I waited again, and disappointingly, for nothing. So I repeatedly called their hotline, even talked to the supervisor, to burst out my complaint and disgust, but until now, I am paying for non-existing internet connection.

So I think, I’m giving up on Bayan DSL. I could not contain my disappointment already so I had to burst it out. They’re guaranteed 24-hour campaign slogan is a hoax. Bayan DSL, please give us what we deserve.

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Globe claims that it is the fastest broadband stick on-the-go, with maximum download speeds of up to 10Mbps, which pars with Smart Long Term Evolution LTE launched previously by its rival mobile service provider. The 10Mbps is achieved when surfing at an HSPA+ Site. It’s up to 5 times faster than current broadband stick speeds of up to 2 Mbps.

The Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini is available at Surf-All-You-Want Plan 2,199, and includes 200 SMS to Globe/TM monthly. The tattoo stick on-the-go is available within Metro Manila.

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Friendster clicked especially to its Asian audience because of it was first to offer interactive walls and social networking capabilities. It was a forerunner in social networking. It was also the first to offer a customizable profile page where everybody can post creative and glittery layouts, HTML-enabled comments, CSS-customized layouts, etc. Further, the testimonial made the users addictive.

But on May 31, Friendster will be shut down. According to reports, the company will re-focus on “providing entertainment and fun to its predominantly Asian audience.’’ However, users are encouraged to export their Friendster data for future restoration. All files will be deleted by May 31. Friendster promises to be better on its comeback.

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Friendster offered an exporter app for its users to easily back up these data. Friendster Exporter offers three options:

1. You can download your profiles. This tool lets you download a copy of your Friendster Profile to your computer, as a zip file. You can view your profile data by opening ‘index.html’ once the file is downloaded.

This includes the following: basic info (name, date of birth, gender, and ‘About Me’ info), photos, list of your friends or fans (for Fan Profiles), list of pages that you are ‘a fan of’, comments and testimonials, messages in your Inbox, shoutout history and comments to your shoutouts, virtual gifts, treasure chest and list of groups you are a member of. You can either choose the faster download or the slower download, the latter will include your photos. If you opt to use the former, you can separately export your photos.

2. You can separately export your photos. A tool is available that will let you export all your photos directly to other online photo hosting/sharing sites (Flickr, Photobucket and Multiply). Then once the new Friendster become online, you can reupload your photos.

3. You can download your blogs. There is an option to generate a zipped .xml copy of your blog in Friendster which you can export directly to other popular blog sites such as WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress blogs and Blogger/Blogspot.

Apart from the tools officially created by the Friendster, you can also easily download your Friendster photos and transfer them to Facebook.

With Tattoo Torque, subscribers can enjoy the speed range from 6Mbps all the way up to 100Mbps. Every plan comes with a landline plus a Wifi router so you can wirelessly hook up every corner of your home to a single high-speed internet connection. Initially available in the upscale enclaves North and South Forbes, Bel-Air, Urdaneta and Serendra Clusters D&E, this hot new technology has set the bar on web surfing, giving discerning users the hyperspeed connectivity that is exactly what they’ve been looking for.

The Globe Tattoo Torque:
• is open to new subscribers only
• has lock-in period of 24 months
• Requires duly accomplished form, POID, POBA (if installation address is different from billing address)
• requires termination fee of 2 months MSF + P5,000
• has available voice features including call forwarding, caller ID, and phone lock.

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Promo runs from March 4 until April 30, 2011 and is available to all Smart prepaid subscribers with airtime balance below P11.

How to avail of Smart PISO Surf

1. All subscribers who attempt to do mobile browsing even with airtime balance below P11 will be allowed until April 30, 2011.
2. Pricing will only applicable to Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Friendster and other chargeable sites.
3. P1 minimum balance will always be retained. As a result, browsing minutes and deducted airtime will always be 1 minute less or P1 less than the subscribers current airtime balance during the attempted transaction.
4. One time bulk deduction will be applied.
5. Upon subscription expiration, default charging P10/30 will commence if subscriber still has remaining balance.
6. This is not available for Postpaid subscribers.

For more information visit the Smart Piso Surf page.

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I am currently using their SIM-only Plan 999 after upgrading my Smart Bro Prepaid plug-it. I was thankful that an Unlimited Plan was now one of the options because the Smart Bro Prepaid was costly considering that I am using the internet at least 4 hours per day.

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Kaspersky found out a fast-moving Twitter worm that exploits goo.gl targeting unwary users. These truncated links are obscured and users are unaware that these links redirects to a fake anti-virus called ‘Security Shield’ which asks the users to download the said software to disinfect their computers. Similar with other malware, once downloaded it will automatically install the worm.