Philippine Airlines has announced that they will soon start offering in-flight calling and WiFi internet connection to its passengers for select Airbuses.
These in-flight services are made possible through PAL’s partnership with OnAir, a Geneva-based in-flight telecoms provider. “By mid-year”, passengers of PAL’s Airbus A330-343s and Boeing 777-300ERs will soon be able to make calls and surf the internet during flights.
“As the country’s leading airline, we must enable our passengers to stay in touch during flights. Connectivity is an absolute requirement for today’s travellers,” said Ramon S. Ang, PAL President and Chief Operating Officer.
Now that both Globe and Smart have rolled out their respective LTE networks, both have also offered LTE pricing plans for subscribers. Aside from the iPhone 5, one of the more important devices that you can use to connect to the LTE network is the Huawei E589.
We managed to grab a hold of an openline E589 and used our Globe postpaid nano SIM with it. Unlike the previous pocket WiFi devices from Huawei, the E589 has a unibody design so the internal battery is non-removable.
The device is a bit heavy and much bigger than the previous pocket WiFi we have used in the past. Actually, it already feels like it’s the same size as one of those entry-level Android phones like the Optimus L3 or the Galaxy Pocket.
The SIM card slot is designed for a regular SIM card so you will need to use a nano-SIM cradle when using your nano SIM card.
Huawei E589 specs:
LTE 4G, 3G, 2G multimode
LTE Cat 3
LCD Screen
Download speed up to 100 Mbit / s
Upload speeds up to 50Mbits
LTE 2600/2100/1800/900/DD800 MHz
GSM 800/900/1800/1900 MHz
UMTS 2100/900Mhz
6 hours of battery life
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
up to 32GB via microSD card
113 x 62 x 13.5mm (dimensions)
120g (weight)
We did several runs on Speedtest.net and got these results:
These were all taken using the Huawei E589 running on a Globe postpaid nano-SIM with a desktop PC connected via WiFi that ran/recorded the speed tests.
According to Huawei’s website, the E589 is compatible with both Smart and Globe’s LTE network in the Philippines. Will also try this on a Smart’s SIM and see how it fares.
You can get this Huawei E589 at Hot Gadgets for Php9,800 (see listing here).
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Asus just announced what could be the world’s smallest router. If you look at the device, it looks just like one of their USB to LAN adapter which they include with every Zenbook they ship.
This little device basically makes any wired internet connection into a small WiFi hotspot. This is especially useful when you check into a hotel that only offers wired internet in the rooms. Just plug the RJ45 into the port and it re-transmits the internet connection over WiFi.
Asus WL-330NUL specifications:
Interface: 1 x 100/10Mbps WAN, 1 x USB 2.0
Antenna: 1 x internal
Operating frequency: 2.4GHz
Data rate: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi at up to 150Mbps
Encryption: 64-bit/128-bit WEP, WPA/WPA2-PSK
Management: one click setup and management, WL-330NUL Ultra-Link utility, web-based administration, DHCP server, NAT firewall
Power adapter AC input: 110V-240V (50-60Hz)
USB output: 5V with max 1A current
Dimensions: 6.5cm x 2cm x 1.5cm
Weight: 17.5g
The device is powered via a USB port so you’ll have to plug it into a wall socket (box comes with a wall charger as well). Asus Philippines indicates they will release this locally sometime in February but did not say what the retail price is.
Huawei’s newest iteration of their pocket WiFi is slightly different from the previous ones. The E5151 comes with a built-in LAN port just in case you want to hook it up to a wired line.
In my previous foreign trips, I would always bring with me a Huawei pocket WiFi and a portable WiFi router (like this one). The pocket WiFi is for a local 3G SIM that I normally use to avoid data roaming charges while the portable WiFi router is the one I use to convert hotel wired internet to wireless.
The Huawei E5151 solves that problem by incorporating a full-sized LAN port into the pocket WiFi. So, when I’m outdoors, I’d use the pocket WiFi function but when I’m in the hotel room, I’d hook it up to the hotel’s wired internet connection.
It’s especially useful since my Asus Zenbook Prime and Macbook Air don’t have built-in LAN ports. It also makes it more convenient when you want to connect all your portable devices like smartphones and tablets all at the same time (some hotel’s WiFi network only allows 1 to 3 devices at the same time for each login credentials).
The E5151 has a removable Li-Ion battery that lasts about 5 hours on a full single charge (uses a micro-USB port for charging via laptop or wall socket). It supports HSPA+ networks and can theoretically reach up to 21.6Mbps downlink speeds.
The device is a bit chunkier than the usual pocket WiFis from Huawei, probably because of the LAN port (92.8×63.5×16.3mm dimension).
It doesn’t have an LED display though unlike the E586 but still has a simple LED service indicators instead. However, you can download the iOS or Android app to allow you to manage the settings and monitor resources like signal, battery life and number of connected devices (in this case, the E5151 supports up to 10).
We still don’t have an idea about pricing and local availability but we’ll update this post once we get info from Huawei Philippines (some online stores peg it at $186). We also have a spare unit here that we’ll be giving away to readers too.
I’ve known Western Digital as a storage and HDD company for the longest time so I’m a bit surprised to learn that they have moved into the wireless networking market. The company sent us this WD MyNet N900 Central router to check out.
What makes the WD MyNet N900 Central different from all the other routers we’ve seen and tested is that this model comes with a 2TB Western Digital HDD right inside the box.
While most other high-end routers provide USB ports so you can attached any type of storage to extend and share within your network, the My Net N900 Central already has built-in storage that automatically allows you to share multimedia files and stream content from within your network.
Here’s a quick unboxing and introduction of the device:
From the way it works, it looks like a cross between a WiFi router and a NAS.
The router is a bit larger than the usual ones and also a bit heavier because of the space occupied by the HDD inside the device. The unit sits flat on its belly to give it a stable position and avoid shaking the HDD inside the box.
Go Pro Hero 3, at the back, not included.
At the back side, you have 4 Gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port for your DSL modem and a single USB 2.0 port for attaching a network printer or another portable Western Digital HDD.
The N900 Central also come with dual-band frequencies so both the 2.4GHz and the 5.0GHz bands have a maximum throughput of 450Mbps each for a total of 900Mbps wireles network speed.
Using an app for your iPhone or iPad, you can also access content of the N900 Central remotely (as if you have your own personal, private cloud storage).
The Western Digital MyNet N900 Central was released back in December 13 and is now available in stores with a retail price of Php11,690 (for the 2TB model).
P.S. By the way, we’re also including this in our great gadget giveaway. Check the details here.
