A coupla Sundays ago, Bubba and I saw Manila in a whole different light.  Actually, it was more like in black and white.  Intramuros-Manila Tour Connoisseur, Carlos Celdran, led a group of bloggers around Manila with photographs of Teodulo Protomartir in hand… more accurately he had a Samsung Galaxy Tab on his hand.  Father of Philippine photography Teodulo Protomartir’s photographs were saved inside the Tab.  Cool right?       

There were at least 100 photographs from Protomartirs’ post-war Manila collection and Carlos Celdran toured us around Manila to locate where this series of photos were taken.  It was so uncanny how some of the photos of the old places, streets and buildings still stand in Manila today.  The Samsung Galaxy Tab’s 7-inch TFT-LCD displayed the black and white photos of Old Manila and Carlos Celdran compared it to the Manila we know now. 

To better appreciate the photos as well as features of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Samsung provided each cluster their own Samsung portable tablet to tinker and get acquainted with.  Despite carrying a Longchamp le pliage tote bag –where I conveniently dump all my stuff that’s why it’s so heavy, and a Canon DSLR around my neck, I found it fairly easy to lug around the 380g Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Riding the tour bus from one part of Manila to the next, Carlos took the helm in explaining the history of a particular place.  He was aided by his visual PowerPoint presentation from the Samsung Tab plugged to the onboard TV.  He also walked us through the functions and applications found in the Tab.

The Baroque-style Malate Church was one of our first stops.  I was able to take several photos from the built-in camera of the Samsung Galaxy Tab.  The rear-facing camera captures still images and videos that people-on-the-go can simply edit, upload and share, all without any hassle.  And that’s what most of us did.  Kate was busy updating her Facebook status, Plurk and Twitter with the ongoings of the tour.   

When we needed to figure out something, Carlos readily lent support showing us how to access the Facebook App and upload photos or trigger the search engine of Google web page.  Supporting the latest Adobe Flash Player 10.1, the Samsung GALAXY Tab fully supports swift, seamless viewing of every single page of the web.  I even viewed the Between Bites website (www.janedchua.com) in the Samsung Galaxy Tab and happily read through the comments I got that weekend.

Carlos Celdran with the Manila street folks!  So cute!

I swiftly logged in too to my Gmail, checked new emails, and responded to some.  As online content explodes, the Samsung GALAXY Tab seems to be a great portable solution for every lifestyle that needs a constant connection.  One thing I forgot to try is to attempt blogging in my WordPress account using the Samsung Galaxy Tab.  

The Samsung GALAXY Tab brings together all of Samsung’s leading innovations to provide users with more capabilities while on the move.  Consumers are able to experience PC-like web-browsing and enjoy all forms of multimedia content on the perfectly sized 7-inch display, wherever they go.  Moreover, users can continuously communicate via e-mail, voice and video call, SMS/MMS or social network with the optimized user interface.  It also has the front-facing camera that allows face-to-face video telephony over 3G.

Carlos occasionally bellowed, “WALK this way please!”

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Rizal Park

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With 3G HSPA connectivity, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth® 3.0, the Samsung GALAXY Tab enhances users’ mobile communication on a whole new level. Video conferencing and push email on the large 7-inch display make communication more smooth and efficient. For voice telephony, the Samsung GALAXY Tab turns out to be a perfect speakerphone on the desk, or a mobile phone on the move via Bluetooth® headset.

The ‘Readers Hub,’ Samsung’s unique e-reading application, provides easy access to a vast digital library – from classical literature to the latest bestsellers and reference materials. At the same time, Samsung unveils ‘Media Hub,’ a gateway to a world of films and videos, and ‘Music Hub,’ an application giving access to a wide range of music tunes.  HD video contents are supported by a wide range of multimedia formats (DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264 and more), which maximizes the joy of viewing entertainment.

This is me looking at the PDI (Philippine Daily Inquirer) e-newspaper and UNO’s e-magazine.  LCD display delivers exciting mobile experience for e-reading or sharing documents, and even watching films or viewing pictures.

Compared to the competitor (where I got to press the button twice to see which applications are currently open), the Samsung Galaxy Tab has a status bar on top of the display to keep tabs on which apps/programs are being used.  Keep things more organized in my point of view. 

The Tab has a 16G/32G internal memory and can expand to another 32G using a MicroSD in the external memory slot.  The tour lasted 4 hours and the Tab didn’t even show any sign of battery weakness.  With 4,000mAh battery, it can supposedly play a 7-hour movie. 

The Walking Tour with Carlos Celdran closed with a scrumptious brunch at the historic Manila Hotel.  I remember lovingly how Papa used to bring us to Manila Hotel’s Tap Room for some family bonding time over lounge music and cocktail drinks.

Fritz showing me his new lens!

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If you’re thinking of gifting someone who loves media mobility this Christmas, the Samsung Galaxy Tab (Model: GT-P1000) is currently priced at Php 34,990.

Thanks to Fritz for this photo! 

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is really such a HOT item.  Popular tech blogger and good friend, Jayvee Fernandez, even launched a contest where he gave away a Samsung Tab a few weeks back and garnered close to 700 entries.  I guess people want their hands on the Samsung Galaxy Tab. 

Thanks to Odette of Samsung Philippines and Carlos Celdran for a wonderful tour!