BPI offers high-tech client-assist service

Saturday, 20 August 2011 17:12 Rizal Raoul Reyes / Correspondent

  

Bank of Philippine Islands officials, led by (from left) Mita Gozar, VP and head of personal interface; Ron Bello, Unibank branches support department head; Nabbie Alejo, SVP and head of consumer-banking group; Jojo Alejo, SVP and chief marketing officer; Dada Trillo, division/southLuzon branches and preferred banking head; and Olga Ang, Makati central area business director, show off the BEA terminals during the launch event held recently. (Roy Domingo)

INNOVATION is part of the corporate culture of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).  As part of its tradition in innovative banking, BPI recently introduced an innovation with a very classy name—BEA, otherwise known as the BPI Express Assist (BEA).

Natividad Alejo, BPI senior vice president and head of the consumer group, said the bank has rolled out BEA as early as the first half of 2010 initially with 10 branches nationwide. After first rollout, 30 BPI branches received their own BEAs.

At the end of 2010, a total of 100 BPI branches have received their own BEA systems.

She said BPI is aiming to install BEA to 500 branches this month in line with the bank’s 160th anniversary.

“BPI has always been known for being a step ahead in terms of innovative banking technologies and pioneering best practices that have become the standard in local banking. BEA was out of BPI’s aim to provide an easier and more convenient banking experience for our clients,” she said.

According to BPI, BEA is the country’s first fully automated transaction assist platform that allows bank customers to enter transaction data and needed service on touch-screen machines to a wide range of transactions including cash and check deposits, withdrawals, bills payments, Bureau of Internal Revenue and Social Security System payments. After finishing the transaction procedures at the BEA, a queue number is generated and customers can sit and relax while waiting for their turn at the teller counter. The transaction is automatically transmitted to the teller, ensuring accuracy as well as reducing processing and waiting time. The queue number is called in an electronic manner, with the number appearing in television screen and showing which teller should the customer go.

Alejo said the bottom line of introducing BEA is to enable customers to conduct transactions in an easy manner.

“BEA not only automates standard bank transactions but, more important, streamlines processes and cuts transaction time for customers. With this, BEA provides customers with a much better banking experience by eliminating long queues at the banking counter, as well as eradicating the need to use deposit, withdrawal and payment slips,” she said.

The introduction of BEA has brought a high degree of convenience to the customers and, at the same, provided the bank a bigger time to cross-sell several BPI products. “This award-winning innovation complements BPI’s thrust to be more flexible, efficient and environment-friendly, as it continues to lift industry standards in the local banking sector today,” she said.

Wincor Nixdorf is the technology partner of BPI in the BEA project.

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Nokia launches its cheapest phones at $30-$35

Associated Press

10:09 pm | Thursday, August 25th, 2011

HELSINKI—Nokia on Thursday unveiled its two cheapest cellphones to date aimed at attracting users in the low-end market as it fights increasing competition from Asian manufacturers.

The Nokia 100 and 101—priced $30 (€20) and $35 (€25) respectively—will be available in the third and fourth quarters of the year.

The launch comes a day after Nokia announced three new mass-market smartphones, including what it called the world’s smallest touch-screen smartphone and one with the world’s brightest display.

The Finland-based company is being increasingly squeezed in the low-end market by Asian manufacturers like ZTE and in the high end by the makers of smartphones like Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberry.

It is hoping to regain momentum with the Windows Phone 7—to be launched later this year—after teaming up with Microsoft, whose Windows Phone operating system will become the main platform for Nokia cellphones.

The three smartphones unveiled Wednesday are based on Symbian technology, seen by some developers as clumsy and dated. It was surpassed by Google’s popular Android as the world’s No. 1 smartphone software at the end of last year, but Nokia said it will continue to develop Symbian products.

The Nokia 100, a basic handset for calls and sending text messages, features a color display with a grid-based menu system and an FM radio.

The Nokia 101 has dual SIM device, enabling users to connect to two different networks to receive calls and messages. It also has an FM radio, integrated MP3 player and supports 16-gigabyte microSD memory cards.

Nokia shares were up 1 percent at €4.20 ($6.06) in afternoon trading in Helsinki.

Based in Espoo near Helsinki, Nokia Corp. employs 132,500 people worldwide. It claims 1.3 billion daily users of its devices, and has said it hopes the partnership with Microsoft will lead to capturing the next billion users to join the Internet in developing growth markets.

NTC sets terms for PLDT-Digitel union

By: Cathy Yamsuan, Paolo G. Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

6:04 am | Thursday, August 25th, 2011

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will likely yield to Globe Telecom’s demand that its rival, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), be stripped of some of its allegedly “excess” radio frequencies before it is allowed to take over Digitel Telecommunications Phil.

NTC, the state telecom regulator, has to greenlight PLDT’s bid to acquire Digitel’s operations for P74.1 billion. Digitel’s parent firm, JG Summit Holdings, earlier set a deadline of Aug. 26 for the completion of the deal.

NTC Deputy Commissioner Carlo Martinez said on Wednesday the three-man commission discussing the possible implications of the PLDT-Digitel deal would try to finalize its decision before the end of the week.

“We’re still trying to determine the conditions that we will impose… to safeguard the interests of consumers,” he told reporters.

Digitel operates mobile brand Sun Cellular, the country’s third-largest telecom company with 15 million subscribers. The deal will give PLDT a 70-percent market share in terms of industry revenues and subscribers.

Globe Telecom, the Ayala-led firm that is opposing PLDT-Digitel deal, earlier called on the NTC to strip PLDT of one of its frequencies in the third-generation (3G) band to avoid creating an imbalance of allocations in favor of one group.

Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO

Agence France-Presse
8:41 am | Thursday, August 25th, 2011

RESIGNED. In this June 7, 2010 file photo, Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds the new iPhone 4 during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Jobs resigned as CEO effective immediately. AP FILE PHOTO

SAN FRANCISCO–Apple’s legendary co-founder and top ideas man Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive Wednesday in a move long expected after he began a dramatic fight with cancer.

In a written statement, Apple, the world’s second most valuable company by market capitalization, announced that chief operating officer Tim Cook would take over as CEO but that Jobs would stay on as chairman of the board.

Jobs is seen as the heart and soul of Apple, with analysts and investors repeatedly expressing concern over how the Cupertino, California-based company will fare without the figure seen as its driving force.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” board member Art Levinson said in a statement.

Apple stock price slid more than five percent to $356.32 in trading that followed news of Jobs’s resignation and it remained to be seen what the market has in store for the company with the opening bell on Thursday.

Gartner analyst Van Baker saw no reason for investors to panic.

“My suspicion is that Apple will do just fine,” Baker told AFP. “There are so many talented people there and Steve’s attention to detail is baked into the culture.”

Jobs will still be around as chairman of the Apple board and the company has product plans mapped, according to the analyst. Apple is expected to launch a fifth-generation iPhone in September or October.

“Apple is an execution monster, and that includes products, supply chain and marketing,” Baker said. “Their roadmap is in place; I’m sure they are already working on the next iPad.”

No reason was given for Job’s resignation, but his health problems, including a lengthy medical leave for a liver transplant in 2009 and his gaunt appearances at public events, fueled speculation he would have to give up the everyday running of the company he co-founded in 1976.

Cook ran Apple when Jobs went on medical leave and has essentially been running day-to-day operations since early this year with the company racking up record revenue and profit.

“The board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” Levinson said.

“Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does,” Levinson continued.

Cook was previously responsible for Apple’s worldwide sales and operations, including management of the supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries.

Jobs is a living legend in Silicon Valley. He is the beloved visionary behind the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad as well as the iTunes online shop.

Born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco to a single mother and adopted by a couple in nearby Mountain View at barely a week old, he grew up among the orchards that would one day become the technology hub known as Silicon Valley.

Jobs was 21 and Steve Wozniak 26 when they founded Apple Computer in the garage of Jobs’s family home in 1976.

While Microsoft licensed its software to computer makers that cranked out machines priced for the masses, Apple kept its technology private and catered to people willing to pay for superior performance and design.

Under Jobs, the company introduced its first Apple computers and then the Macintosh, which became wildly popular in the 1980s.

Jobs was elevated to idol status by ranks of Macintosh computer devotees, many of whom saw themselves as a sort of rebel alliance opposing the powerful empire Microsoft built with its ubiquitous Windows operating systems.

Jobs left Apple in 1985 after an internal power struggle and started NeXT Computer company specializing in sophisticated workstations for businesses.

He co-founded Academy-Award-winning Pixar in 1986 from a former Lucasfilm computer graphics unit that he reportedly bought from movie industry titan George Lucas for $10 million.

Apple’s luster faded after Jobs left the company, but they reconciled in 1996 with Apple buying NeXT for 429 million dollars and Jobs ascending once again to the Apple throne.

Since then, Apple has gone from strength to strength as Jobs revamped the Macintosh line, revolutionizing modern culture and launching a “post-PC era” in which personal computers give way to smart mobile gadgets.

ERC preparing for start of open access on Dec. 26

By: Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer  
9:32 pm | Friday, August 26th, 2011

The Energy Regulatory Commission has started giving out certificates to more than 500 qualified entities that will be allowed to participate in the open access scheme, which will be in place starting Dec. 26.

The so-called “contestable customers” are composed of entities that consume 1.5 megawatts and up monthly over the past year.

According to ERC executive director Francis Saturnino Juan, the ERC is still monitoring and evaluating customers that consume 1MW to 1.4 MW of electricity monthly as to whether they will be able to meet the threshold.

Under the open access system, large power users will be able to choose their own power suppliers.

Juan said in an interview that while the Commission had yet to thresh out certain issues and put in place the necessary mechanisms to have the open access scheme ready for implementation, they were sticking with the Dec. 26 schedule.

Juan said the ERC was not keen on extending the date it had set for start of the open access and retail competition regime, even as the Department of Energy already said that it might not be able to meet all the requirements by then.

Juan earlier made an assurance that the ERC was taking note of the issues that needed to be addressed and the other requirements, including the IT infrastructure for the system, before the actual implementation of open access.

“The commission is also looking at schemes on how to address the issues. It has even created a technical working group to discuss and coordinate with the DOE and other concerned energy stakeholders regarding all these issues,” Juan explained.

High tech galore at PLDT and Smart’s ‘Jump’

By: Karen Boncocan
INQUIRER.net
5:10 pm | Monday, August 15th, 2011

PLDT and Smart launched the first “Jump” experience center which carries the latest in technologies being offered by the telecommunications firms.

MANILA, Philippines – Two leading telecommunications firms have banded together to create technology hub described to be “the place to go” for those who want to experience the latest technologies first-hand.

Launched last week, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Smart Communications, Inc.’s first “Jump” experience center at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City boasts of the companies’ latest devices, services and technologies.

The center is quite interactive as well, with its three gigantic touchscreen displays that flank its premises to the two multi-touch screens which can accommodate 32 fingers or four people using it simultaneously.

“Jump” also highlights their efforts in bringing to their clients “the best possible service,” said PLDT President and CEO Napoleon Nazareno. He added that the center houses “the newest, coolest gadgets and services that we have to offer to serve the digital and mobile lifestyles of our customers at home, work, and leisure.”

Clients, for instance, may want to try their hand at PLDT’s new Telpad, an android tablet bundled with a broadband and landline service plan, and smartphones and tablets such as the Apple iPad 2, BlackBerry Playbook, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the HTC Sensation.

Meanwhile, those on the hunt for handsets and other devices may also opt to check out several units which have yet to be introduced in the market but are featured at “Jump” like the HTC EVO 3D, Sonny Ericsson Xperia Ray, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, and the NFC-enabled Nokia C7.

Visitors of “Jump” may also try out PLDT’s Fiber to the Home and Smart’s WiMAX and HSPA+ connectivity using their own devices. The two services, which the partner firms consider to be the fastest in wired and wireless internet connections in the country, are used in operating the gadgets on display at the center.

Orlando Vea, Smart’s chief wireless advisor swore by their services showcased at “Jump”, stating that they “constantly upgrade our equipment and our facilities so that we can treat our customers to the latest and the best, each and every time.”

The “Jump” experience center is manned by techno-savvy attendants called the “Jump Squad” who are ready to assist visitors find gadgets and services that match their needs.

Online risks and how to avoid them

abs-cbnNEWS.com

Posted at 08/24/2011 12:31 PM | Updated as of 08/24/2011 12:34 PM

 

MANILA, Philippines - While the Internet can give anyone access to information and entertainment, it may also be dangerous to users, particularly children.

Security software firm Kaspersky Lab made the statement as it identified 4 main threats lurking on the world wide web: e-mail spam, pornographic materials, identity theft and sexual predators.

"Children make extensive use of the Internet such as search engines, social networks and e-mail. All of these are a potential source of threats -- like the distribution of links to phishing or pornographic website as well as adult content spam which may negatively affect a child's psyche and expose the computer to the risk of malware infection," said Kaspersky Lab expert Konstantin Ignatiev.

"Even general searches can throw up completely unexpected results," he added.

According to Ignatiev, cybercriminals can use techniques to push unwanted or dangerous links to the top of search results, send an invitation to meet up via social networks, or design fake websites to obtain usernames and passwords.

"Using social networks today is a huge risk for children, since they do not have sufficient life experience to reliably distinguish between the fake and the genuine. Parents should never forget this," he said.

"[People] should just be as careful on social networks and the Internet as they should be in real life."

Ignatiev then gave these tips on how to avoid online risks:

1. Never make your addresses, telephone numbers or other contact information public, or send that information to a stranger by e-mail, via a social network or by chat. Don't agree to meet a stranger in person. Ignore these invitations and cut off communication with anyone who insists on meeting.

2. Never publish your e-mail address on any forums, community websites or social networks as this can be used by spammers to send unwanted e-mail. Don't click on links in messages from strangers as these could have been sent by cybercriminals.

3. Do not follow links with tempting offers, such as increasing your account rating or gaining some kind of super-user options on social networks. Often, these messages are sent by scammers or cybercriminals to trick users into visiting a malicious website which will then infect their computers.

4. Don't pay attention to offers of free prizes, easy money or inheritances -- such messages are only sent by scammers.

5. Make sure that computers are installed with legitimate security applications. New malware are created every day and applications are constantly updated with the latest virus or Trojan signatures.

Broadband remains a luxury in emerging markets, says Ovum

Published : Monday, August 22, 2011 00:00
Written by : DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER

MOBILE and fixed broadband service in Philippines remains a luxury for majority of Filipinos despite falling prices, according to Ovum.

In a study, the telecom analyst found that while prices in most markets fell from 2010, broadband still was beyond the reach of the vast majority of emerging market consumers.

Ovum studied broadband prices in 19 emerging markets, including the Philippines, to see what has changed from its last look in 2010.

“This lack of affordability is a major inhibitor to unlocking the growth potential in these markets,” Ovum said.

The study found that the Philippines and Malaysia had the lowest broadband tariffs, but affordability remains an issue for consumers.

Entry-level worldwide interoperability for microwave access services in the Philippines cost as much as $223 per year for wi-tribe.

Globe Telecom’s entry-level high speed packet access service was the most affordable in the Philippines, costing $1.28 per 100 megabytes.

Ovum said the broadband services using HSPA technology were the cheapest option for entry-level users, with an average global price of $223 per year.

While this was cheaper than entry-level broadband services based on digital subscriber line and WiMAX technologies, HSPA packages had a lower data allowance.

Overall, entry-level DSL packages offered the best value for emerging market consumers.

“Demand for broadband services in emerging markets continues to be stifled by high prices. In some countries, broadband pricing was double or triple the price of an equivalent service in a more developed market,” Richard Hurst, Ovum senior analyst said.

Hurst said lower gross domestic product per capita in most emerging markets meant that broadband was only available to the highest socioeconomic groups.

“While prices remain high, we expect them to fall slightly in the short-term. Network operators and service providers will reduce their prices and introduce packages to improve affordability and stimulate data usage so they can attract more subscribers and drive revenue growth,” Hurst said.

Telecommunication companies in the Philippines are shifting their focus to mobile and fixed line broadband services to squeeze more revenues from their subscribers amid a maturing market and cutthroat competition.

Gamaliel Cordoba, National Telecommunications Commission chief had said that broadband was the next growth area for the industry.

He projected that the number of broadband service subscribers will continue to register three-digit growth in the next two to three years.

Earlier, the NTC issued an order mandating telcos to dislose the minimum broadband speed as well as the service rates and reliability in their offers to consumers.

The order aims to improve the quality of the broadband services in the country.

At end-June, Globe’s broadband subscribers stood at 1.3 million, while Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company had 2.1 million.

Telco officials earlier said the growth of mobile broadband in the country will depend on the affordability of mobile phone handsets. Ovum projected that shipments of mobile broadband-enabled handsets will grow by a compound annual growth rate of 16.7 per cent from 2011 to 2016, to reach 372 million units in Asia Pacific.

“Increasing consumer appetite for smartphones is a major factor in driving the growth in the market for mobile broadband enabled handsets. However, smartphones are not the only story and there will still be growth in non-smart broadband phones, particularly in the emerging markets,” Adam Leach , Ovum principal analyst said. 

Google gulps down mobile giant

Watching IT

By ALLAN D. FRANCISCO

August 22, 2011, 8:00am

 

MANILA, Philippines -- Google's founders said they would never ever be evil. They did not say they would never be huge.

A few days ago, they showed just how big they have become. And they did it in a huge way.

But, as some pundits say, the search giant's latest acquisition move has undeniably shown that it is afflicted with the disease that most other IT companies seem afflicted with: I-want-to-be-Apple syndrome.

While Google has consistently spun its purchase of Motorola as part of its overall efforts to protect the Android mobile ecosystem from patent lawsuit attacks by Apple and Microsoft and their minions, the purchase deal smells of a not so smooth attempt at gaining control of the whole kitchen. The move simply reeks of a Jobsian desire for total control, of everything from software to hardware design and tweaks.

Unsurprisingly, Android handset makers have promptly declared they are remaining loyal to Google's open-source mobile kingdom. They dutifully concurred with the search giant's justification of the Motorola purchase, saying that such a move only strengthens the platform. Never mind that now, Google is directly competing with them for consumers' wallets.

They never pay attention to some industry observers' assertion that Google seems intent on making Android into a less "open-source" platform. Well, people have been known to walk calmly to their places of execution.

Nobody says high-tech companies are immune to such forms of being resigned to whatever fate might bring.


T-Mobile, Next in Line?

The ink had barely dried on the Motorola purchase deal when market pundits began saying that Google emerges from the merger as a possible buyer of US mobile service provider T-Mobile.

What are these so-called analysts ingesting? What are driving them to make such crazy claims? On second thought though, they make sense.

Any corporate giant with greater-than-Jobs ambitions should be bold and ready to throw the dice — even obscenely huge dices bigger than the casino itself.

You want to outdo Apple? Then be ready to go where Apple itself dares not to (at least, not yet). Notorious for being a control freak, Apple owns the whole ecosystem. Hardware, software, and everything else in between belong to Jobs. Of course, third-party app developers believe they own their parts of the iOS environment. They can dream on, and continue taking whatever drugs they might have been taking in.

Anyway, how can another high-tech company out-Apple Apple?

Google's purchase of Motorola paves the way for such bold gambit, one that has previously been an unthinkable move — to buy a mobile network.

That would be like Cherry Mobile buying Globe or Smart, after it had acquired maybe Microsoft Philippines

What travelling light means nowadays (part 2)

Techie Mommy Talks

By JAYE C. BAUTISTA

August 17, 2011, 8:00am

 

MANILA, Philippines -- These days, when we pack for a vacation, we also make sure we throw in some kind of gadget.  I recently came back from a U.S. trip and brought a lappy, 2 phones a Nokia and a dual SIM one.  Got back home without having to use any of those.  Sorta regretted having over packed.  We are guilty of toting phones, iPads, portable games, cameras to whatever. And everyone probably knows the feeling of realizing that they have forgotten their chargers at home.  A sure-fire bummer for one’s vacation, eh?  Let’s continue on where we left off…


Charger/power adaptor

No power is an absolute nightmare for a “gadgeteer.”  When traveling with gadgets, there are a lot of things to remember. This article is a guide to remind you to make a list and check it twice. The PowerFreakz Evolution Solar 2500 charger is a great solution for the traveler as you’ll not only get a wide variety of tips with this, but it also comes with a worldwide power supply adaptor and is chargeable via USB, mains power supply or the sun’s glorious rays. This charger weighs in at 105g and measures 117 x 64 x 14mm.


Watch

Our initial suggestion in terms of a timekeeper is don’t bother to take one but get one but if you need to, the obligatory 50m waterproofing, but the rule of thumb is keep it light and free from protrusions.If you’re planning on doing some serious adventuring, however, water sports for that matter, I strongly advise you look at the Timex Expedition which gets a night-light, digital compass, 100-hour chronograph and all the shock and waterproof qualities you could ever want.


Indestructible case*

Ideal for any small, delicate electronics you may have decided to take with you. Ideal foriPods and the like, the Pelican 1040 could make all the difference.Made of Copolymer Polypropylene, the case is watertight, airtight, crushproof and has an automatic pressure purge valve. *It’s actually destructible.


Knife

A good knife is a must, and you certainly can’t expect to go without it if you’re doing the ourdoorsy trip and traveling by land.  Knives are seen as weapons and will be confiscated at airports. On the presumption you’re not going to be felling trees, making your own base camp or whittling wood to make your own bow and arrow, we reckon the Rucksack from Victorinox will do the job nicely. You not only get a can opener and essential lockable blade, but there’s also that all-important tool for getting stones out of your shoes.

Last but not the least…

Back Up

If you’re carrying a notebook computer or something like that, be sure to BACK UP! Even if you swear to keep it in your sight at all times, you must always back up your files. Accidents and thefts are unpredictable. Sure you could always save up to buy another lappy  but the data on your computer is irreplaceable and you know it.


There’s this thing called Dropbox that you could use. It lets things synchronize on their own all the time. I use the free version and back digital photos onto an external hard drive. External hard drives are quite affordable now and of course there’s USB flash drives. 8/16/32 megs they’re just too darn convenient and affordable to pass.

With technology evolving every second there’s really no need to bring a lot of gadgets on a trip.  For one thing, there’s Smart phones that may very well replace most of your gadgets. If you have a good camera on your phone, youmight choose to leave your camera behind. It may also be a great music player and read/send email as well.

What travelling light means nowadays

Techie Mommy Talks

By JAYE C. BAUTISTA

August 15, 2011, 8:00am

 

MANILA, Philippines -- The world seems to be getting smaller every day, especially for travelers like yours truly.  I love going to new places, immersing myself in new cultures, sights, tastes and ambiance. It gets smaller in the sense that more and more people make it a regular course of action, part of their plans and goals.  But traveling sometimes keeps us away from our regular work grind or for those “Techie addicts”  (Err, guilty!) traveling creates some sort of panic attack.  How do we stay connected while away?  How do we keep abreast of all the online techy action for days or even a couple of hours?

Well, thanks to techy wonder we can all have our just desserts bake it make it and eat it! So long as you pack the right gear you can pretty much go anywhere and still get that all important gadget fix. So, if you’re contemplating your latest adventure, taking another trip abroad and wanna know which tough travel-friendly gadgets to take, get a load of this.

Camera - Have you ever seen a tourist without one? You look around and there’s practically no one without some kind of camera on them.  It’s an essential item to have on any trip! Picking the right one is important too, especially if you're a creative or adventurous type and will most likely expose your camera to non-camera friendly environments. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX5 is right on the money and definitely worth a look;  it's not only slim and portable at just 94 x 56.9 x 17.7mm and a weight of 144g, but it is dustproof, waterproof to 3 meters, freeze-proof to minus 10 degrees C and can withstand drops of around 1.5 meters not to mention taking some pretty decent pics.

Phone - One has the option to take a one with you or not.  Firstly, it's a prime target for thieves and second, you might literally want to get away from it all - including friends and family, so taking a phone won't help. However, they can be handy especially when in a bind. The thing to do nowadays though is to leave your expensive BB’s or iPhones and just buy a cheaper one and get local SIM cards.  This saves on the “moo” allows you to stay in touch locally and if you wanna talk to your folks back home there’s Yahoo Mess or Skype you may do from your lappy at  the hotel or call from a land line using an International phone card. If you're going to be taking it into the wilds then you may wanna go for your classic tough phones like the Sonim XP3 Pro.  It has a large range for you to consider as it not only will take a right battering, but it's got GPS built-in.

Laptop - If you have to take a laptop with you on your travels, I recommend keeping it small, light and, if possible, a little on the battered side. At the very top end - you might want to take a look at the Panasonic Toughbook CF-C1; a hard as nails laptop, which would be ideal for travelling. It's not only relatively light, coming in at 1.69kg, but there's a whole lot of tough spec bundled in, so whatever you're doing it'll be able to take it. Pricey though so on the more practical side, there’s the Asus Eee PC 1015P, which boasts a whopping 13.5 hours mains-free action. Not only that, but along with it is 500GB of online storage spellin  worry-free downloading of pics, videos or anything else you can think of, as it all goes up to the cloud.


(To be continued)


Lemme hear from yah: techiemommy@gmail.com

The wrong uses of tech

Blog-O-Rama

By ANNALYN S. JUSAY

August 22, 2011, 8:00am

 

MANILA, Philippines -- In the hallowed pages of MB Technews, we celebrate  the latest gadgets and advances in the telecommunications infrastructure. But I want to talk today about the opposite. What happens when technology is actually misused and abused by the ordinary Juan? We’re already hearing about criminals preying on their innocent victims in Facebook. And of course we’ve also heard about this mother in the US who tweeted while her toddler-son was drowning.

Yes it’s true, a lot of us are so enamored with technology and can’t live without it even. We think using mobile phones and computers are so routine in our daily lives that we’re oblivious to the addiction we are developing or the negative aura we are projecting to others. Let me share with you my own experience about this matter.

The maid from hell!  I got her through an agency because  wanted an extra person to work in my litte business, a laundry shop. Prior to being employed, I told her that using the cellphone while at work was a no-no. I already saw this in other helpers and didn’t like it one bit. It turns out she would be the worst of them.  Thanks to cheap unlimited calls, she would use phone from 9 p.m. till the wee hours of the morning. The nanny, who shared the room with her, even reported that Maid  Triple X was engaging in phone sex because of the language being heard. After her long telephone calls, she would be too lazy to wake up early in the morning. I finally let go of the maid from hell after a customer texted me to complain about her excessive phone use - a fact which was confirmed by my landlord. It turns out Maid Triple X would even turn on her mobile to speakerphone mode and speak to different men. And in true fashion, when I told maid from hell to pack up because she cannot work sanely anymore without her phone, the first thing she was worried about was her phone charger being left behind.

Then there’s Subject No. 2, a”fourwhore” whom I met in Foursquare.

She isn’t my friend on the site but I noticed her because she seemed like a stalker checking in to places I’ve been to and grabbing my mayorships. The pits happened when she became the mayor of my laundry shop, ousting me in the process. There were even times when we posted shoutouts jabbing at each other and I asked her “how can you be the mayor when you don’t even go here?” To which she replied: “ You don’t know me Annalyn, you don’t know what I can do.” Ewww! I finally had to email Foursquare to ask about blocking her, the Foursquare addict. I am just thankful that the US location-based sharing website heeded my call to ban her from my venue and remind her about the “house rules.”

The rules being the enforcement of mutual respect and no threats or name-calling on another (okay, I called her a fourwhore, LOL).

Dual-role Acer Iconia Smart

Acer intros extra-wide, extra-smart 4.8-inch Android device

August 22, 2011, 8:00am

MANILA, Philippines -- Call it a smartphone. Call it a tablet. Call the new Acer Iconia Smart S300 whatever you want. It’s a device designed to defy categories and break barriers—not to mention, fit in your pocket.

Introduced as the latest in Acer’s line of next-generation touchscreen products, the Acer Iconia Smart is an extra-wide, extra-smart Android-powered device that combines the incredible browsing experience of a tablet computer with the ultra-mobile capabilities of a smartphone. It is the first of its kind, and it certainly looks it: made to turn heads from the get-go, the Iconia Smart sports a slim, stylish exterior that’s polished by a sleek metal unibody cover, curved at the back and brushed with waves of silver or black.

The revolutionary design of the Acer Iconia Smart S300 frames a wide, cinematic 4.8-inch screen as its centerpiece, which—along with stunning 1024 by 480 resolution at 21:9 ratio, plus Flash 10.1 support—has set the tablet and smartphone industries abuzz.

To put it simply, never has this been seen before. Now you can browse the Web and view full pages of your favorite websites without scrolling left and right; you can fit more text into a single screen and read an ebook or an E-mail without zooming in and out; and you can tap and look through photos, videos, apps, games, maps, feeds, and contacts, among other things, without squinting hard then harder.

You can also connect the device to an even bigger screen—say, your plasma TV or computer monitor—using Acer’s Clear.fi DLNA wireless sharing technology or the HDMI port with Dual Display mirroring feature.

The generous screen real estate of the Iconia Smart is complemented by its powerful media playback capabilities. You can, in fact, use the device to watch movies in their original format—something that few, if any, smartphones can accomplish.

Advanced LED lighting technology—the kind used in today’s LCD TVs—makes the display brighter and crisper; Dolby Mobile surround sound technology, meanwhile, makes audio sharper and richer.

The unique form factor of the Acer Iconia Smart S300 gives way to intelligent functionality, making the device simple and easy to use, either as a tablet or as a smartphone. It is powered by the lightning-fast Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system and a Qualcomm 8255 Snapdragon processor; Acer’s elegant and ultra-intuitive user interface, meanwhile, puts you in full control, with each task and app just a tap, drag, swipe, or pinch away.

Supporting these various motion gestures—and fluidly—is a capacitive multi-touchscreen display. The Iconia Smart also includes an integrated 6-axis gyroscrope and accelerometer, the combination of which creates a responsive motion sensing system—and, virtually, a console-quality gaming device.

There’s also a robust set of features that will enhance your productivity whenever you want to get work done—in the office, on the road, or from right at home. Internal storage capacity of 8 GB provides more than enough room for all-important files, multimedia, and apps.

High-speed Internet connectivity, via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, is set with a tap of the finger from the status bar.

A fully featured Android Gingerbread Web browser with Javascript optimization loads fast and easy, displaying your E-mail inbox, bookmarked websites, Google Maps, Facebook News Feed, Twitter links, or favorite YouTube channel on the Iconia Smart’s gorgeous panoramic display.

There are also hundreds of thousands of apps available for download from the Android Market, waiting to be unveiled in their fullscreen glory.

Also built into the Acer Iconia Smart S300 are two cameras. The first is an 8-megapixel snapper at the back of the device, with LED flash, a panorama maker, geotagging features, and HD 720p video recording capability. The second is front-facing, designed for making Internet video calls and shooting self-portraits.

All these make the Acer Iconia Smart S300 a device that’s truly one of a kind. Or, to be more precise, two of a kind: a tablet and a smartphone—only sleeker and wider, smarter and better than the rest of what the mobile industry has to offer.

HP may drop PCs, to buy Autonomy for $11.7B

08/19/2011 | 09:29 AM

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK - Hewlett-Packard Co may spin off the world's largest PC business, part of a wrenching series of moves away from the consumer market, including killing its new tablet and buying British software company Autonomy Corp for as much as $11.7 billion.

The moves underscore the problems plaguing personal computers and devices, HP's core business, and a decade-long search for direction by the original Silicon Valley garage startup, whose "HP Way" was once a model for businesses.

The iconic company associated with the birth of Silicon Valley also plans to kill WebOS-based phones and the TouchPad tablet, which was launched in June but has failed to excite consumers.

HP's third-largest acquisition ever and its potential departure from the PC arena sets in motion a transformation that recalls International Business Machine Corp's overhaul of the last decade.

The barrage of news, which forced HP to announce third-quarter earnings an hour early on Thursday, masked a sharp reduction in HP's estimates for full-year revenue and earnings that sent its shares 6 percent down to a 52-week low. They slid another 10 percent to $26.61 in after-hours trade.

HP Chief Executive Leo Apotheker is responding to mounting pressure to fire up growth just as global economic and tech-spending outlooks darken. Like other PC makers, it is struggling to come up with an answer for Apple Inc's iPhones and iPads, which are gobbling up PC market share.

"HP is at a critical point in its existence and these changes are fundamental to the success we all want," Apotheker told analysts on a conference call.

The announcement is the second this week to show how quickly technology companies are transforming as they jockey for position to cope with radical changes in consumer demand. Google Inc announced on Monday it was buying mobile handset maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, launching the Internet search and mobile software company into manufacturing for the first time.

HP "is saying 'I want to be more like IBM.' They divested their PC business and they got more involved in software," said FBN Securities analyst Shelby Seyrafi.

"The PC industry is a very challenged one because of the slow growth in that sector. For those companies like HP which don't have a strong tablet offering, they are victims of the encroachment of Apple's iPads and tablets on their notebook business. So they're vulnerable to losing share."

The acquisition of cloud search-software specialist Autonomy, which analysts say may draw rival bids, marks its boldest foray into the software and technology services after Apotheker came on board with a mandate to drive innovation.

A PC spinoff marks a historic shift for a company that Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard built into a sprawling $120 billion empire from a $538 garage operation in 1939.

"HP is recognizing what the world has recognized, which is hardware in terms of consumers is not a huge growth business anymore," said Michael Yoshikami, chief executive of YCMNET Advisors, a minor shareholder in HP. "It's not where the money is. It's in keeping with the new CEO's perspective that they want to be more in services and more business oriented."

Leo makes bold move

Speculation has swirled for months that HP was no longer keen on keeping a PC business struggling with low growth and single-digit margins.

Sources told Reuters in June that private equity firms from Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to TPG Capital would like HP to break up and sell them some of its units, arguing that the world's No. 1 PC maker and tech powerhouse is stretched too thin.

Spinning off the PC division, run by personal systems group chief Todd Bradley, would mark one of the biggest makeovers for the company since 1999, when it spun off its measurement and components businesses to form Agilent Technologies.

The moves turn a company that in some ways tried to mimic Apple into a devout follower of IBM, dropping a tablet with innovative software, checking out of the PC business and embracing the software and services Big Blue today embraces.

HP has twisted and turned before, including controversial former CEO Carly Fiorina's acquisition of PC maker Compaq in 2001, which a spinoff would undo.

"If HP spins off their PC business ..., maybe they will call it Compaq?" Dell Inc CEO tweeted after the news emerged.

Some alternatives HP is exploring include hiving off its PC business into a separate company through a spin-off or other transaction that would likely be tax-free to U.S. shareholders. HP expects the process to be completed within 12-18 months.

Apotheker, however, made it clear that its printing unit -- also the target of spinoff speculation -- was very strategic to the company.

Apotheker, a former chief of European software giant SAP AG, had been expected to drive an expansion of the company's relatively small but very profitable software division -- including through major acquisitions.

Cambridge, England-based Autonomy counts Procter & Gamble Co among a long list of major corporate customers that use its software to search and organize unstructured data like emails. It said the offer values its fully diluted share capital at as much as 7.09 billion pounds ($11.7 billion), were a clutch of convertible bonds be exercised. The British firm's CFO, Sushovan Hussain, is on a visit to California, a source told Reuters. [ID:nL6E7IR1CC]

"HP would be buying this as part of a refocus of the business on software," said Tim Daniels, technology, media and telecoms strategist at Olivetree Securities. "Clients now don't have a problem accumulating data, the problem is the structuring of it. Eighty percent of the data on the Web now is unstructured: video, pictures, emails, etc."

Killing the touchpad?

HP's Personal Systems Group also includes smartphones, tablets and the WebOS operating system, pulling in about $41 billion in revenue but only about 13 percent of profit.

HP's decision to discontinue the TouchPad -- which hit the store shelves in July with much costly fanfare -- follows poor demand. It was discounted by $100 a month after it was launched in a market dominated by the iPad. WebOS came with the $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm last year.

"There were also a lot of missteps, such as launching it a month before it was ready and pricing it the same as the iPad 2," said Current Analysis' Avi Greengart. "It was a great operating system. Everybody was pulling for it but a lot of people weren't buying it."

Going forward, HP expects further pressure on its revenue and cut its full-year forecast for the third straight quarter.

HP now expects full-year revenue of $127.2 billion to $127.6 billion, down from a previous estimate of $129 billion to $130 billion. It also cut its earnings per share estimate to a range of $3.59 to $3.70, down from its previous estimate of at least $4.27 per share.

Barclays Capital and Perella Weinberg are advising HP, while Qatalyst Partners, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, UBS and JPMorgan Chase are advising Autonomy.

HP also named John Visentin as executive vice president of its services group. Ann Livermore, former HP Enterprise unit chief who was managing the services unit on an interim basis, will move over to the company's board. — Reuters

DoJ warns public about crimes on Internet

By: Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net

3:41 pm | Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 

 

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Justice (DoJ) issued an advisory warning the public of crimes that can be committed over the Internet.

In its Advisory Opinion No. 5, the DoJ said that “since it is not possible to conduct constant surveillance over the millions of simultaneous Internet users, (they should) be aware of Internet crimes that they should guard themselves against.”

“For law enforcers to be able to focus their attention and resources to Internet crimes of serious gravity, the public should do their part in preventing other Internet crimes that are within their power to detect,” the DoJ advisory opinion stated.

The DoJ issued 10 pointers that the public should follow to prevent cybercrimes:
1  Parents have the responsibility to ensure that their children will not fall victims to Internet crimes.
2  Be ever-cautious and vigilant with private information.
3  Do not trust strangers you meet online.
4  Never part with your money online unless absolutely certain of the legitimacy and integrity of the transaction.
5  Be wary if an offer or advertisement seems too good to be true.
6  Utilize blocking or filtering software to protect children from harmful content.
7  Avail of free educational materials online that provide information on how to protect children from Internet crimes.
8  Consider using debit cards instead of credit cards when making online purchases.
9  Be circumspect in downloading and installing computer programs or even in clicking forwarded links.
10  Help law enforcers curb Internet crimes.

The DoJ noted that there are already laws that provide punishment for various Internet crimes.

However, the public should help law enforcers by being vigilant in the use of the Internet.

The DoJ’s advisory was issued a few days after the Philippine National Police (PNP) launched “Project Angel Net,” a 24/7 operation center and website aimed at fighting online sex predators and cyber bullies.

The website, www.cidgangelnet.ph, will serve as a complaint center where people can directly report incidents of child abuses related to the Internet.

In a 2010 study conducted by Internet security firm Symantec, entitled “The Norton Cybercrime Report: The Human Impart,” it was revealed that around 87 percent of Filipino Internet users have fallen prey one way or another to various kinds of malicious activities through the Internet.

The DoJ advisory noted that any incident of Internet crimes can be reported to the National Bureau of Investigation Computer Crimes Unit at 528-823 1ocal 3455 or the PNP Cybercrime Unit at 7261575.

Smart introduces world’s fastest mobile broadband technology

INQUIRER.net

5:12 pm | Sunday, August 14th, 2011

Long Term Evolution ( LTE) is currently delivering download and upload speeds of up to 50 mbps. In the future, data speeds will be raised up to 100 mbps.

MANILA, Philippines – Cellular leader Smart Communications has introduced to the country what company officials describe as the world’s fastest mobile broadband technology.


Called Long Term Evolution (LTE), this is the latest stage in the development of mobile broadband technology and is popularly referred to as the fourth-generation 4G mobile phone technology.


“LTE promises to raise the quality of mobile broadband services several notches higher compared to earlier technologies,” said Smart’s chief wireless adviser Orlando B. Vea. “This will us help deliver our commitment to bring the Internet – indeed super-fast Internet – to more and more Filipinos.”

In Smart’s network, LTE is currently delivering download and upload speeds of up to 50 mbps. In the future, data speeds will be raised up to 100 mbps.

With LTE, users can download entire movies in minutes, songs in seconds and can view high-definition video seamlessly.

Initially, Smart’s LTE service has been made available in the world-famous island resort of Boracay this Holy Week and will soon be rolled out to other areas. LTE data services can currently be accessed using USB dongles attached to laptops or networks, or, via LTE-powered wireless routers providing WiFi coverage.

LTE belongs to the GSM family of mobile phone technologies that are being used by all three cellular operators in the country.

GSM offers various wireless data services with progressively rising data speeds and capacities. These are GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSPA and HSPA+.  LTE is the latest and most advanced technology platform.

The main advantages of LTE are high throughput, low latency, an improved end-user experience and a simple architecture resulting in low operating costs. LTE is also backward-compatible with existing GSM, 3G and HSPA networks. This enables mobile operators deploying LTE to provide a seamless service across their LTE and previously deployed networks.

With mobile data traffic growing rapidly, operators are accelerating their deployment of LTE, with some foregoing or reducing their use of HSPA and HSPA+ and proceeding directly to LTE.

“The PLDT Group is committed to extending broadband coverage to 95% of the Philippine population in the next three years,” Vea said. “LTE will help us accomplish that goal faster and more effectively.”

According to a recent report from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), there were 17 commercial LTE deployments around the world as of end-2010. These included several in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany, Uzbekistan, Estonia and the United States where Verizon Wireless and Metro PCS Communications have gone commercial with LTE.

In Asia, LTE has been deployed in Hong Kong and Japan, where NTT DoCoMo, a shareholder of Smart’s parent company PLDT, has fired up its 4G network.

The GSA says 180 operators in 70 countries are testing LTE, noting 128 firm commitments to deploy commercial services across 52 countries, and another 52 planned pilots in an 18 countries. About 64 LTE networks should be in service by the end of 2012.

DoJ to buy 1,000 laptops to improve productivity

By: Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net

9:25 pm | Friday, August 12th, 2011

 

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Justice (DoJ) is set to buy 1,000 laptops this year to provide field prosecutors with the needed equipment to improve productivity.

“It is part of the DoJ’s Development Agenda to continue to build capacity and strengthen the institution,” Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said in a statement.

“We will work closely with the Department of Budget and Management and our development partners to ensure that the necessary investments will be made in the justice system,” she added.

The DoJ has conducted a nationwide network assessment of its offices to enable internet connectivity under the governance cluster’s digitization program for transparency and quick delivery of public service.

The department is also set to establish the National Justice Information System, with the technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank, to link the different databases of the justice sector agencies.

Google, Facebook face off in social games

08/12/2011 | 08:29 AM

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook is not the only game in town anymore.

The world's largest Internet social network moved on Thursday to shore up support with game developers such as Zynga, who provide one of Facebook's biggest draws, on the same day that Google Inc introduced games on its recently-launched social network.

With the two Web giants competing to attract users to their respective online services, the dueling social gaming announcements underscored what could emerge as a key battleground between the two companies.

"It turns out that people like to play games, and it's core to the social networking use case," said Jeremy Liew, a partner at venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. Liew, who has invested in social game companies including Playdom, which was acquired by the Walt Disney Co last year, was commenting on Google's games announcement.

On Thursday, Google said it would offer 16 games from third party developers on Google+, including Zynga Poker and the popular Angry Birds game. Google, which previously made an unspecified investment in Zynga, said it will roll out games gradually on Google+, and will make the game feature available to everyone "soon."

Facebook, which is hosting 100 game developers at an event at its Palo Alto. California headquarters on Thursday evening, announced a handful of new features to improve the gaming experience on its website, as well as a new policy loosening restrictions on how developers can market their games on the social network.

The changes will expand the types of notifications that Facebook users see when their friends are playing games on the website, rolling back restrictions made last year that provoked grumbles among some game developers.

Social games, such as Zynga's Farmville, are some of the most popular activities on Facebook. More than 200 million users play games on Facebook every month, and the company takes a 30 percent cut of the sale of virtual goods that are bought by users as part of the game experience.

"Our games ecosystem has continued to grow. But there's no question that we want to grow it faster in a more high quality way for our users and developers," Facebook head of games Sean Ryan told Reuters in an interview.

Google launched its social networking site in June, signing up more than 10 million users in the first two weeks.

Google's move to offer games on its social network provides game developers with a compelling alternative to Facebook, said Lightspeed's Liew.

But he said the most important consideration for game makers is which social network has the most users.

"Right now no one is going to be willing to give up Facebook because it's where the users are Today. Google+ got a terrific start but it's got a ways to go," he said.

Among the new gaming features introduced by Facebook on Thursday are the ability to expand the size of the window in which games are played on Facebook's site, new ways for users to create bookmarks for their favorite games and a scrolling "ticker" that highlights the games a person's friends are playing, their recent scores and achievements.

In loosening restrictions on game updates within Facebook's general newsfeed, the company must walk a fine line between helping developers promote their games on the network and irking users that are not avid gamers.

Facebook's newsfeed - which displays a rolling stream of messages, photos and updates from friends - is a vital distribution channel for gamemakers, allowing companies like Zynga, Electronic Arts Inc's Playfish and Playdom to reach vast numbers of users. But is has caused some backlash among Facebook's non-gaming users, who found the constant notifications about their friends progress within various games to be irrelevant and annoying.

Last year, Facebook clamped down on the practice, so that Facebook users would receive notifications only about games which they had also installed. Under the new policy, Facebook users will see notifications about any game their friends are playing.

But Ryan said the company had developed special algorithms that will only display updates if Facebook has a reason to believe they are relevant to the person. If the person shows no interest in certain types of games, Facebook won't serve them updates in the newsfeed.

"No one wants to go back to the bad old days of people being very unhappy about gaming because they feel like they're being spammed all the time," said Ryan.

"That's the key which we really spent months and months working on, is that tricky balance of trying to expose a lot more games to people, but only to the people who we think want to play those games." — Reuters