Philippine-designed e-sports car to ‘soothe range anxiety’

By: Tessa R. Salazar
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:01 pm | Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 

CAR TRADE SHOW. A Specialty Equipment Market
Association (SEMA) trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada
on Nov. 4, 2010 showed attendees visiting the
General Motors booth to look inside a 2011 Chevrolet
Corvette Z06X track concept car. This year, the
Philippines is a participant in the four-day event
starting November 1 also in Las Vegas, Nevada where a
prototype all-electric sports grand touring car
designed and engineered by a team of Filipinos will be

unveiled. AFP

Not all sports cars are created equal. Now, with recent developments in alternative fuels, the inequality widens some more.

A prototype all-electric sports grand touring car has been designed and engineered here in the Philippines by a team of Filipinos and is hoped to create quite a stir when it unveils at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada in November 1-4.

Named GT111, its electric power is estimated to give it a top speed of 250 kph and an acceleration of 0 to 100 kph in 5 seconds. Its 250 horses can go as high as 800 hp, depending on the owner’s preference. And being an electric car, it has lots and lots of torque, up to 320 lb/ft available from zero rpm. How’s that for an electrifying ride?

Jan Kierulf, president of Michel Motorsport, the local team responsible for the electric sports car, confirmed to Inquirer Motoring that the project has been a cross-continental effort involving various developments from different countries.

“The conceptual objective, design, pre-engineering through manufacturability project management, and business planning is Filipino. The chassis and suspension and vehicle standards collaboration is with a British partner. The electric power train development is United States,” he said.

Kierulf added that though the initial market penetration has been set for continental Europe, “we thought it best that we join SEMA to get a feel of the US market and also to hook up with potential industry partners at the same time. We joined SEMA for whatever exposure it can generate. It is an exercise in immersion, we dive right there and swim with the industry players and somehow see where the niche is for the car and for our company Michel Motorsport.”

He added that the car his team will be featuring at SEMA will be powered by a liquid-cooled electric AC motor.

“The car is manufactured to be light and promises to deliver the much-sought-after performance and driving range. The power is scalable, and can go as high as 800 hp, depending on what the customer orders. It can be configured to have two inboard direct drive rear mounted motors or can be configured to be powered in all four wheels. The objective of the car project is to establish three things: exceptional design, performance, and robustness/reliability. We want the car and the brand to be equated to this attributes early on at the onset,” Kierulf said.

Christopher Lacson, the designer at Michel Motorsport, said that the pre-production electric prototype car has an impressive estimated 5-second bracket if run from 0 to 100 kph.

Lacson added that the GT111 will be equipped with a range extender device to soothe the “range anxiety” (of sports car aficionados). The liquid cooled e-motor, he explained, is one of the most powerful of its kind, and waterproof.

Retro-modern design

Its design parameter is both recognizable and completely new. Lacson, who graduated from the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, said that it includes making the outline of the car familiar and retro modern with retro flourishes and feel.

Lacson said that the GT111 has a “wide stance with an attitude, fierce but not mad, and purposeful.” He added that it has the styling cues of Maserati, Ferrari and other retro GT cars.

Lacson elaborates on the design and layout of the drivetrain, which is similar with the typical drivetrain layout of sports GT cars with the 5-speed gearbox. Its engine is situated in front.

Purposefully on the map

Kierulf, who despite the name clarified that he was Filipino, said, “At the onset we decided that the company, Michel Motorsport, should take on a project that would strive to put the Philippines on the world automotive scene but in a careful and logical way. The electric car has been primarily a program that by definition is high risk and we knew full well that it might not give us any immediate returns on investment. So each facet of a vehicle business program should be assessed and carefully planned.”

“The car is a positive contribution to the Philippine automotive industry, for whatever it is worth, whether to make our country known for design competency or for innovative and cost effective prototyping abilities, or for project management skills in vehicle development or simply to make us known for our passion for cars as a country or as a nationality. The car is commercially viable. The greatest compliment is if the car gets bought and cherished enough by its owners that they form car clubs of it,” he added.

NTC orders cut in text charges

By: Daxim L. Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer  
12:19 am | Monday, October 31st, 2011


Mobile phone users can expect lower and more affordable rates for their short messaging service (SMS) with the approval by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) of a reduction in the interconnection charge for text messaging.

Through Memorandum Circular No. 02-10-2011 issued on Oct. 24, 2011, the NTC ordered that the interconnection charge for SMS between two separate telecommunications networks should not exceed 15 centavos per SMS.

With the enactment of the new rate, the interconnection cost of SMS will be cut by 20 centavos from the prevailing rate of 35 centavos per SMS.

According to NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, the new SMS interconnection rate was in line with the provisions of the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines, which seeks the establishment of fair and reasonable interconnection among public operators and other telecommunications service providers at reasonable and fair cost.

It also complies with Executive Order 546 of 1979 aiming to further reduce telecommunications costs and foster fair competition in the telecommunications industry, Cordoba added.

The NTC chief expressed hope that the reduced SMS interconnection rate will translate to lower retail prices of text messaging service and make the popular telecommunications service more accessible and affordable to a greater number of people throughout the country.

At present, telecommunications entities charge a rate of as low as 10 centavos per text message within their respective networks, but this amount goes up with the addition of the cost of the network receiving the text message, plus the interconnection charge that costs 35 centavos per SMS.

Text messaging service is one of the most widely used means of communications for millions of Filipinos because of its affordability and accessibility, especially for residents of far flung areas where fixed line phone services are unavailable.

Under the same circular, all SMS network providers were also ordered to ensure that they have adequate facilities that would guarantee that 99 percent of text messages reach their destinations within 30 seconds from the time the messages are sent.

Each of the networks involved in the interconnection should provide the interconnection links or circuits required to efficiently and effectively handle their respective SMS traffic.

The telecommunications firms should ensure that adequate termination equipment are in place to quickly connect the interconnection links and circuits to their respective networks.

The NTC memorandum circular will take effect 15 days after its publication, and the new interconnection charge will be imposed not later than 20 days from the effectivity of the circular.

Because of this, telecommunications networks are required to amend their interconnection agreements to meet the requirements of the circular within 10 days from its effectivity.

Cordoba said that the cut in the interconnection charge for text messaging service is one of several policy initiatives enacted by the NTC that would redound to the benefit of millions of consumers through lower and affordable telecommunications costs, better and quality service and new, innovative and consumer-friendly products.

Also under consideration by the regulatory agency are the rules on the 6-second pulse billing that would safeguard the mobile phone users against possible theft and which would bill them based on actual usage.

Mandatory Internet peering, on the other hand, would require Internet service providers (ISPs) to deliver and receive traffic between end-points without passing across the national borders.

http://business.inquirer.net/27609/ntc-orders-cut-in-text-charges

Solons approve bill creating ICT dep’t

Posted on October 27, 2011 10:55:47 PM

THE HOUSE of Representatives has approved on second reading a bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in a bid to develop the ICT sector amid the growth of the business process outsourcing industry.

Under House Bill (HB) 4667, the new agency will take over the telecommunications functions of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC).


The DICT shall be the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing and administrative entity of the government in the promotion and development of the country’s ICT sector.


“The creation of [an] Information and Communications Technology (ICT) department will enhance our competitiveness in the ICT industry and the world. This will mean that the government will have focus in developing the ICT sectors,” Eastern Samar Rep. Ben P. Evardone, vice-chairman of the ICT committee and author of one of the DICT bills, said in an interview.


“This will also make sure that government regulations will be constantly updated to keep up with the trends,” Mr. Evardone added.


Under the proposed law, DICT will assume the communications-related functions of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) and will absorb the Commission on Information and Communications Technology under the Office of the President.


The proposed new department will absorb three DoTC offices, namely: the National Computer Center, the Telecommunications Office and the Communications Planning Service division. It also provides for an electronic government (e-government) fund, which is a special account in the general fund, created specifically for cross-agency government ICT projects. It will be used to support and co-finance projects that enable the government to conduct activities electronically and provide frontline services through the use of emerging technologies.


The bill has long been pushed by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines and the Joint Foreign Chambers who said in its list of priority measures submitted to Congress that the country needs a Cabinet-level department to lead the government efforts in promoting the development of IT and business process outsourcing capabilities.


The counterpart Senate Bill 50 is pending at the committee level. -- Noemi M. Gonzales

http://bit.ly/sOhY4Y 

Prepaid electricity favored, Meralco claims

Posted on October 27, 2011 10:55:24 PM

CUSTOMERS of distribution utility Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) favor prepaid electricity as it is easier to manage the household budget, the company said in a statement yesterday.

“Prepaid and buying ‘tingi’ or sachet is ingrained in the Filipino lifestyle. Many wage earners receive daily or weekly pay, so they would prefer that their expenses -- from mobile to Internet and yes, to electricity -- be also on a ‘tingi’ basis,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, Meralco senior vice-president for Customer Retail Services, in the statement.


Mr. Panlilio added: “This enables [consumers] to bridge the timing of their cash outflows. If this can be made possible, they will avoid the monthly experience of having to pay a one-time big-time amount.”


Meralco based its findings on a consumer analysis research it conducted with General Electric. The survey was done in the second half of this year and had more than 400 respondents.


The survey also showed prepaid electricity could be used as a budgeting tool that will teach household members to save and share expenses.


The power distributor is set to pilot prepaid metering early next year, and will roll out the system on a wide scale later that year.


To avail of the service, Meralco customers will provide vendors a subscriber information number. Vendors will then top up electricity credits through text messaging.


Consumers will be informed through texts as well if the credits have been loaded or if it has already run out. The distributor earlier said it plans to pilot-test smart meters, or meters that work with the prepaid electricity system.


Mr. Panlilio said the study produced “valuable insights about how customers view prepaid electricity and this will guide Meralco in designing the service.”


“We are working hard to be able to satisfy customer needs and we will continue to invest in innovations and customer solution initiatives to make life easier for all Meralco customers,” said Mr. Panlilio.


Meralco’s reported net income rose 26% to P6.09 billion in the first half of the year, from P4.9 billion in the same period last year.


In 2009, Meralco saw a change in management with Manuel V. Pangilinan of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) took over as chief executive of the utility.


Metro Pacific is the local arm of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., which partly owns the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).


Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld. -- Emilia Narni J. David

 http://bit.ly/ua9gXo

New mobile wireless storage device launched

By: Matikas Santos
INQUIRER.net

6:23 pm | Friday, October 28th, 2011

Seagate's newest storage device, the GoFlex
Satellite, features WiFi connectivity for up to three
users to stream multimedia content.

MANILA, Philippines — Why stop at a thousand songs in your pocket when you can put the entire multimedia library of your computer in your pocket?

Seagate, worldwide leader in computer storage devices, has revealed on Thursday its newest storage device, the Seagate GoFlex Satellite. The unveiling was led by BanSeng Teh, senior vice president and managing director of Asia Pacific and Japan region.

Teh unveiled the GoFlex Satellite as a mobile wireless storage device that can store up to 500GB of data and share it through Wi-Fi to up to three mobile devices such as laptops, tablet PCs and smartphones.

500GB is equivalent to about 300 high-definition movies at 1.5GB each, 50,000 music files at 10MB each, or 100,000 photos at 5MB each.

“With GoFlex Satellite, people will be able to carry their entire media library with them without the need for wires or the web,” Teh said.

It is compatible with major operating systems on many mobile devices. For example, a laptop using Microsoft Windows, a smart phone using Google Android and an iPad would all be able to stream and watch three different movies stored in the GoFlex Satellite simultaneously.

Your media library in your computer at home can be synchronized with the GoFlex Satellite so that you can access them anytime from your mobile device. The GoFlex Satellite can also synchronize with multiple media libraries of different computers, including Mac and Windows, and store more content that can be shared.

GoFlex Satellite does not require any setup and can readily be accessed after being taken out of the box. Once switched on, it can easily be searched among the WiFi networks. Simply connect to it and the stored media content can be browsed and played.

The GoFlex Satellite, lower right,
has WiFi connectivity that allows up
to three different mobile devices to
access data stored in it. Also shown
here are an Android phone in the
foreground and an iPad being used
for demonstration.

The GoFlex Satellite has a battery that can last up to 25 hours when on standby, and up to 5 hours when continuously streaming videos. It comes equipped with high-speed USB 3.0 cable, as well as USB 2.0, for synchronizing with computers. It also comes with compact wall charger and car charger.

Also present at the unveiling was Paolo Dy, a film director and cinematographer, who had the privilege of testing the GoFlex Satellite for two months prior to the launch.

He said that it has been a great help in his professional work because he often needed to move large amounts of media files from various devices. Using GoFlex Satellite, he would freely access any of his media files stored in it from any of his devices. He would also share the files to others who are working with him easily.

Teh said that the GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage will become greatly significant as more and more people use mobile computer devices. He cited data from Gartner showing that by 2015, two-thirds of computer devices will be smart phones and tablet PCs.

Since these mobile devices offer only very limited storage space, 27.1 GB to 41.5 GB on the average, Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage device will be of great value to users.

GoFlex Satellite is now available for a suggested retail price of P9,888.

 

http://bit.ly/tHJWwb 

NTC okays landmark PLDT-Digitel deal

By Mary Ann LL. Reyes (The Philippine Star) Updated October 27, 2011 12:00 AM

Manuel V. Pangilinan and
Lance Gokongwei

MANILA, Philippines - One of the country’s most celebrated and contested business deals finally survived its biggest hurdle after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) gave yesterday its “conditional” approval to the acquisition by telecommunications leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) of an initial 51.55 percent stake worth P69.2 billion in Digital Telecommunications Phils. Inc. (Digitel).

The approval, which was handed down exactly six months after PLDT and Digitel filed their joint application, is subject to certain conditions, including the sale of a PLDT subsidiary in a public bidding. Both PLDT and Digitel have signified their acceptance of the conditions contained in the ruling.

PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, in a text message to The STAR, said: “A very good day. Digitel and San Beda championship done. Mission accomplished.”

Pangilinan is financially supporting the San Beda collegiate basketball team which clinched yesterday its back-to-back NCAA championship.

“PLDT is extremely pleased to welcome Digitel to the PLDT Group. PLDT will continue to provide its consumers with the best value in terms of price, quality and range of products and services and we have committed to continue offering ‘unlimited’ type of services in fulfillment of this promise. In addition, Sun Cellular subscribers can benefit from PLDT’s extensive infrastructure and varied service offerings,” he said in a statement.

JG Summit chairman James Go, in a separate statement, pointed out that the transaction ensures that Digitel remains in good hands. “Together, the PLDT-Digitel Group will be well-positioned to compete not only with formidable existing competitors but with well-funded new entrants as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, JG Summit president and CEO Lance Gokongwei, also in a text message to The STAR, said: “We believe that under the ownership of PLDT, we have created a great future for all Digitel and Sun Cellular team members, business partners, and most importantly, customers. We at the JG Summit Group want to continue to provide support and value to the entire PLDT enterprise.”

JG Summit owns the Digitel stake purchased by PLDT. The transaction, which involves the issuance of new PLDT shares, will entitle JG Summit to a board seat in PLDT with an eight percente economic interest.


Globe Telecom, the main oppositor to the PLDT-Digitel deal, through its head of corporate legal services Atty. Froilan Castelo, said the approval of the joint application with condition to divest PLDT’s 10Mhz 3G frequency is a progressive step for the NTC in promoting consumer welfare and fair competition.

He said that given the length of time this deal has been discussed by several authorities in the government, the media, and private sector, the decision of the regulatory body upholds its support to the industry, ensuring equal opportunities among players to compete, and allowing consumers to enjoy quality services from their chosen service provider.

In order to ensure that public interest will not be prejudiced by the sale of Digitel to PLDT, the NTC required PLDT to continue with Digitel’s unlimited call and text messaging services to the public. Digitel is the 100 percent owner of Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc., which owns the Sun Cellular brand.

NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba earlier told The STAR that requiring PLDT to convert Sun Cellular’s “unli” offerings, which are presently only promos and therefore offered for limited periods, into permanent offerings will ensure that public interest will not be prejudiced by the PLDT-Digitel transaction.

Another conditionality imposed is that PLDT will divest itself of subsidiary Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise (CURE), with the latter’s franchise, telecommunications frequencies, and related permits to be later sold through an NTC-supervised competitive public bidding among duly enfranchised and qualified public telecommunication entities (PTEs).

The divestment of CURE, which owns much-sought-after 10 Mhz of 3G frequency in the 2100 band, will follow a plan which is detailed in the NTC decision and was the subject of earlier negotiations between the regulator and PLDT.

Under the plan, CURE will sell its Red Mobile business to PLDT wholly-owned mobile subsidiary Smart Communications consisting of its subscriber base, brand and fixed assets. Smart will then sell all of its rights and interests in CURE whose remaining assets will consist of its congressional franchise, the affected frequency, and related permits.

PLDT will have nine months to effect the orderly migration of CURE’s customers as well as an orderly transfer or CURE’s assets to Smart with the least disruption and degradation of service to CURE’s existing customers. The transition period will be reckoned from the date of promulgation of the decision.

The divestment will be made under the supervision and control of the NTC and will be effected through a competitive bidding among PTEs. A minimum price will be prescribed to allow Smart to recover its investment in acquiring, developing and operating CURE.

In case the actual proceeds from the sale exceed the cost recovery amount, PLDT will pay the NTC as fee for supervising the divestment sale, at least 50 percent of such excess less government fees and taxes payable as a consequence of the sale.

The divestment according to the NTC decision, will be conducted within six months after the transition period provided the decision shall have become final and executory. If the implementation of the sale is delayed by reason of any appeal or legal challenge against the decision, CURE will continue to pay spectrum user’s fee and other related fees which will form part of the cost recovery amount.

The NTC added that while the divestment is pending, the PLDT Group will not use the affected frequency.

The third requirement set by the NTC is that PLDT and Digitel shall continue to provide high quality service to their subscribers/users.

PLDT said that following the NTC’s approval, the parties can now proceed to complete the transaction and allow Digitel to have access to the expertise and resources of the PLDT Group so that Digitel can deliver even better, more expensive, and affordable communications services to its customers.

Meanwhile, PLDT announced that at meetings held yesterday by the respective boards of directors of Digitel and Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. (DMPI), Pangilinan was appointed as chairman while Orlando Vea was appointed as president and chief executive officer.

http://bit.ly/s1MEZH 

Steve Jobs: A genius but a bad, mean manager

1:18 am | Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 

Steve Jobs

WASHINGTON—Apple Inc. cofounder Steve Jobs revolutionized multiple industries with his cutting-edge products but he was not the world’s best manager, according to biographer Walter Isaacson.

Jobs changed the course of personal computing during two stints at Apple and then brought a revolution to the mobile market, but the inspiring genius is known for his hard edges that have often times alienated colleagues and early investors with his my-way-or-the-highway dictums in his quest for perfection.

“He’s not warm and fuzzy … He was not the world’s greatest manager. In fact, he could have been one of the world’s worst managers,” Isaacson said on Sunday in an interview with “60 Minutes” on CBS.

“He was very petulant. He was very brittle. He could be very, very mean to people at times,” Isaacson said of Jobs, who died on October 5 at the age of 56.

“Whether it was to a waitress in a restaurant or to a guy who had stayed up all night coding, he could just really just go at them and say, ‘You’re doing this all wrong. It’s horrible.’ And you’d say, ‘Why did you do that? Why weren’t you nicer?’ And he’d say, ‘I really want to be with people who demand perfection. And this is who I am,”’ the biographer said.

“You know, he was a pretty abrasive, and in some ways, you know, a cantankerous character,” Isaacson said.

Job’s quest for perfection came in part from his adopted father, Paul Jobs, who taught him “how to make great things,” the biographer said of the man who devised the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad during his brilliant career.

“Once they were building a fence. And he said to his father, ‘You got to make the back of the fence that nobody will see just as good looking as the front of the fence,’” Isaacson said. “That will show that you’re dedicated to making something perfect.’”

Brutally honest

Jobs loved to argue but not everyone around him shared that passion, which drove some of his top people away. While his style had yielded breakthrough products, it didn’t make for “great management style,” Isaacson said.

In one of the more than 40 interviews that Jobs had given the biographer, the technology icon said he felt totally comfortable being brutally honest.

“That’s the ante for being in the room. So we’re brutally honest with each other and all of them can tell me they think I’m full of s**t, and I can tell anyone I think they’re full of s**t,” Issacson quoted Jobs as saying. “And we’ve had some rip-roaring arguments where we’re yelling at each other.”

Isaacson’s biography, “Steve Jobs,” which hits bookstores on Monday, reveals that Jobs refused potentially life-saving cancer surgery for nine months, suffered bullying in school, tried various quirky diets as a teenager and exhibited early strange behavior such as staring at others without blinking.

The book is expected to paint an unprecedented, no-holds-barred portrait of a man who famously guarded his privacy fiercely but whose death ignited a global outpouring of grief and tribute.

Attitude toward money

Isaacson said Jobs, despite being worth billions of dollars, lived in a modest house in Palo Alto and was determined not to let money change him.

In a taped interview for the book, Jobs told Isaacson a lot of people had changed at Apple after becoming wealthy.

“A few people went out and bought Rolls-Royces and they bought homes, and their wives got plastic surgery,” Jobs said in the interview.

“I saw these people who were really nice, simple people turn into these bizarro people,” he added. “And I made a promise to myself: ‘I’m not going to let this money ruin my life.’”

‘Magical thinking’

In the CBS interview, Isaacson said that the reality distortion theory that had always been associated with Jobs stemmed from the Apple cofounder’s belief that he was special and that the rules didn’t apply to him.

“He could drive himself by magical thinking,” Isaacson said. “By believing something that the rest of us couldn’t possibly believe, and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.”

After Jobs became ill with pancreatic cancer in 2003, he “no longer wanted to go out, no longer wanted to travel the world,” Isaacson said.

“He would focus on the products,” the biographer said. “He knew the couple of things he wanted to do which was the iPhone and then the iPad.”

Jobs, who has revolutionized the world of personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet, digital publishing and retail stores, would have liked to conquer television as well, according to Isaacson.

“He had a few other visions. He would love to make an easy-to-use television set,” Isaacson said, speaking of Job’s last two-and-a-half years of life.

“But he started focusing on his family again as well. And it was a painful brutal struggle. And he would talk, often to me about the pain.”

God and afterlife

In his final meeting with Isaacson in mid-August, Jobs still held out hope that there might be one new drug that could save him. He also wanted to believe in God and an afterlife.

“Ever since I’ve had cancer, I’ve been thinking about (God) more. And I find myself believing a bit more. Maybe it’s because I want to believe in an afterlife. That when you die, it doesn’t just all disappear,” Isaacson quoted Jobs as saying.

“Then he paused for a second and he said, ‘Yeah, but sometimes I think it’s just like an on-off switch. Click and you’re gone,’” Isaacson said.

“He paused again, and he said: And that’s why I don’t like putting on-off switches on Apple devices.” Reports from Reuters and AFP

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon line virtually breathes fire

By: Paolo G. Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

9:29 pm | Sunday, October 23rd, 2011 

 

Consumers around the world can expect more powerful smartphones and other mobile devices that use up less power to reach the shelves in the years ahead, said Qualcomm, an American telecommunications research and development firm.

As a result, mobile Internet use will grow by leaps and bounds, while mobile devices gain the ability to handle ever more complex applications.

Qualcomm recently launched its Snapdragon line of integrated chipsets optimized for mobile devices. The company believes this new line, which combines a device’s graphics unit, processor and other components into a single chip, will pave the way for the development of new and better devices for the market.

“Devices need to be more responsive. When customers are on the go, they want to access their information and applications as quick as possible,” said Qualcomm country general manager Mantosh Malhotra during a briefing.

“Snapdragon meets this need with fast, powerful processing and high-performance multimedia wireless connectivity and optimized power consumption.”

At the top of the Snapdragon line of chipsets is the S3.

The dual-core S3 has processing speeds of up to 1.5 gigahertz, per core. That’s 50 percent faster than Apple’s Ipad 2.

It is also powerful enough to support 1080p high-definition video playback on a device that can fit in your pocket.

Another standout in the S3’s long list of talents is its ability to support up to 16 megapixels on cellular phones or tablet computers, which are, again, devices that will fit in most pockets.

And because all these capabilities are squeezed in a single component, battery life is no problem. If anything, Malhotra said, battery life has even improved.

“Snapdragon processors make it possible for you to fully enjoy your … smartphone,” he said.

Malhotra says most consumer electronics companies today, excluding Apple, which makes chipsets in house, now use Snapdragon.

These devices include leading brands like Acer, Lenovo, Samsung, Asus and LG.

“There are currently 100-plus Snapdragon-based devices announced with more than 200 Snapdragon-based devices in development, including over 30 tablets,” Malhotra said.

http://bit.ly/nFetBz
 

Mirrorless camera casts brilliant reflection

By: Raquel P. Gomez
Philippine Daily Inquirer

9:30 pm | Sunday, October 23rd, 2011 

 

Pentax has entered the mirrorless interchangeable lens market with its Pentax Q camera, which the Japanese camera maker claims to be the “world’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera system.”

Boasting of 12.4 megapixels and full HD movie recording, the Pentax Q camera is smaller than Sony’s NEX, a camera that previously held the title of “smallest” mirrorless interchangeable lens system as the product fits snugly in the palm of one’s hand.

But Pentax went further with its device. It features a set of lens that is very tiny, and includes prime, fisheye and zoom lenses.

Mounting these lenses is made possible through an even smaller 1/2.3” image sensor—tinier than those used in Micro Four Thirds system of Panasonic GF1 and Olympus Pen cameras and the APS-C system used by Sony in its NEX and Samsung in its NX11.

According to William Sia, president and CEO of SuperEast Asia Enterprise, the local company that distributes Pentax cameras, the new compact camera has Pentax’s new “Q” technology, which represents another evolution in interchangeable lens digital design.

These types of camera have been gaining popularity among consumers, and Pentax is focusing on users who want the versatility and precision of an advanced DSLR in a body that is significantly smaller than other interchangeable lens cameras available in the market today, said Sia.

With the Q system, the camera excels in low light conditions while it significantly reduces noise when using higher sensitive ISO settings.

Though it looks more like a toy DSLR, the Pentax Q has “DSLR shooting modes” such as program, aperture/shutter priority, and metered manual exposure control.

Other features include a variety of creative modes and Smart Effect options that will further enhance photos. Choose from Brilliant Color, Vintage Color, Warm Fade, Bold Monochrome and Water Color, which you can assign to the Q’s quick dial for easy access.

The small and lightweight Pentax Q, which boasts of scratch-resistant magnesium alloy body, retails for P39,999 and comes with a kit lens.

http://technology.inquirer.net/5681/mirrorless-camera-casts-brilliant-reflection/
 

MediaPad: Huawei comes out with world’s slimmest tablet

By: Eugene Araneta
Philippine Daily Inquirer

9:31 pm | Sunday, October 23rd, 2011 

Huawei MediaPad

Creating simple technological devices that will enrich consumers’ lives is the focus of Huawei Device Co.

The company recently gave members of the press a sneak preview of the MediaPad, which it touted to be the world’s smartest, slimmest and lightest tablet.

The Huawei MediaPad is a 7-inch Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet equipped with a dual core 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor for fast response and high performance.

It can provide a rich user experience in a stylish, high-performing and ultra-portable package, measuring just 10.5 mm (0.4 inches) deep and weighing approximately 390 g (0.86 pound).

It features a 7-inch IPS touch screen display with a 1080P full HD video playback. It is fitted with a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and a 5 megapixel auto focus rear-facing camera with HD video recording capabilities.

The MediaPad also supports the faster HSPA+ data connectivity of up to 14.4Mbps and high-speed WiFi 802.11n Internet connectivity feature.

It also supports adobe Flash 10.3, which allows users to enjoy YouTube videos and other flash base content available on the Web.

The MediaPad has a battery life that can last up to six hours of continuous use.

“With the Huawei MediaPad, we are demonstrating yet again that design, functionality and performance are within anyone’s reach. The 7-inch tablet remains the preferred size for portability, and the Android Honeycomb 3.2 is dedicated to enhance the full potential of the tablet. Huawei is very pleased to be the first to offer this package to consumers globally and most especially here in the Philippines,” said Zack Zhangxiang, Device Group Head of Huawei Philippines.

With MediaPad, Huawei Device aims to reach a significant number of its target market, the so-called young social networkers (YSNs).

“YSNs are all around us,” said Emerald Dimapilis, terminal marketing manager of Huawei Device Philippines. “Wherever you are in the world—whether in a bar in New York, a coffee shop in Makati, a beach in Palawan, or a busy street in London—you’ll find groups of YSNs. Progressiveness is the defining characteristic of this group.”

http://technology.inquirer.net/5681/mirrorless-camera-casts-brilliant-reflection/

BayaniStore.com introduces The New Era of the Balikbayan Box

6:20 pm | Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 

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SEATTLE, Wa.— Bayani Store, Inc. (“BayaniStore.com”) announces the launch of its new online store BayaniStore.com which shows all overseas Filipinos (more than 11 million worldwide) that technology has finally streamlined the traditional balikbayan box business. Now, rather than spend time traveling, shopping and packing balikbayan boxes for often delayed and risky shipments, Filipinos can simply go online to this incredibly user-friendly website and click to select all the items they want to send to friends and loved ones back home in the Philippines.  David Patacsil, chief executive officer and founder of BayaniStore.com, explains: “Since I have been in the Balikbayan Box business for almost 20 years, I know the great lengths that we Filipinos go through to help our loved ones back home.  We created this company to help our heroes at every step of the process.  We took a process that takes several months and reduced it to days. Where many Filipinos’ experiences were filled with uncertainty and insecurity, BayaniStore.com brings back the joy of giving and makes it more reliable and secure.”

BayanStore.com enables Filipinos the convenience of shopping online.  They no longer must drive around town going from department store, to grocery store, to hardware store, to electronic store while at the same time spending time and money fighting traffic, waiting in lines, and searching aisles. Now Filipinos can shop anywhere they have an internet connection 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  Online shopping gives people the flexibility to shop from home, the office, or the local coffee shop.

BayaniStore.com ships orders faster and far less expensive than the traditional way.  When sending a balikbayan box the traditional way, one could expect their balikbayan box to take as long as 3 months to arrive and cost upwards of $120 or more per box depending on where the person lives and where it is delivered.  BayaniStore.com only charges one flat fee for standard shipping of 7 to 10 days to anywhere in Luzon.  Many Filipinos send multiple boxes at one time and thus must pay shipping for each box.  A person that orders from BayaniStore.com can order as much as they want without any maximum amounts and just pay one flat shipping fee.

Perhaps the biggest concern that Filipinos have is whether their balikbayan box will arrive in the Philippines intact and damage free.  “BayaniStore.com will never deliver a broken dish, dented can, or an opened electronic box. An order is not complete unless every item is delivered unopened and in good condition and verified by the recipient. No other Balikbayan Box company can make that claim,” promises Mr. Patacsil.  BayaniStore.com does not sell damaged, reconditioned and used products.  All products sold on BayaniStore.com originate from the United States, and thus meet the nation’s highest standards and regulations.

The BayaniStore.com launch elevates the Balikbayan Box industry to a new era, which is more convenient, faster, and more secure, effectively eliminating every obstacle to shopping and shipment from the process.  For more information about BayaniStore.com you may visit http://bayanistore.com/about-us.html or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/bayanistore.

Contacts
Bayani Store, Inc.
Luke Nguyen – Media Department
90 Andover Park West
Tukwila, WA 98188  USA
Luke@bayanistore.com
Telephone: 1-503-880-1635

http://bit.ly/osVzuq

e-books

Pinoy Kasi

By: Michael L. Tan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
9:53 pm | Thursday, October 20th, 2011 

I WOKE up extra early, 4 a.m. instead of 5 a.m. to do this column, and to do some last-minute packing for a trip.

The list of stuff to bring included my Kindle, Amazon’s e-book reading device. I’ve been using the Kindle for two years now and appreciate it much more when I have to travel, which includes just plain commuting in Manila and sitting in the traffic for long stretches.

You can load more than a thousand books into the device, which I have no intention of doing, but even with a few books on it, it’s nice going off on a long trip, even if only from Quezon City to Manila, knowing you won’t run out of things to read.

When I first got the Kindle I brought it to Power Books because I wanted to get a case for it. The store clerks were all intrigued, asking to hold it and to see how it works.  One of them whined, “What will happen now to bookstores?”

I tried to console him: “There are many books which I wouldn’t want to read on a Kindle. Art books, for example, and nature books with lots of photographs.”

The production of e-books has grown rapidly over the last two years, but I’m convinced the bookstores and publishers of “old-fashioned” hard copies of books will remain in business for a long time to come.  I’ll explain the reasons in a while, but first I want to share information on local developments regarding e-books.

Two years ago there were hardly any e-books about the Philippines. That’s changing quickly. Several government institutions have collaborated on an elib.gov.ph offering access to many e-publications, especially on the Philippines. The Inquirer now has an electronic version you can subscribe to through Amazon, and read through the Kindle device or Kindle software.

Over at UP, the new director Neil Garcia has plunged into e-book publishing, launching nine titles a few weeks ago, including my “Revisiting Usog, Pasma, Kulam.” I have a list of the e-books at the end of this article. The e-books were produced by Flipside, a Filipino company.  The books are available through Amazon and can be read through a personal computer or through a Kindle.

Besides Flipside, there’s Vibal Publishing, which has produced several digital titles, including several on Rizal.

Responding to the problem of heavy schoolbags filled with textbooks, La Salle Greenhills has started a pilot program to use an e-tablet or e-book reader with all the textbooks stored inside. Jun Lozada, the whistle-blower on the NBN-ZTE scandal, developed the software when he realized the heavy schoolbags were aggravating his son’s scoliosis. Parents have to shell out P14,500 for the e-tablet.

I have to explain that Kindle is only one of the devices with which you can read e-books. The iPad also functions as an e-book reader. Don’t forget the personal computer can also be used to read these e-books, which is why some people prefer to use tablets, the small laptop computers where you can detach the screen, to read e-books, but go back to the computer to do word processing, spreadsheets and other tasks.

Besides the variety of readers, you have to deal with different formats, from simple “txt” (text) files to the very popular Adobe Acrobat PDF. Kindle uses an “azw” format.

Free e-books

I can’t give all the technicalities around the formats right now. What I did want to write though is the way the e-book explosion has come not just from commercial companies, but from social networks of volunteers who are scanning and making electronic copies of books and then posting these on the Internet, allowing people to download them for free.

One of the oldest groups is Gutenberg.com, which now has thousands of books on its site, including quite a number of Philippine titles. Gutenberg only scans books which are no longer copyrighted, so they have a lot of classics on their site, including for example Rizal’s novels. Scanning books is even more tedious than photocopying, so each of these e-books is a labor of love, so to speak.

Then there are file-sharing sites like library.nu (formerly gigapedia.com) and scribd.com, which are similar to the sites that offer movies and audio recordings except that this e-library posts books, lots of books from the social and natural sciences, medicine, engineering, architecture. Most books are on PDF format.

A few comments now on using an e-book reader.  Remember these devices are still constantly being improved. The Kindle, for example, still can’t handle books that don’t use the Roman alphabet. No Chinese or Japanese books then.

My Kindle broke down after a year and I learned that this was because the screen can’t take too much pressure, for example, wedged in between heavy folders in your bag.

Because it was still under warranty, Amazon replaced it right away. They have a good system for overseas ordering and shipping, whether for a new or replacement device.

For the Kindle, you order books (and subscribe to newspapers and magazines) through the Internet. The Internet connections through the Kindle itself vary depending on where you are in the world, but if they’re slow you can order through your computer and then transfer the file into the Kindle. Keep the wireless on your Kindle off and the device can go for several days without recharging.

The e-book devices have functions like search, bookmark (instead of folding down the corner of the page) and even note-taking. Kindle allows you to put in audio files so you can listen to audiobooks, or play music while reading.

Maybe it’s my age, but I still enjoy books you can hold, turning the pages by hand. It’s really all conditioning and I suspect my kids will take on to the e-books more quickly.  But I’m also certain there will still be bookstores and libraries (real libraries) for a long time to come because when you do read a good e-book, you end up wanting to get the real copy. There was one book on child development that I liked so much I ordered three “real” copies to give to friends.

Here are the first batch of e-books from UP Press and Flipside, which can be ordered from Amazon at prices ranging from $5.99 to $8.99 each. Ian Casocot’s “Beautiful Accidents”; Samuel Tan’s “A History of the Philippines”; Ting Tiongco’s “Surgeons Do Not Cry”; Carljoe Javier’s “Geek Tragedies”; Karl de Mesa’s “Damaged Peoples: Tales of the Gothic-Punk”; Alfred Yuson’s “Hair Trigger Loves”; Angelo Lacuesta’s “Fourteen Love Stories”; Arvin Mangohig’s “The Gaze” and Cristina Hidalgo and Priscelina Legasto’s “Philippine Postcolonial Studies.” Oh, and my book. Good selection. Puera e-usog!

http://opinion.inquirer.net/15705/e-books

Google unveils new mobile search, ad formats

10/20/2011 | 08:15 A

Shortly after unveiling the latest flavor of its Android OS for mobile devices, search giant Google is introducing new mobile search and ad formats.

Mobile ads senior product manager Surojit Chatterjee said the new formats help connect people and businesses in "new, useful and relevant ways."

"We’re bringing the worlds of search and apps together with mobile advertising in a few ways," Chatterjee said in a blog post.

Among the new ad formats are:

Search ads in mobile apps: Custom Search Ads for mobile apps that provide useful and relevant answers, for people searching within a mobile app. Custom Search Ads will also help app developers earn more money to fund their apps and grow their businesses on mobile.

Click to Download: This ad format helps consumers right when they're searching for information about an app, linking them directly to the App Store or Android Marketplace to download. App developers are allowed to include app icons and information about the app in their ad unit so people can make more informed decisions about whether they want to download the app.

Mobile App Extensions: This new, beta ad unit lets businesses use mobile search ads to direct someone to a page within a mobile app already installed on their phone. For example, if someone searches for sneakers on a mobile device, they might see an ad that takes them directly into a cool shopping app they’ve installed on their phone.

Local search ads: Building local context into mobile ads makes them more useful both for both consumers and businesses. Particularly this holiday season, when consumers are using their mobile phones to find a nearby store for last minute gift purchases, this new feature will help connect customers with storefronts.

Circulars, a new ad format that Google began testing with Best Buy and Macy’s earlier this month. When someone clicks on a search or display ad (on desktop, mobile or tablet devices), they may see these engaging ads which contain photos of relevant products and special offers. With a few clicks, people who are at their desk can email that circular to their mobile phones, and later walk into their local store, flash their phone and redeem the offers.

"The exciting thing for mobile users and businesses is that the possibilities for mobile search advertising are nearly endless. We’re looking forward to helping businesses and consumers alike take advantage of this brave new (mobile) world," Chatterjee said. — RSJ, GMA News 

http://bit.ly/n3u107

Google Docs presentations tool gets upgraded

10/19/2011 | 05:01 PM

Search giant Google upgraded this week the presentation tool in its Google Docs productivity suite, beefing it up with faster collaboration and more than 50 new features.

In a blog post, software engineer Steven Saviano said the latest updates round up the suite of overhauled tools in Google Docs. Updated earlier were document, spreadsheet and drawing editors.

“With today’s launch, the Google Docs suite is now built on a single, solid foundation. Now that the groundwork is in place, you can expect more useful and collaborative features, delivered faster than ever before," Saviano said.

But Saviano also reminded users the new presentations use technologies available in newer browsers. Those with older browsers can view but not edit the new presentations, he said.

“Many of the new features were built using technologies that are only available in modern browsers. If you’re using an older browser you’ll be able to view, but not edit, the new presentations," he said.

Saviano said Google Docs has been picking up speed since it gained 60 new features and millions of new users a year and a half ago.

He said the updated Presentations tool has 50 features, many of them having been requested. These include:

• Transitions to move between slides with simple fades or spicier 3D effects
  
• Animations to add emphasis or to make your slides more playful
  
• New themes to create beautiful presentations with distinct visual styles
  
• Drawings to build new designs, layouts, and flowcharts within a presentation
  
• Rich tables with merged cells and more options for adding style to data
  

Saviano said Google is gradually rolling out the new presentations.

But those who want an early start may click on the gear icon in the document list, and select Document settings.

From the editing tab, they can check the box to “Create new presentations using the latest version of the presentation editor." — TJD, GMA News

http://bit.ly/qnRjbA

Taiwan hospital launches cloud-based medical services

10/15/2011 | 01:41 PM

Cloud-based services in health care continued to gain momentum in Taiwan, after a hospital teamed up with a telecom giant there to offer a cloud-based service allowing patients to access medical records and get treatment advice via their mobile devices.

Show Chwan Health Care System and telecom giant Chunghwa Telecom aim to help the hospital reduce costs while improving its efficiency, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

The hospital will also develop smartphone applications that aim to keep patients updated on the latest medical advancements, the CNA report added.

With the system, nurses who make hourly rounds on patients need not bring papers containing the patients’ records, but can instead use tablet computers to access such information.

Even the patients can access their own medical records at home from an online database so they can monitor their own health.

The move is expected to gain momentum next year when another telecom firm, Far Eastone Telecom Co., bared plans to launch a similar online database at participating hospitals.

Far Eastone said it is working with five major hospitals to provide diabetes patients online services.

Its system allows diabetes patients at the five hospitals to upload their latest blood sugar levels anywhere through Internet-connected devices, such that hospital staff can monitor their situation and give them appropriate medical advice. — TJD, GMA News

http://bit.ly/nwZ0za 

From paper clip to microchip

Dante M. Velasco Ph.D. Contributor
Philippine Daily Inquirer  
7:21 pm | Saturday, October 15th, 2011
 

I was writing a speech for a top public official, and it occurred to me that I would illustrate his subject with the value of inventors and inventions to society – and so I looked for a few examples.

My first example was Thomas Edison, who had thousands of patents to his name, and who had the executive and marketing ability to sell and manufacture his inventions.

Then I recalled that I bought a book about inventions, looked for it – and, yes, the book, all of 320 pages, proved to be a treasure trove of inventions in Planet Earth.

The book is aptly titled,  “Who Invented What When,” which thus promises that it has a list of noted inventors, a gallery of earth-shaking or earth-saving inventions, plus useful and interesting accounts about when every invention began and when such invention “saw the light of day and the color money” (my words).

“Seeing the light of day” means the invention had promptly or belatedly been recognized as a useful invention, and the “color of money” tells us if such a created device made money for the inventor, made a millionaire for the “intellectual thief” – or established a multimillion enterprise for the capitalist!

There were sad cases when the inventor died a poor man, while the invention had to wait for market acceptance or for some innovations that will qualify it for mass production.

Who invented the paper clip

“Who invented the paper clip?” is a question invariably asked when talks shift to inventions. I thought this book did not bother with such a simple twisted wire, but I checked the index anyway – and, lo and behold, the account is on page 130 of the book, lumping it with two other important inventions – which explains the title: “The Staple, the Paperclip and the Safety Pin.”

The paper clip inventor, in turns out, was Norwegian inventor Johan Vaaler, who secured a patent in 1899. The book however clarifies that the paper clip that we know now is described by author Ellyard as “double oval Gem model” devised by an English firm also in 1899.  Read, too, the interesting account of the safety pin, which the author wittily says, “usually holds things other than sheets of paper.” We all know that safety pins have many ways of holding garments covering the human anatomy.

What about the most outstanding invention of all time in human history – the microchip? The book credits the development of the “logic chip” to Intel, holder of the patent on the integrated circuit. Intel was asked by Japanese manufacturer Busicom to make a set of integrated circuits to power hand-held calculators.

The job fell on the lap of Employee 12 of Intel, Marcian “Ted” Hoff. With the help of Stan Mazor, Hoff designed what would then become the “microprocessor” or “central processing unit.” The legendary 4004 chip was launched by Intel in 1971.  Other companies had their own innovations in the microchip.

Impact on lives

There are more than 200 inventions in this book, so selected by the author with one criterion: They had impact on people’s lives for the last half of a millennium.

“I concentrated on technologies that have made a real impact on you, on innovations rather than just inventions,” Ellyard says in his introduction.

One that has made quite an impact, especially on the young, is the MP3, which the author describes as “more music in less space.”  MP3 is shorthand for MPEG1 Audio Layer 3.

And MPEG means Moving Picture Expert Group. “Unlike a CD player,” Ellyard adds, “and MP3 player has no moving parts; the data is embedded in a microchip.

Frequently mentioned in the book is Moore’s Law, but is not explained in the book. I checked such a law on the Internet – and here’s the law: “The number of transistors and resistors on a chip doubles every 18 months.”  More information stated that Gordon Moore made this comment in 1965 – and proving Moore to be accurate, Intel placed 1.7 billion transistors on its titanium chip.

We will not bother our readers with more IT discoveries and products, and yet it is enough to say that this book gives us one- or two-page accounts of the inventions – and these are “leads” to other sources for details of such technological breakthroughs.

Some inventions were products of serendipity. One is seeking a solution to something, and then another invention comes out of the experimentation and re-experimentation. The book says: “No one was asking for e-mail when it was devised. Some inventions are, at least initially, solutions in search of a problem –the laser for one. Radar in Britain began as a “death ray.”

This book also makes distinctions about inventions that somehow are credited to one scientist when it was another inventor who came up with it. We have assumed that Edison, for example, invented the device to harness direct current (DVC) and alternating current (AC).

Only the other day, lawyer Arnel Casanova (now CEO of Bases Conversion and Development Authority) said that the inventor of the AC was Croatian-born Nicolas Tesla.

I checked this book, and the account relates that Edison and Tesla disagreed fundamentally over electricity, with Edison committed to DC and Tesla to AC. It turned out Tesla’s AC was simpler. Read about the resulting rivalry between General Electric and Westinghouse, one committed to DC while the other to AC. Well, in this country, there is also this debate on the “AC-DC,” but that is another matter altogether!

Naturally curious

This book will be interesting to the naturally curious creatures, wanting to know every development about and achievement of the individual. This is actually a sequel to Ellyard’s earlier book, “Who Discovered What When.”

This book will also prove handy to speechwriters who want to spice up a speech on human ingenuity, to professors or teachers who want to impress their students about the wealth of information at their fingertips. Or, this book will be useful to people who will realize that Steve Jobs, an impressive inventor, has predecessors back into the last 500 years.

This brings us to the next question: What happens into the next half millennium?  The author has a quick answer: There will be “new and better solutions to our needs.”

“Better” more compact, safer, more convenient or user-friendly, more efficient, using fewer resources, less polluting.

Costs will continue to fall. Gadgets, which were once expensive, will be cheap decades later. Read about the invention of the cellular phone, which the author identifies as “talking while walking.” When the prototype of the cellphone burst into the scene, “it was the size of a brick and weighed a kilogram,” notes the author.

The cellphone prototype is “far short of today’s mobiles that weigh 100 grams or less and able to slip into a pocket.”

I have a cellphone with so many functions that I really could not use. This is the trend, says the author, adding, “There will be fewer devices but more functions in the ones we have.”

The microchip

We earlier talked about the microchip. The book says, the chip will contain much more data than we can ever imagine. Consider this trend that will be true well into so many decades. The trend of “microminiaturization (or now the nanominiaturization) of processors and memories – that cram ever more components – have fallen from about 1000 nanometers (millionths of a millimeter) to around 50 nanometers over several decades.

The number of transistors on a single chip will shortly pass a billion and may reach 10 billion the next decade. Memory sticks will hold as much data as today hard drives.

Driven by advances in optic fibers, lasers, LEDS and other optical devices, IT will be increasingly transformed by “photonics.” This is the use of light in place of electric currents and charges to process, store, and transmit information. These will continue the twin trends of lower costs and greater capacity. (Remember, “photo” as in photosynthesis, using the sun, and “photo” as in photograph using light?)

Our constant worry about inventions was once expressed by John F. Kennedy in his memorable inaugural address, when he said that our invention of “the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace.”

The good news is in the technological forecast of Ellyard, the book author. On the future of inventions and innovations in medical treatment, he predicts that “medicine for prevention, diagnosis and therapy will continue into advance, driven by biotechnology, surgical techniques, monoclonal antibodies, medical electronics and nuclear medicine (which is the use of radioactive materials).”

Yes, octogenarians, they will result in increasing life spans and healthier old age – especially with implantable hearts, pacemakers and hearing devices. These may well be joined, according to the author, by implantable artificial kidneys, pancreases (to deal with diabetes) and vision aids.

No doubt, the world is better off. Our lifespans are longer, our existence is more comfortable.  Pain can be dealt with by pain relievers, and insomnia can be solved by sleeping pills. One friend of mine, however, told me that there must be an invention that will deal with heartaches, and one that can give us peace of mind. Another friend said that this has been available since 2,000 years ago. (dmv.communications@gmail.com)

http://business.inquirer.net/24949/from-paper-clip-to-microchip