I was with my family earlier tonight at the San Miguel by the Bay SM Mall of Asia to witness the lighting of the country’s most energy efficient Christmas tree by Firefly LED with a free mini-concert by The Company.
Category Archives: Technology
Alcatel OneTouch Blaze 990 Review
Alcatel has the distinction of introducing the polyphonic ring tones to the Philippine shores not so long ago. Alcatel is back 100% introducing its line of Android phones. I was given the opportunity to review the Alcatel OneTouch Blaze 990, and here goes:
Specifications:
- Released on Aug 2011
- Display Type: TFT 262k colour landscape display capacitive touch
- Dimensions: 116mm x 62.2mm x 12.2mm
- Weight: 144g
- OS: Android 2.2 (Froyo)
- Processor: 600MHz
- Network & Data Connectivity: 2G / 3G / GSM / HSDPA / 802.11 b/g WiFi & WiFi Hotspot capability / Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP / microUSB v2.0
- Main Camera: 5MP autofocus with LED flash (2592 pixels x 1944 pixels) & geo-tagging
- Battery: Li-Ion 1300 mAh (up to 550 hours standby; up to 06 hours talk time)
ALCATEL is 100% Back in the Philippines
The mobile phone industry in the Philippines has been continuously growing through the years and different brands have competed in bringing consumers the best possible mobile experience and technology they could offer. These brands had proven their worth in the market—one of which is ALCATEL, being the first mobile brand in the country. Though it has been gone for quite some time, today ALCATEL definitely goes 100% back in the Philippines as it offers competitive phones with euro-standard quality and global quality at price points that are real value for money.
History & Company Overview
ALCATEL Mobile Phones, one of the pioneers in the mobile phone industry, was established in France in the 1990’s. It is now present in over 5 continents and 120 countries all over the world and has sold over 36 million phones worldwide in 2010. In 2004, ALCATEL mobile phones partnered with TCL Communications, the largest consumer electronics company in China, to design and manufacture cutting-edge mobile devices with unique user experiences at the best possible market price. Together, it has 6 R&D centers worldwide with over 2,500 engineers at present working on the latest mobile innovations. With its continued growth in 2011, the company rebranded itself to ALCATEL OneTouch to strengthen its product line under the OneTouch series.
Journey to being 100% Back in the Philippines
In 2010, ALCATEL OneTouch re-entered the Philippines with 3 models: OT-305 (an entry level music phone), OT-806D (touch qwerty phone), and OT-980 (first Android 2.1 Smartphone) and has now expanded its phone range to 15 units after 12 months. It has a product distribution from 100 to over 1000 shops in key malls nationwide (Luzon, GMA, Visayas, and Mindanao). In Q3 2011, ALCATEL OneTouch successfully launched their Android 2.2 line of Smartphones under the BLAZE series – held at a press and media launch in Greenhills San Juan Last August 4.
One Touch to 100% Good
The company is committed to providing the best choice for mobile consumers as it offers products that are “one touch to 100% good.” This quarter 4, ALCATEL OneTouch introduces its first brand ambassador Chris Tiu, who is known for giving 100% on and off the court. Three key strengths of ALCATEL OneTouch to being “one touch to 100% Good” are the following:
100% Euro-standard technology
100% Global Quality
100% Kaya mo!
With this campaign, ALCATEL OneTouch is looking forward to delivering more 100% good phone models to Filipino mobile consumers in the coming months.
[Chris Tiu is ALCATEL OneTouch’s newest Brand Ambassador]
By end of the year, the company is targeting to have 15 ALCATEL OneTouch Kiosks in key malls nationwide. Putting customer care as its priority, ALCATEL OneTouch has setup a toll-free customer care hotline number for GMA and over 30 authorized service centers spread out in the Philippines to handle repair and warranty concerns.
ASUS Unveils the ZENBOOK™
Manila, Philippines (October 12, 2011) ― ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih unveiled the long-anticipated ASUS ZENBOOK™ that fuses masterpiece design and incredible performance at a global launch event in New York along with Intel Senior Vice President and General Manager of Sales and Marketing Group, Tom Kilroy. The “Ultra Era” event opened with a vivid, yet tranquil dance to Moon Water featuring a performance artist from the internationally renowned Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. The performance set the tone of the event, to display that the ASUS ZENBOOK™ is designed to be effortlessly enjoyable without compromising on performance. It exudes the perfect balance of elegance and power in an Ultrabook.
Mr. Shih then introduced four key incredible principles that guided ASUS’ development team during the ASUS ZENBOOK™ design phase.
Pure Design – Art melds seamlessly with technology upon viewing the ASUS ZENBOOK™. The silver exterior panel features a concentric circle design that refracts a halo of light that excites the senses. With a thickness of 3mm in the front; 9mm in the rear, the ASUS ZENBOOK™’s exterior lines are sleek, making it the thinnest Ultrabook on the market and perfect for users constantly on-the-go or in the classroom.
Unrivalled Performance – The ASUS ZENBOOK™ is designed with an instant-on feature that resumes the system in about 2 seconds* and features incredible standby times up to 2 weeks*, which is four times more than the industry standard. Although svelte and sleek, the ASUS ZENBOOK™ packs an impressive and uncompromising list of technological breakthroughs. It uses the latest Intel® 2nd generation Core™ processors (optimized for mobile use), SATA Revision 3.0 solid state storage (SSD), Bluetooth™ V4.0 and USB 3.0. ASUS has also added USB Charger+ technology, which uses the powered USB 3.0 port to recharge portable devices in a fraction of the time it would normally take. To accommodate all of these technologies, ASUS engineers designed custom cooling technology using a V-shaped channel with a unique copper fin design for improved airflow and cooling. When battery life dips below 5 percent, the ASUS ZENBOOK™ will automatically save files in progress to prevent data loss.
Incredibly Green – The ASUS ZENBOOK™ provides its users a peace of mind in knowing that they are consuming less energy. It utilizes ASUS’ patented Super Hybrid Engine II technology, which intelligently conserves battery life and allows the ASUS ZENBOOK™ to have up to 25% more battery life* than other Ultrabook designs.
Transcending Audio – Recognizing that an ultrabook is not only a tool for work, but also for entertainment, each ASUS ZENBOOK™ is equipped with ASUS SonicMaster technology, an optimized fusion of hardware and software developed by the ASUS Golden Ear team and Bang & Olufsen ICEpower®. SonicMaster provides a wide sonic spectrum surround sound that can fill a room with smooth jazz or the tranquil sound of a mountain stream.
Leading Technology Partnership – Intel’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Sales and Marketing Group, Tom Kilroy, expressed his excitement that Intel contributed the incredible processor technology for ASUS’s groundbreaking masterpiece.
“Today’s introduction of ASUS ZENBOOK™ is a vivid proof that Ultrabooks are ushering in a fundamental transformation of personal computing,” said Mr. Kilroy. “In the few months since Intel first unveiled this new type of device, ASUS has delivered an amazingly light design powered by the visibly smart performance of the second generation Intel Core i7 and Core i5 processors. It’s packed with the security, responsiveness, and other exciting features, that deliver on the promise of the Ultrabook, to offer the most complete and satisfying computing experience.”
The ASUS ZENBOOK™ will be available in the Philippines soon.
Requiescat In Pace, Steven Paul Jobs (1955-2011)
Woke up today with a very sad news appearing in the headlines of my news feeds: Apple’s Co-founder, Inventor, and Genius Steve Jobs has died.
I, myself, is not an Apple fanboy (as an Apple Shuffle is the only thing I have from his company), but I do recognize the feats and contributions of Steve Jobs in the world of personal computing. The way we live today will never be the same without him.
Rest in peace, buddy. See you in afterlife.
Microsoft Windows 8 Installation on an HP Mini 2133
So, I got hold of a Windows Developer Preview of the upcoming Microsoft OS, Windows 8. Since I do not want to install it on my primary laptop, I made the bold move of installing it on my HP Mini 2133 netbook. Here is what inside my HP Mini 2133:
Processor: VIA C7-M 1200MHz 32-bit
RAM: 2.00GB
Display: 8.9-inch diagonal WXGA (1280 x 768) LCD with CCFL backlight
Keyboard: 92% of a full-sized keyboard
Connectivity: WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n, Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mbits/s,
Happy 20th Birthday, Linux!
Circa 1996, during my early days in college, I got this book titled “Operating Systems: Design and Implementation” by Andrew Tanenbaum. The book included the source code of a Unix flavor called Minix (mini-Unix) created by Mr. Tanenbaum for the purpose of studying Operating Systems. And that source code was written in C Language!
Little did I know that some five (05) years before I got hold of Andrew Tanenbaum’s book, this guy named Linus Torvalds found inspiration from it and eventually created Linux – the world’s widely used Operating System for enterprise use to date.
Being a Linux fan and user for more than ten (10) years now, let me just say, “Maligayang Bati, Linux!” (Happy Birthday, Linux!).
My Talk at the Blogger Fiesta Manila 2011
As promised to all you listened to my talk at the Blogger Fiesta Manila 2011 earlier today at the Cyberzone of the SM City North EDSA, the slide deck I used can be downloaded from this post. For those who were absent in the event, look how happy the participants were from this picture taken by Azrael Coladilla:
The wait is over! The Asus Eee Pad Transformer has Arrived in the Philippines!
Manila, Philippines (July 15, 2011) – For all the Filipinos who have been anxious and impatient about the availability of the the Eee Pad Transformer, Asus Philippines officially announced its availability locally. This is the same tablet that immediately sells out in the US upon launch last May. A lot of the consumers buy tablets mainly for the Andorid Apps. The Asus Eee Pad Transformer is not only a tablet for entertainment, but also for productivity and creativity.
Powered by Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, this Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet has a unique mobile dock. That’s a full QWERTY keyboard and touch pad with multiple I/O ports 2 USB slots, mini HDMI port, Micro SD and SD slots. This is the tablet for content creation, social communication, HD media playback and smooth realistic game play. If you are currently looking for a tablet for media consumption and mobile productivity, the Eee Pad Transformer is it!
Asus Philippines announced as well that all buyers of the Eee Pad Transformer on July 20- 23 in any of the Asus authorized dealers in SM Megamall, Mandaluyong can get a chance to win a trip to any Philippine destination!
After purchasing, customers will receive a raffle coupon from the dealer store they purchased the item from. Customer must fill in their name, address, e-mail, contact details and serial # of purchase. Customers must drop off their raffle stubs at ASUSworld Megamall, 4th floor Cyberzone, SM Megamall. Entries will be accepted until 6pm on July 23. Raffle entries will be drawn by an ASUS representative on July 23, 7pm. Log on to http://ph.asus.com or find Asus Philippines on Facebook, facebook.com/asusph.
Are You in Google+ Already?
I hardly check Gmail during weekends as I rely heavily on mobile email (Blackberry) during these days of the week. But I need to send something with an attachment, thus was compelled to login to Gmail’s web interface, and to my surprise there’s this black strip that appeared on top of my webmail interface. Also, I noticed that I received several emails notifying me that several of my friends added me in Google+ – without noticing that I am actually part of the limited test of this new product from the search giant.
Add me in Google+ via http://gplus.to/bobreyes