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    Google Maps returns to iOS

    After Apple unceremoniously cut ties with Google’s mapping service with the latest version of iOS, Google Maps makes a comback to the Apple App store. This comes after Apple’s own built-in mapping service on iOS 6 was proven to be inherently flawed by users, which received much mocking and derision by some of its users. Google announced the return of the mapping service in an official blog post, and has stated that they’ve redesigned Google Maps to be easier to use on iOS. Until Apple manages to get its flawed mapping service together, Google will probably still rule the roost as far as navigation is concerned.

    Source: Google

    Suzuki Philippines opens dealership in Isabela province

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    To serve customers in northern Luzon, Suzuki Philippines has opened a dealership in Brgy. Mabini, Santiago City, Isabela province. This dealership is a one-stop shop and provides units, spare parts and auto service features.

    Suzuki’s General Manager for Automobile, Mr. Shuzo Hoshikura, states that the widening of the company’s dealership network is Suzuki’s answer to the increasing mobility needs of Filipinos. “We’d like more Filipinos to benefit from Suzuki’s brand of excellence: from quality, fuel-efficient automobiles to above par after-sales servicing.”

    “The new dealership is an exciting development for Santiago City. Suzuki is known for its thoughtful design and fuel economy—which are key elements we know our clients appreciate,” said Jocel Violago of Car Depot Commercial Phils. (CDCP), Corp., the dealership owner.

    Suzuki currently carries eight automobile products. This includes the fuel efficient compact cars Alto and Celerio, the five door hatchback Swift, sporty Sx4 Crossover and the eight seater APV Type II. Suzuki also carries the 4 wheel drive Jimny and Grand Vitara. The brand recently launched its flagship executive sedan, the Suzuki Kizashi.

    Hands-on Sony Xperia V LTE courtesy of Smart

    We’re here at Smart’s official unveil of one of their first LTE phones ever, the Xperia V. While we’ve covered the Xperia V before, it’s nice to see the device finally heading to stores courtesy of Smart’s LTE plan and allows us another chance to fondle the device.

    The Sony Xperia V has some pretty specs – Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz dual core processor, 4.3-inch, 1280 x 720 resolution display and has the highest levels of dust and water resistance in a smartphone (IP55/57+), and sports Android 4.0. The Xperia V holds the distinction as being one of the newest devices to sport Smart’s 4G LTE service, and are offering it at their LTE Plan 1500.

    The Xperia V isn’t the fastest Android device around, but since it’s capable of using Smart’s LTE network, it’s capable of wickedly fast speeds. We did a speedtest on the Xperia V during the launch earlier today, and as you can see, it’s pretty much burning rubber as far as download speeds are concerned. Of course, you will have to be within range of Smart’s LTE network to actually experience those speeds, but that’s probably not much of an issue as Smart has expanded the coverage of their LTE network to cover major spots in Metro Manila.

    Sony has also said that the Xperia V will be offered in the retail channels as well, but you will not be able to get your hands on it without a Smart plan until February at the latest. As far as retail pricing is concerned, Sony did not want to reveal any numbers, but they did say that it would probably retail around 25-27K if it was sold without a plan. Curiously enough, the Xperia V will sport LTE right out of the box, and a Sony exec did confirm that it would work on both Smart AND Globe’s LTE network. So if either Smart or Globe start selling LTE-enabled prepaid SIMs, you can probably use an unlocked Xperia V with their LTE service.

     

    HP showcases new business and enterprise solutions at Channel Odyssey

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    Yesterday, HP launched their latest marketing effort to showcase the company’s portfolio for the enterprise solutions. The roadshow, dubbed as Channel Odyssey, is being conducted in select cities in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, which includes Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, China, India, Korea,  Japan, and the Philippines. The Manila leg was held at Dusit Thani Hotel.

    HP unveiled an array of products belonging to different categories, namely: Mobility and ePrint, Graphics Solutions, Workflow Digitalization and Security, Thin Computing, and Retail. Attendees were given a tour and product demonstrations of the various devices on display.

    Among the featured devices at Channel Odyssey are the HP Elitepad 900–the company’s soon-to-be released business tablet—the HP Compaq Elite 8300 All-In-One business PC, the HP Elitebook Folio 9470m and the HP LaserJet Enterprise 500 MFP (multifunction printer) M575C.

    “Our commitment to the HP channel community and keeping Philippine businesses empowered with reliable computing is as strong as ever. This year, HP is bringing new technologies that will not just broaden options for large businesses, but also boost productivity for small to medium-sized enterprises,” said Albert Mateo, HP Printing and Personal Systems Country General Manager.

    Catch the golden ultrabook on your smartphone and win your own ultrabook, courtesy of Intel!

    To further enhance the consumers’ awareness on ultrabooks, Intel launched its Catch and Win an Ultrabook campaign, which gives smartphone users a chance to win an ultrabook and ultrabook discount vouchers worth up to PHP 20,000. The promo runs until December 31, 2012.

    To join, simply download the Pocket Intel App on your Android, BlackBerry or iOS smartphone. Launch the app, scan the AR markers at Intel events and/or tech stores, and watch ultrabooks of various colors fly across your smartphone’s screen. The goal is to catch the gold ultrabook by tapping it on the screen. Once you tap the gold ultrabook, you’ll be redirected to a multiple choice question that you must answer to be qualified for the raffle. The time from when the app was launched until you tap the gold ultrabook will be recorded and ranked among the scores of others in the leaderboard.

    The top scorer in each cycle will win a new ultrabook. The promo has three two-week cycles: the first is from November 15 to December 2, the second is from December 3 to the 16th, and the last cycle runs from December 17 to 30.

    Promo markers can be found in Intel’s retail partners in some of the major malls in Metro Manila, namely: SM North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, Festival Mall, Alabang Town Center, Park Square/Glorietta and Robinson’s Ermita.

    In addition to the Catch and Win an Ultrabook promo, Intel—in partnership with Rovio—has also launched the Angry Birds Ultrabook Adventure Facebook. The app lets you challenge your friends as you compete in ten levels. Angry Birds Ultrabook Adventure  is the first fully branded Angry Birds Facebook app.

    For more information, you can visit catchme.intel.com and facebook.com/IntelPhilippines.

    Hands On: The HP Elitepad 900

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    Yesterday at the HP Channel Odyssey Manila leg, we had the chance to preview the company’s soon-to-be-released Windows-powered tablet—the Elitepad 900.

    The Elitepad 900 is marketed towards business users, unlike the HP Envy x2 which is more of a consumer tablet. Powered by an Intel Atom Clover Trail chip and donning Windows 8 Pro, the Elitepad hosts 2GB memory and a 32/64GB SSD hard drive.

    Its 10.1-inch multi-touch-enabled screen wields a resolution of 1280×800 pixels and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The screen sports Corning Gorilla Glass. The graphics are powered by an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator.

    On the back you will find the 8-megapixel camera. On the upper left side of the rear, you can see the microSD and SIM slot protected under a little door. Below the device is the port for the docking station.

    Together with the Elitepad 900, HP will release accessories for the device, such as a docking station and a protective case that they call the “Smart Jacket”. The Smart Jacket protects the device and adds a lot to its functionality—it extends battery life and adds extra ports. One jacket lets you have two full USB ports, a full-sized SD card slot and an HDMI port. There’s also another variation of the Smart Jacket which features a keyboard for the tablet.

    HP says that the Elitepad 900 will be available in January next year. No word yet on pricing.

    THQ shows off Metro 2033 sequel, allows players to download digital version of Metro 2033 for free

    THQ is fast becoming one of our favorite game developers. After releasing the Humble THQ bundle a few weeks back, the company is now releasing one of their better games on the PC for free. The company is showing off the official sequel to their acclaimed post-apocalyptic title, Metro 2033, and to celebrate the developer is allowing PC gamers everywhere to download the first game, absolutely freaking free. If you didn’t jump on the Humble THQ bundle a few weeks back and did not get this game, this is a perfect time for you to do so. The game’s not your typical FPS, and while it took a beast of a machine to run when it first came out, we’re pretty sure most gaming rigs nowadays are perfectly capable of running this game now.

    Source: THQ

    MIT creates tiny 22nm transistor without silicon

    The term “Silicon Valley” is extremely familiar to techies and non-techies alike—it’s a place in the San Francisco Bay Area where big tech firms such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Adobe, Intel, Oracle, Western Digital, nVIDIA, and SanDisk are located, and also home to some of the most visited websites in the world, such as Google, Facebook, and Yahoo!. Not surprisingly, Silicon Valley is also the birthplace of the microprocessor, the microcomputer, and of course, the silicon-based integrated circuit, all mainstays in most of the devices we use today.

    However, on the other end of the United States is one of the most important research universities in the whole world, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and they have taken the silicon out of the tech world with a new 22 nm transistor, something that may seem unthinkable, as the one element that is often tied to tech products happens to be silicon. Researchers at MIT’s Microsystems Technology Lab (MTL) have created the smallest transistor fashioned from indium gallium arsenide, a material that is being positioned as an eventual successor to silicon.

    The science that lead to indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) was fashioned through normal semiconductor processes, but instead of using silicon, scientists went with evaporated indium, gallium, and arsenic atoms. They then allowed the materials to react, forming a very thin crystal of InGaAs that will become the transistor’s channel in the thin, lighter line at the tip of the inverted V in the picture. The element molybdenum is then deposited at the source and drain, oxide is deposited at the gate, the inverted V, and a tiny, exotic transistor is formed.

    Why take silicon out of the tech world? One thing many people might not know is that the world’s supply of silicon, the basic building block of every computer chip, is dwindling quickly—estimates put the remaining supply of the world’s silicon at around 10 to 20 years. As components in computers continue to shrink in size, silicon won’t function as a semiconductor anymore, and alternatives will have to be sought out to replace it. In the picture below are some of the proposed alternatives to silicon and their applications.

    MIT’s InGaAs will take anywhere from five to ten more years before it can hit the market. Another problem with these silicon alternatives is that they’re competing to replace some of the most sophisticated and advanced technology in the world. It is said that billions, perhaps trillions of dollars were sunk into complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) research and development, and it is suggested that the fate of these silicon alternatives lies in the hands of Intel, which has the time and resources to put into their research and development. It is also currently unknown how much further silicon alternatives will scale from silicon. If Moore’s Law, which dictates that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles every two years, holds to be true, we might have a successor to the so-called Silicon Valley—how does InGaAs Valley sound?

    Perez, Salas finish first in final leg of 2012 Lateral Drift Championship Series

    The Lateral Drift Championship Series 2012 culminated with its sixth and final leg held last Saturday, December 8, 2012 at the Clark Expo open parking lot.

    Five-time Lateral Drift champion Alex Perez, representing Team Yellow Cab, bagged the top spot in the sixth leg and emerged as the 2012 overall champion. Norman Agojo of Team Autocraft and Goodyear finished in second place, while Gio Rodriguez of AtoyCustoms and Hankook finished third.

    Jesus Salas topped the sixth round of the amateur division, with Rad Albano of Team Autocraft Drift ranking second and Jet Mathay of Team HKS finishing in third. All three placers in the amateur division move up to the pro division next year.

    The Lateral Drift Championship Series 2012 was made possible by Hyundai Philippines, Dickies, DC shoes, AtoyCustoms, Edsahosting, Aguila Auto Glass, Aikkapaints, Speedlab, Light hand Dental Clinic, Wave 891, Racing beat, Philippine Daily Inquirer,Sprocketph.com, Kotse.com, StoplightTV, TopGear PH, Motorcycle Magazine, Power Wheels, Autoreview, Pinoy Speed, Manila Standard, Gadgets Magazine, Daily Tribune, Savers Appliance depot, and Clark Development Corporation.

    First batch of Globe iPhone 5s arrive in the Philippines

    We had previously announced some of Globe’s pricing plans for the iPhone 5, but we can now confirm that they are here in Globe’s warehouse and ready for their release in stores on December 14. Above is a picture of the iPhone 5s in Globe’s warehouse.

    If you have yet to pre-order your iPhone 5, you can go to http://www.globe.com.ph/iphone5 and customize a plan for your iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 for prepaid customers will run at Php 35,400 (16 GB) and Php 40,800 (32 GB). There are currently no available prepaid kits for the 64 GB model. Postpaid customers have a greater degree of customization for their iPhone 5 plans and a wide range of freebies and boosters. As we mentioned before, Globe is also throwing in other freebies for those who pre-order, such as four months of free Globe Gadget Care (Php 1,596 value), a free one year subscription to GCASH American Express Virtual Card, 0% interest up to 24 months installment with major credit cards, free and exclusive downloads of new Globe Mobile Apps, $5 shipping coupon (or Php 150 GCash for iTunes purchase) and up to 50% off on iPhone 5 accessory vouchers.

    Man gets MacBook Air to boot Windows 8 through EFI – no Bootcamp needed

    If you’re a Mac user and are a bit jealous of all the Metro UI action that Windows 8 notebook users are experiencing, you need not fret. YouTube user besweeeet2 has found a way to boot Windows 8 through EFI instead of using Bootcamp, which results in faster boot times. You will be paying a steep price for the convenience though, as you will need to delete your files on your machine as you’ll be redoing the partition on your drive for this to work. But if you’re a tinkerer by nature and want to dive into the deep end and get it to work on your machine, you can check out his step-by-step instruction here.

    Source: The Techerra

    Linux 3.7 released, bringing generic ARM support with it

    Good news for Linux users—Linux creator Linus Torvalds has announced that the newest version of the Linux kernel, Linux 3.7, will provide generic support for multiple ARM CPU architectures, reducing the amount of effort required to get Linux-based operating systems running on phones, tablets, and ARM-licensed developer boards.

    “In this release, the Linux ARM implementation has added multi-platform support—the ability to build a single ARM kernel image that is able to boot multiple hardware. This will make much easier for distributors to support ARM platforms,” said Kernel Newbies.

    “After an extra rc release, 3.7 is now out. After a few more trials at fixing things, in the end we ended up reverting the kswapd changes that caused problems. And with the extra rc, I had decided to risk doing the buffer.c cleanups that would otherwise have just been marked for stable during the next merge window, and had enough time to fix a few problems that people found there too,” Torvalds said to those on the Linux Kernel Mailing List.

    The current release’s list of supported ARM architectures focuses overwhelmingly on server-oriented products, although Linux 3.7 is laying down the groundwork for support with consumer products that also use ARM CPUs, such as Android-based smartphones and tablets, which tend to be a few kernel updates behind. This is the first step toward making ARM support more like x86 support—it may soon be possible to install operating systems on ARM-powered devices without the messy work of the current architecture-specific porting process.

    Another notable addition to Linux 3.7 is 64-bit support for the newest ARM CPU model. “The newest ARM CPU model, ARM v8, adds 64-bit memory addressing capabilities for first time for the ARM world. The new 64-bit CPUs can run 32-bit code, but the 64-bit instruction set is completely new, not just 64-bit extensions to the 32-bit instruction set, so the Linux support has been implemented as a completely new architecture,” Kernel Newbies also says.

    Lenovo outs ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch

    Because of all the Windows 8 releases lately, it’s not entirely out of the question that some manufacturers update products that were launched before touchy-feely OS became officially available. Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbonis one of these products, and the manufacturer has given us a heads-up that they’ve released a refreshed version of the 14-inch notebook with a touch-sensitive display. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch still sports a tough, carbon fiber chassis, and still possesses all the things that made the original stand out from other enterprise machines. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch will come with either an Intel Core i5 and i7 processor. It still won’t be cheap – expect the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch to start at $1,499 (about Php 61369) for the basic version, and the price will only go up from there.

    Globe unveils first-of-its-kind mobile phone protection program

    In partnership with leading global insurance provider Ace Insurance, Globe launched Globe Gadget Care, the complete mobile protection program exclusive to Globe postpaid subscribers. Globe Gadget Care will protect subscribers against phone theft, damage, and outstanding postpaid balance. Globe Gadget Care is free for the first month and Php 89 a month afterward for new subscribers, those who are renewing their contract, and those who are purchasing brand new devices.

    Those who are currently under contract and do not have brand new devices, or those whose devices are not issued by Globe can also avail of Globe Gadget Care for Php 199 a month. On top of mobile protection coverage, Globe Gadget Care also guarantees hassle-free handset replacement, easy claims processing, and worldwide protection coverage for all postpaid subscribers.

    “At Globe, we understand how important mobile phones are nowadays. It is an essential tool to connect with people who matter most, so launching Globe Gadget Care is very timely and relevant, especially at the height of the upcoming holiday season where phone robberies are more rampant,” said Martha Sazon, Head of Globe Postpaid. “With Globe Gadget Care, subscribers get the complete mobile phone protection, so they don’t have to worry about losing their handsets due to unforeseen circumstances or accidents, giving them another superior experience just by being Globe-connected.”

    For more information on Globe Gadget Care, you can call Globe Gadget Care at (02) 756-5400, visit http://www.globe.com.ph/gadgetcare or go to any Globe store nationwide.

    We’re giving away more free stuff! Clicky here!

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    Who doesn’t like free stuff? “Tis the season for giving and we have nice premium items from Stabilo up for grabs!

    Tell us why you want to win Stabilo Boss Holiday Treat by answering this simple question:

    “I love Stabilo because  _________________.”

    Here are the rules:

    • Participants must like Stabilo Philippines’ FB Page www.facebook.com/stabilophilippines and Gadgets Magazine FB Pagewww.facebook.com/gadgetsmagazine to be eligible to win.
    • Post your entry to your wall on Facebook and make a status message — don’t forget to Tag Stabilo Philippines and Gadgets Magazine. Example: Hi @Gadgets Magazine! I love @StabiloPhilippines because ___________________.
    • Limited to one entry per person ONLY.
    • The best answer to “Why I love Stabilo” wins the prize!
    • Entries without the TAGS of Stabilo Philippines and Gadgets Magazine will be disqualified.
    • Entries with foul or offensive statements shall automatically be disqualified.
    • The Winners will be announced at the Gadgets Magazine website on December 17 2012.
    • (10) Ten lucky winners will receive a Stabilo Boss Original Pack and a Stabilo Mini USB from Stabilo Philippines and Gadgets Magazine.