We know a lot of guys wanted to win that Samsung Galaxy Pocket that we gave away last week. Well, here’s another chance for you to win another one! The rules are pretty simple:
You need to like our Facebook page and the Samsung Mobile Philippines page.
Like and share this picture on Facebook.
Comment on the same picture thread why you deserve to win a Samsung Galaxy Pocket.
Winners will be drawn using Random.org on October 29 and will be announced on our Facebook page, so check back then!
Good news for Filipinos not living in the major urban areas—the results of a mobile banking pilot in the countryside affirm the Filipinos’ readiness for cell phone-driven financial services, so you don’t need to go to a bank or a computer every time you want to make a transaction.
The Banking the Unbanked (BTU) project brought the bank to places like the countryside and remote areas of the Philippines. The program was implemented by PlaNet Finance Group through its subsidiary company, mBank Holding (MBH), in partnership with leading wireless services provider, Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) to benefit members of the low income market who otherwise have little or no access to formal banking services.
The 18-month pilot utilized Smart’s award-winning Smart Money platform to provide mobile-based financial solutions such as micro-savings and micro-loan services to a test market of Smart and Talk ‘N Text subscribers composed of farmers, airtime retailers, market vendors and other low-income earners, who remitted capital build-up deposits and loan amortizations using their Smart mobile phones.
What sets the BTU apart from other mobile-based initiatives is that all transactions—from Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, account activations, capital-build ups, loan disbursements and collections–happen over-the-air (OTA). Once launched commercially, the offerings of the BTU project will be rolled out to different locations in the Philippines, and potentially, other countries.
“This project was launched to let members of the underserved sector enjoy the full range mobile banking services despite their geographical and income limitations. We are happy that our efforts have helped revolutionize mobile banking services in the countryside,” said Arnaud Ventura, co-founder of mBank Holding, and PlaNet Finance and President & CEO of MicroCred.
“Smart’s participation in the BTU project underscores our commitment to provide affordable, relevant and accessible financial services to Filipinos. Through our tried and tested mobile money platform and Smart’s “nationwidest” coverage, we hope to pave the way for more inclusive financial services that will benefit the unserved and underserved communities of the Philippines,” said Tricia V. Dizon, Smart Financial Services Head.
Smart currently has 51 million subscribers in the Philippines, and about 98% of those subscribers use prepaid plans. Smart’s infrastructure covers all 1,629 municipalities and cities in the Philippines.
The LTE wars is heating up, as Globe has announced their LTE roaming service for its subscribers and partner telcos around the world. The service sounds exactly what it says in the tin – LTE download and upload speeds in countries outside of the Philippines. That’s also the same courtesy Globe will be offering subscribers of partner carriers the same when they land in the Philippines (of course, they’re limited to the existing LTE network, which as of writing is still located in Makati).
The initial roll-out will be with China Telecom in Hong Kong, where Globe has stated the price of the service as $10 for unlimited data for 3 days, which is pretty cheap. Unfortunately, as of writing there’s still no price tier for devices that they announced that will use their LTE service, which includes the LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy S III, the Huawei Ascend and the ZTE T81. The next location that Globe will apply the 4G LTE roaming will be Korea, and other locations in the pipeline are Singapore, Australia, USA, Japan, the Middle East and Canada.
When we arrived at Intel’s office earlier today to have a quick conference call with Intel’s Director, Product Management Pricing in APAC Leighton Phillips, we noticed that the conference room of Intel’s local office had a collection of touch-enabled ultrabooks (and one very large tablet, which turned out to be Sony’s Tap 20). Ultrabooks like Lenovo’s ThinkPad Twist S230U was present, as well as Sony’s Duo 11.
This doesn’t surprise Leighton at all, as he says that consumer research has always indicated that people prefer touch to other methods of interaction. “We’ve been doing a lot of consumer research trying to understand the response to touch as it relates to an ultrabook. More specifically, we’ve done research where we put people in front of non-touch touch-based devices and we’ve found that people reach for touch enabled devices first.” This makes sense, and explains the popularity of touch-enabled smartphones and tablets.
This little tidbit put into context Intel’s current predilection for touch devices. Intel knows that Touch is the future of notebooks, not just ultrabooks, and is investing heavily in factories and companies that can help them deliver the optimal touch experience. Intel isn’t the only one who has noticed the correlation between touch interface and a better overall experience, either – Leighton says that more and more partners are designing touch-enabled notebooks – not just ultrabooks – that are set to come out in the next few months.
The move to touch isn’t just going to manifest in ultrabooks either. “We’re seeing this trend spill over to mainstream value devices, thin designs, and is obviously part of any convertible design and is part of any tower-based design.” This means as the bill of manufacture – the upfront cost of making a device – goes down, touchscreens will begin to pop up in value driven devices as well, which includes lower tier notebooks and All-in-ones.
As we pawed the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist S230U during the conference call, we couldn’t help but agree with Leighton when it comes to touch on notebooks. The highly responsive screen and hybrid design meant that it was a pleasure to navigate, even without the use of a mouse. To be honest, we felt that you could probably chuck your mouse out the window once you get a touch-enabled Windows 8 ultrabook, as the touch-enabled screen could do everything a conventional mouse could, with better speed and accuracy.
Intel says that designs like the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist S230U and the Sony Duos 11 is the future of ultrabooks, and the future of computing. As we finished the conference call and proceeded to file out, we couldn’t help but agree.
Many tech products celebrated their 30th birthday this year, such as the Commodore 64, one of the best-selling PCs of all time. Another tech product celebrating its 30th birthday is the compact disc—which eventually overthrew cassette tapes as the biggest and cheapest selling media format, and still remains a popular media format to this very day.
The compact disc, or the CD, was the brainchild of the engineers over at Philips in the Netherlands, and started as early as 1974. The premise was to develop an optical audio disc with superior sound to that of the incumbent vinyl format. The original compact disc was a huge 20 cm in diameter. Many people who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s might also remember the LaserDisc—it was also developed by Philips and retained the 20 cm size. The only difference is that the LaserDisc was also capable of playing both audio and video, something the CD could not do (or at least do well) until later on.
By 1977, Philips was developing hardware for the CD and reduced the size of the CD to about 11.5 cm, but were still in the midst of making cassette tapes. Sony had also been developing the CD since around 1976, but by 1982, both companies partnered up and the CD was born. Well known musician Billy Joel was the first to debut his music on a CD—launching 52nd Street, his sixth album, on October 1, 1982. It came out in Japan alongside the first commercially available CD player, the Sony CDP-101.
Since the launch of the CD and devices that used the CD which ranged from (portable) stand-alone CD players to computers to game consoles (the Philips CD-i was one of the first consoles to use CDs instead of cartridges), the CD has evolved multiple times and taken on multiple functions. Around the mid-90s, the DVD started replacing VHS cassettes as the main format to watch movies, and eventually, the Blu-ray replaced the DVD in that aspect as well.
No one really knows what’s next after CDs, although USB flash drives have started taking their place as a medium to store data. However, the CD remains as a pioneer of the digital age and beyond.
When Google sent its media invite to an event in New York City, not much was known about what it would unveil during the event (aside from the company’s worst kept secrete, the new Nexus phone made by LG. The Next Web has managed to grab details of what the company would be unveiling on October 23 via a source who said that the search giant circulated through the company’s internal network. Aside from a new Nexus phone, Google is also gearing up to release a 32GB variant of the Nexus 7, as well as 3G enabled 32GB variant of the Nexus 7.
As expected, the source also said that Google will be outing a 10-inch Nexus tablet, which is made in conjunction with Samsung. The tablet is going by the code name “Manta”, which will run Google’s latest update to its OS, Android 4.2 Key Lime Pie. The new tablet will feature a resolution of 2560×1600 pixels (16:10) which gives the device a PPI of 300, higher than the new iPad which is just at around 264 PPI.
Source: The Next Web
In a fitting end to a great and storied career, NASA’s Endeavor space shuttle made one last trip through the streets of LA to its resting place at the California Science Center last week. Its last mission, dubbed Mission 26 saw it travel 19 miles via land, towed by a truck was straightforward, and saw no hitches. The space shuttle flew a total of 25 missions in space between 1992 and 2011. Budget constraints has seen the USA’s Space agency, NASA, halt the space shuttle program. If you’re a space-head, hit the link HERE and take a quick look at Matthew Givot’s time lapse video of the Endeavor’s final trip.
Alright Xperia owners, we got good news and bad news. The good news: owners of newer Xperia devices should be getting their Jelly Bean updates next year. Specifically, if you’re the owner of an Xperia T, TX and V, congratulations – you’re getting your Jelly Bean update on the 1st quarter of 2013. Older Xperia models like the Xperia S, acro S, ion, Xperia P, Go and J will be getting their upgrades later in 2013, though the company hasn’t really specified when. Now, the bad news – if you’re an owner of an Xperia phone that was released during 2011 – tough luck. You won’t be getting an upgrade to Jelly Bean as Sony will only be supporting upgrades till Ice Cream Sandwich. For some reason or other, Sony has decided not to give their 2011 devices the bump to Jelly Bean, which is a bit of a downer, especially if you were looking to get your Project Butter on. Sorry guys – that’s just them breaks.
Source: Sony
While Kim Dotcom has been raided, thrown in jail (along with some of his compatriots) and much of his physical assets frozen, the founder of digital locker Megaupload isn’t calling it quits anytime soon. In fact, he’s raring to make a comeback in the digital storage space, but this time, he’s got a system that he says will make the next iteration of Megaupload untouchable by the law.
The new site will simply be named Mega, and Kim and Mega partner Mathias Ortmann has devised a simple system that will release the new site from legal liability when it comes to users’ uploaded content: encryption. While both Mega and Megaupload are both subscriber-based cloud storage platforms, Mega diverges from Megaupload’s methods by first encrypting a user’s content before it’s uploaded to their servers. Users are then given the unique key to unlock their files in the cloud when they need it. Now, if users wish to share that file (and the encryption key for that file) to other users, it’s their business – Mega legally has no knowledge of what’s inside the encrypted files in their servers.
This is how Mega plans to avoid the legal issues that they encountered with Megaupload. Since the decryption key is never shared with the mother site (only the encrypted files are on the servers), they should, theoretically, be safe from any kind of criminal liability. It also means that whatever users upload to Mega will remain private, whatever happens. “If servers are lost, if the government comes into a data center and rapes it, if someone hacks the server or steals it, it would give him nothing,” Dotcom explains. “Whatever is uploaded to the site, it is going to be remain closed and private without the key.”
Dotcom stresses that the only way to stop Mega from being a reality is to ban encryption altogether, which we all know isn’t going to happen. “And according to the U.N. Charter for Human Rights, privacy is a basic human right,” Dotcom explains. “You have the right to protect your private information and communication against spying.”
Source: Wired
In case you guys have forgotten, HERE is the trailer for Bioshock Infinite. The game is to come out on the 26th of Feb 2013, so if anyone out there has access to a time machine, please let us know. We want the game now, please. The trailer features footage from the in-game engine itself, so the whole game should look exactly as the trailer does, which is to say these are some of the best graphics and motion we have seen in a very very long time. Stop reading and watch the trailer NOW.
A Cagayan anti-mining leader was arrested on Thursday over allegedly libelous statements made in her Facebook account last year. Esperlita Garcia, the leader of the Gonzaga Alliance for Environmental Protection and Preservation in Cagayan, said she was arrested in her home on the strength of a warrant issued by Judge Conrado Tabaco of the Regional Trial Court of Aparri, filed by Gonzaga Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr. The cause of her arrest was her supposedly libelous account of an aborted anti-mining rally in the town on April 30, 2011.
Her arrest is puzzling, since the Supreme Court of the Philippines has already issued a TRO against the implementation of the Anti-Cybercrime Law, which was opposed by numerous groups chiefly because of the libel laws included within. According to the Inquirer report, a Department of Justice official based in Tuguegarao City said that there was no law yet against libelous statements made online. The reason the cybercrime law was passed was that the provisions of the Revised Penal Code do not embrace online libel. But even that law (RA 10175) is not yet in effect,” said the official.
So why exactly was Esperlita Garcia, the 62 year-old leader, arrested over a Facebook post when RA 10175 has effectively been thrown in the cooler as far as laws are concerned? Your guess is as good as ours. She was released after posting Php 10,000 bail.
Source: Inquirer.net
While Apple likes to tout the number of available apps in its App Store, no one really talks about the visibility of those thousands of apps to iOS users. Mobile analytics and ad firm Adeven says that’s its really difficult for small, independent app developers to be discovered through the current app system, which favors bigger, more successful developer houses. Adeven says that almost 400,000 App Store apps get no downloads, are invisible to users and have no ranking. Adeven’s CEO, Christian Henschel spoke to GigaOM about this particular issue, saying that “The reality is there are only a couple of thousand apps that really make some kind of downloads. This is based on Apple’s closed system — it’s tough to discover those kinds of apps. You don’t have proper search, so the only way to discover new apps is through the top listing.” The data was collected through Adeven’s Apptrace tool which the company has shown to media. Because of the sheer number of apps available on the iOS App Store, it’s hard for newer apps to make a substantial impact in the crowded marketplace.
Source: GigaOM
There’s a number of ways you can show the world that your product is capable of taking a beating. You can show them slide after slide of boring industry tests or show them video footage of their device getting pounded on a table by overenthusiastic tech reviewers.
Or if you’re a Microsoft, you can attach four wheels to a tablet and ride it around like a skateboard. Yes, that sentence really happened – Windows Unit President Steven Sinofsky wanted to show everyone just how tough Microsoft’s newest tablet was, so he rode it around Microsoft’s campus for a bit. Seems like that Magnesium case is tougher than it looks, and is probably able to take a lot of non-skateboard related abuse during its lifetime. Probably the only thing better than this stunt is seeing Tim Cook roll up using two iPads as inline roller blades.
Source: AllThingsD
Google has sent out invites to select members of the press in the US for an Oct. 29 “Android event” event in New York City. The invite, which teases “the playground is open” has a stylized background of New York that’s similar to the graphics found in the company’s Google Now service. The main purpose of the presser has yet to be seen, although we’re pretty sure that the next Nexus device, the LG built Nexus will make an appearance during the event. Other rumors say that a cheaper Nexus 7 tablet will make an appearance, as well as a higher resolution model and updates to the Android OS. We’ll be covering the event live via livestream, so keep your browsers locked into the site to get updates.
