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    Solar powered light bulb lights up homes of poor communities

    It’s a sad reality that there’s still a lot of poor communities around our country who are literally living in the dark. Places like Sitio Maligaya Dos in San Pedro, Laguna. Informal settlers have built their houses so close together that almost no sunlight reach into their homes. And because these are extremely poor communities, they can’t afford to electrify their homes – which subsequently leaves them struggling in the dark, even if the sun is shining outside. Enter the solar light bulb, an ingenious bit of tech created by students from MIT. Constructed out of discarded PET bottles, bleach and distilled water, these bulbs give poor communities a way to see in the dark. The constructed bulb delivers light that’s equivalent to a 55-watt electric lamp and can last up to 5 years, and only cost Php 100 to 200 to make. Armed with the know-how of the solar light bulb, people like Mang Demi Solar helps communities like the one in Sitio Maligaya to see the light by installing them in the homes of the poor. You can visit isanglitrongliwanag.org to know more about this little invention and how it’s helping the poor see in the dark.

    Source: isanglitrongliwanag.org

    PowerColor HD6790 giveaway!

    Looking for a graphics card to power your gaming rig? Well look no further – we’re giving away a PowerColor HD6790 to one lucky reader!

    Here are the rules:

    1. Open to everyone on FB and Twitter.

    2. Like our page on Facebook.

    3. Like PowerColor on Facebook.

    4. Follow us on Twitter and retweet: Follow @GadgetsMagazine for a chance to win a PowerColor HD6790 #GadgetsGiveaway

    5. Answer this simple question: What card are you planning to use to play the latest games with?

    a) PowerColor 6790 b)SlowFX 1000

    6. Send your entries to [email protected] with the heading PowerColor giveaway.

    7. Promo ends September 18, 2011, midnight.

    8. Winners will be announced on FB and Twitter on September 20 and shall be notified by email.

    9. Philippine residents only.

     

    Wicked Laser’s S3 Krypton Series is visible from outer space, blinds aliens

    If you’re the type of person who likes playing with laser pointers, take heed. Wicked Lasers, creators of the world’s most powerful handheld laser, has created another beam-tastic device that’s fully capable of taking the eyes of astronauts and aliens flying in low orbit.

    The company claims that its newest offering, the S3 Krypton, is 8,000 times brighter than the sun, has a range of 85 miles (our atmosphere ends at 62) and requires the use of safety goggles when used. There are three models available for the discerning laser connoisseur – 300mW, 500mW and 1000mW which carries price tags of $299.95, $499.95 and $999.95 respectively.

    Source: Wicked Lasers

    HP keeping webOS, splits from hardware division

    While HP is willing to sell off it’s hardware business, it seems that it wants to hold on to webOS by shuffling it into an another division. The decision was leaked to site PreCentral via internal memos, which reveal that webOS (previously under the Personal Systems Group (PSG)) will now be under HP’s Office of Strategy and Technology. The move seems to indicate that HP still has plans for the webOS team, with the possibility of the OS being wrangled into some of their existing products, or be licensed to other manufacturers. This is good news for the people who picked up massively discounted TouchPads and existing Pre owners, as there might still be some semblance of support for their devices after all.

    Source: precentral.net

    Griffin gives you multi-functional, 3-in-1 pen

    If I thought those multi-colored pens with a highlighter on the other end were cool, the Griffin Stylus just takes multi-functionality to a whole new level. Designed for students and professionals alike, the Griffin Stylus ($49.99) can be used to write on paper (if people still actually do that these days), to pick and poke a touchpad, or to laser-point out just about anything that needs pointing and attention. The tip can switch between pen, stylus, and laser pointer – for whatever need arises, be it an school exam or an office presentation or just something you want to poke your DS with.

    Now it might be a little excessive and expensive for such a tool, but then again, that’s what innovation is all about – inventing things with more functions and giving us more needs before we ever really need them.

    Full sized Angry Birds game in China is awesome, also kind of illegal

    Rovio’s Angry Birds game has been made into a lot of things – cakes, t-shirts and now, a full sized attraction in a theme park in Hunan, China.

    The full-sized game allows people to shoot Angry Birds plushies at green pig balloons behind toy bricks, though visitors will have to supply the annoying bird shriek themselves.

    But alas, no amount of awesomeness hides the fact that the theme park hasn’t gotten the rights from Rovio to use their game characters in the attraction, which means the game, as awesome as it is, is infringing on Rovio’s IP.

    Source: Metro, Red Net

    Via: Mic Gadget

     

    Unboxing: PowerColor HD6790

    While there’s certainly an allure to high-end monster cards like 6970s and the like, the real money has always been made from mid-market and entry level GPUs. PowerColor’s HD6790 slides neatly in the former’s category, promising to deliver decent performance at a price most PC gamers can afford.

    The overall design of the card is nice and sleek, and there’s three output options to choose from: DVI, mini DisplayPort and HDMI.

    The card is cooled by three copper heatpipes, combined with heatsinks and the requisite fan.

    Looking at the specs, the PowerColor HD6790 is a pretty decent card. The card uses AMD’s Barts GPU, and utilizes 800 out of 1120 of stream processors. Unlike other cards, the PowerColor HD6970 sticks to stock speed of 840 MHz out of the box. Video memory is 1GB GDDR5 with a memory clock of 4200 MHz (1050 MHz GDDR5).

    Like what you see so far? Good. Because we’re giving out this bad boy to a lucky reader. Stand by for details, we’ll be revealing the mechanics soon.

    Sony Reveals a Sheet That Can Add 3D To Any Laptop

    If you don’t own a 3D laptop from Sony, you can now have a chance to enjoy the same immersive entertainment. The company has revealed a new accessory that has the potential to allow anybody with a laptop to enjoy 3D imaging.

    The recently revealed add-on is a 3mm thick lenticular sheet that is attached in front of your laptop’s display. It will not require the need for 3D glasses and instead, uses specially crafted software that utilizes the laptop’s webcam to idenifty the user’s face in order to calibrate the 3D images. What’s more, this new accessory appears to be compatible with non-Sony laptops (although this is yet to be confirmed), which provides virtually anybody the chance to experience entertainment in 3D.

    For now, the 3D sheet will make its debut in Europe as an accompanying accesory to the Sony 15.5-inch VAIO VPCSE1Z9E (S Series). It’s reported retail price might be a little steep at 129 Euro (approx. Php 7,763.), but it definitely looks promising. There is no word yet on when this will land on our shores.

     

    Source: Tom’s hardware

    Sale Alert: MSI-ECS Warehouse sale, huge discounts ahoy

    We’ve just gotten word from local distributor MSI-ECS that they’re hosting a massive, massive sale on from September 13 – 16 at their main office in Libis. The huge sale promises discounts as big as 80%(!) on everything from notebooks, netbooks, desktops, monitors, printers, laptop bags and accessories, hard drives, mouse, speakers, cameras and tablets. Since MSI-ECS distributes a literal ton of brands, it’s more than likely you’ll see products from Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Acer, Sony, Buffalo, Apple, Microsoft, Belkin, Ozaki and Imation on sale. Interested? You better be. You can check out what they’re offering for sale by downloading the price list off of their Facebook account here. MSI-ECS is located at Topy II Bldg., #3 Economia St., Bagumbayan, Libis, Quezon City.

    Spotted: Honeycomb running on HTC Flyer

    We loved almost everything about HTC’s entry into the tablet race except for one thing: it didn’t use Honeycomb. Well, if you own a flyer and want to have a taste of sweet Honeycomb on your device, then MoDaCo has got your back. Paul O’Brien over at MoDaCo has managed to grab himself a leaked ROM of the Honeycomb update for HTC’s tablet, and has successfully wrangled it into his own Flyer. As predicted, HTC has injected their own overlay into the Honeycomb experience which gives users added functionality over the stock version of Honeycomb. Unfortunately, the instructions to get it running on your own unit are fairly complex, but if you think you’re ready for it, you can head on to their website and try it for yourself.

    Source: MoDaCo

    Pinoy_Blogfest 2.2 is going to Davao

    After the successful Pinoy_Blogfest 2.0 held in TriNoma last August 5, and the recently concluded regional forum held in the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City,  Gadgets Magazine, will be bring their show to Davao City. This will be held from 8:00 am to 12:00 nn on Monday, 12 September 2011, at J301, Jubilee Hall, Ateneo de Davao University, Davao City.

    Carrying on the theme Social Media as a Change Agent, the program for the regional forum will consist of the following topics and resource persons:

    Social Media as a Change Agent by Gadgets publisher Maribelle Alba gives an overview of the development and evolution of social media as a platform for human interaction.

    Keeping Safe in the Digital World by gadgetsmagazine.com.ph online editor John Nieves provides pointers on how to avoid the pitfalls of identity theft, spamming and other cybercrimes.

    Purchasing Power: Making that Gadget Purchase Count by Gadgets Magazine associate editor Michelle Toledo discusses basic tips on how to assess if a gadget offers value-for-money.

    Pinoy_Blogfest presentor Coca-Cola will also showcase their global Live Positively advocacy, and how this is translated into specific programs and projects that benefit local communities.

    Pinoy_Blogfest 2.2 is presented by Gadgets Magazine in partnership with the Ateneo de Davao University. For more information you may email blogfest [at] gadgetsmagazine.com.ph.

    Create the next Nokia tune and win $10,000

    Nokia’s default ringtone is an icon by itself, and it’s probably safe to say that nearly everyone who has a mobile phone can instantly recognize it when it goes off. It has also evolved through the years, from the relatively primitive beeps of the 5110 to the orchestrated version on the latest models. Now Nokia is looking for help in making the next version of its iconic ringtone – and is ponying up $10,000 to the person who can make the best one. Want in on it? Well, you can head on to http://nokiatune.audiodraft.com/ to register and submit your entry. Not too keen on participating but want to see what other people have come up with? No problem. You can still register and vote the tunes you think should win. Entries will be accepted til October 2, 2011.

    If you want to know more, you can hit up this link.

    Source: Nokia Conversations

    September “keeps tabs” on the freshest gadgets to date

    Perhaps Love really is sweeter the second time around. That’s why Gadgets Magazine gives tribute and heralds today’s latest and trendiest tablets, or the “newly popular” gadget, in our September issue. Check out all of the wonderful things your tablet can do for you and why it is truly a multifunctional tool. And aside from serving you up with the latest gadgets and test results in our Gadgetslab, we also give you 2 of today’s hottest young stars, Erich Gonzales and Enchong Dee, coupled into one hot “newly popularized” show.

    So don’t wait. Get your copy now!

    Honda Issues a Recall of Selected Models

     

    Honda Motor Co., Ltd announced a voluntary recall for some Honda Jazz, City, CR-V models  to “replace the power window master switch assembly” with countermeasure parts.

    This recall to install the safety measure applies only to specific models of Honda’s automobiles:

    • JAZZ (Yr. ’05-’07)
    • CITY (Yr. ’06-’08)
    • CR-V (Yr. ’05-06)

    If you own a model that falls within this category, you may call your respective dealer to check if you’re included in the recall, since only a certain number of models are affected. However, official letters from Honda will be sent out starting today (Sept 06 2011) to affected owners.You may also call the Honda Hotline at 1-800-1000-Honda (46632) or (02) 857-7240 and you can visit Honda’s website.

    The good news is that the replacement of these parts can be performed at any of Honda’s 28 authorized dealers and 3 service centers nationwide. Customers do not have to pay, and the service will conveniently only take half an hour.

    Here’s a more detailed description from Honda on what needs to be replaced:

    The silicon component commonly found in air fresheners or automotive cleaning agents, etc. enters into the power window master switch.  This accelerates wear in the contact area and over time, wear particles accumulate between the power source and ground of the unit switch.  The resin material of the unit switch is then heated and carbonized.  This may cause smoke and in worst case, partial burning of the window switch cover.

    Have no fear, as no unfortunate accidents and mishaps have yet been reported. But if you own one of these Honda vehicles, you may want to check if you’re included in the recall. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

    Lenovo exec says that Samsung only sold 20,000 Tabs out of 1M shipped

    Remember the first Galaxy Tab? The one that Samsung said had sold 1M units? Well, Lenovo exec Andrew Barrow, who is the director of consumer products and pricing for Chinese computer company called shenanigans on their rival’s claim, and said that the Korean electronics giant only sold 20,000 units of the 1M shipped in an effort to “buy share” from market leader Apple, according to a report in the Guardian. According to the report, the Lenovo exec said that the problem with trying to substantially undercut the price of the Apple iPad, of which around 30m have so far been sold, was that “any [manufacturer] would be giving money away.”

    Which is odd, since one of Lenovo’s tablet offerings, the recently announced IdeaPad A1, is aimed squarely at destabilizing Apple’s iPad is going to be priced at $199. Since Samsung has not made exact sales figures for the first Galaxy Tab publicly available, it’s hard to tell if the revelation is true or is merely a case of corporate smack-talk.

    Source: The Guardian