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    You’re Just A Little Show Off, Aren’t You?

    Press Release
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    You’re Just A Little Show Off, Aren’t You?

    Do you think you are God’s gift to graphic design; or perhaps the next hotshot commercial director? Maybe you are. But there is only one way to find out.

    Rebel designers and visionaries are invited to show off their creative streak and visual genius in Pony Footwear’s digital film and poster art competition billed “Show Off.” A competition open to everyone, each contestant is expected to interpret Pony Footwear’s tagline “Let’s Get It On” using imagery, digital design and short narrative.

    There are two categories for this competition, namely: the Digi-Film Contest, for which participants are encouraged to submit an original 60-second short video that must highlight the image of any Pony footwear and may also contain digital animation and text; and the Digital Art Poster Contest, wherein participants are expected to produce original photo which should have a title, a short narrative describing the concept and a clearly visible image of Pony Footwear. Contestants may send in more than one entry.

    The “Show Off” contest begins on June 15 and will run until October 15, 2011. Entries will be judged on concept and story (50%), visual impact (30%) and number of online votes (20%).  The best part is the prize that awaits each winner of the Digi-Film and Digital Art Poster categories: First prize is P40,000 cash plus P10,000 worth of Pony shoes; Second prize is P20,000 cash and P5,000 worth of Pony shoes; and Third price is P10,000 cash and P5,000 worth of Pony shoes.

    Pony is an American brand of footwear, founded in Brooklyn, New York in 1972. Pony has since become a top global athletic brand and, by the ‘80s, the brand had been worn by champion athletes in the World Cup, Super Bowl, NBA and the likes.

    A 2001 re-launch of the brand, Pony footwear became associated entertainment celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton. Rebel rockers like Staind, Limp Bizkit and Korn—whose lead singer, Jonathan Davis, even had his own signature Pony shoes that he wore during live performances.

    Pony’s image thrives on breaking conventions and revolutionary attitude. The PONY “Show Off” digital art competition hopes to capture the youthful exuberance and the fighting spirit of its users, whose talents and vision might just be the beginning of a new generation finally taking over. Participants may send their entries to [email protected]

    For more information on and the detailed mechanics for the Pony “Show Off” competition, visit www.ponyshowoff.com.

    Globe officially launches BB Playbook, deets inside

    Gadgets Team
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    Globe officially launches BB Playbook, deets inside

    We mentioned last week that Globe will be officially carrying the Playbook locally. Well tonight they’ve officially launched it at an event held in the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati. RIM’s 7-inch entry into the tablet market will be available in 16GB and 32GB varieties. It’ll be powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, have 1GB of RAM and will support 1080p video recording.

    We’ve seen and used the Blackberry OS in some form or another in the past, and to be honest we have mixed feelings about it. It does the job well most of the time, but there’s still some things that we haven’t gotten used to, like swiping upward to get out of apps for example.

    Visually, the OS looks good, and from what we could gather from the installed apps on the device, it’s able to handle some fairly heavy number crunching. Visually, it seems like it’s able to keep up with Android Honeycomb tablets with Tegra 2 procies – the game Need for Speed Undercover that was on the demo device looked on par visually with the Android variant, Need for Speed Shift, that we tested on Android tablets.

    The biggest complaint that we had against Honeycomb tablets were the lack of apps, and that goes double for the Playbook. We don’t have the exact numbers on how many apps are currently available for the Playbook, but it’s probably safe to say that that number isn’t as numerous as the ones for Android or iOS. This could improve in time, but it’s definitely something to think about.

    One of the features that RIM has been touting that directly benefits owners of Blackberry devices is the Blackberry Bridge feature. It basically syncs the Playbook with a RIM device of your choice, pushing emails, contacts, calendars and other things directly to the Playbook.

    Right now only the WiFi version will be doing the rounds – there’s still no word on the availability of the 3G variant. If you read our first announcement about the availability of the device, you probably noticed that there isn’t a listing available for just the Playbook. A Globe exec told me that there’s a possibility for the Playbook to be available without the additional Blackberry device.  It will also be available for sale without a plan, but there’s still no word on when that’ll happen.

    Serato ITCH 2.0 is out now

    Gadgets Team
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    Serato ITCH 2.0 is out now

    Serato has just released ITCH 2.0., the latest update to their highly revered DJ software. It is available for download at their site, and previous ITCH owners will receive this update for free.

    For those that aren’t familiar with ITCH, it’s a DJ program that is best paired with its dedicated controllers. Since the union between both software and hardware has been thought out from the start, the result is an intuitive, accurate and reliable DJ system that requires no CD players or turntables.

    Some of the new features in ITCH 2.0 include: (taken from Serato.com)

    • A fresh new look, with changeable Night & Day mode
    • New SP-6 Sample Player including Sample Sync
    • Multiple display modes to suit different styles of DJing – vertical, horizontal, stack and library views
    • Re-optimised Serato SmartSync engine for precise grids and locked grooves
    • Improved Instant Doubles functionality, including support for 4 decks

    If you’re looking for an ITCH controller, you can take a peek here at Serato’s site. One such controller that I’m excited to review is the Pioneer DDJ-S1 (pictured below) which has an SRP of Php 75,990.

    Unboxed: Asus TUF Sabertooth 990FX motherboard

    Gadgets Team
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    Unboxed: Asus TUF Sabertooth 990FX motherboard

    We’ve seen this board before back when we visited Asus’ booth in COMPUTEX, but this is the first time we’ve managed to get our hands on the AMD version of Asus’ TUF board.

    The Sabertooth 990FX brings almost all the features of Intel variant (sans the thermal armor). CeraM!X  Heatsink Coating Tech keeps everything cool and military grade components mean that this little board will be able to take almost everything you can throw at it.

    It’s also equipped with the latest niceties in board design, including USB 3.0 slots, eSATA ports, 6GB SATA connections and a buttload of PCI-E slots.

    Additional features include TUF Thermal Radar (which monitors heat levels real-time), DIGI+ VRM and UEFI BIOS. You can grab the TUF Sabertooth 990FX for about Php 11,990

    [album: https://gadgetsmagazine.com.ph/wp-content/plugins/dm-albums/dm-albums.php?currdir=/wp-content/uploads/dm-albums/[email protected]/Asus Sabertooth 990FX/]

    Secure your gadgets with Pelican

    Gadgets Team
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    Secure your gadgets with Pelican

    The pricier the item, the higher the security. This is especially true for those gadgets that might have cost you at least part of an arm and a leg. And it doesn’t help that these delicate machines usually need a little more armor if you want it to withstand the elements of nature or just plain human clumsiness. That’s why it’s important to invest in a protective case that can give you true protection and better security.

    Pelican, maker of high-grade protective cases, has taken your need for security and introduces the 1075 HardBack protective case to protect various electronics from netbooks to tablets to even external hard drives. Designed in partnership with BMW Designworks, the 1075 HardBack is water-tight and remains shut under pressure or after impact while the lid foam keeps the gadget in place. An Automatic Purge Valve keeps water and dust out while balancing air pressure. It measures at 11.38 x 8.19 x 1.63 inches so for those who own a slim and fragile gadget you’re almost always afraid of breaking, this is something you might want to check out.

    The 1075 HardBack is available for $70

    Symantec releases July 2011 intelligence report, aggressive and rapidly changing form of malware on the rise

    Gadgets Team
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    Symantec releases July 2011 intelligence report, aggressive and rapidly changing form of malware on the rise

    Symantec has just notified us that their July 2011 intelligence report is now available for download. Aside from telling us the obvious (that the internet is a bad, bad place), the report highlights a couple of worrying trends in the security world. One of these is the rise of aggressiveand rapidly changing form of generic polymorphic malware. What does big words mean is that malware writers now code their software in a way that it changes enough every time someone opens it to spoof antivirus software, allowing it free reign in your PC and network. They’ve also a couple of other trends related to security:

    • Spam – 77.8 percent in July (an increase of  4.9 percentage points since June 2011)
    • Phishing – One in 319.3 emails identified as phishing (an increase of 0.01 percentage points since June 2011)
    • Malware – One in 280.9 emails in July contained malware (an increase of 0.02 percentage points since June 2011)
    • Malicious Web sites – 6,797 Web sites blocked per day (an increase of 25.5 percent since June 2011)
    • 35.9 percent of all malicious domains blocked were new in July

    You can read the entire report, including some of the nitty gritty details of it here.

    Android nabs almost 50 percent of smartphone market according to research firm Canalys

    Gadgets Team
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    Android nabs almost 50 percent of smartphone market according to research firm Canalys

    Well here’s a bit of news that’s sure to delight the folks up in Mountain View: Android has now taken almost 50 percent of the smartphone market globally, beating out Symbian, iOS, Blackberry and others. According to research firm Canalys, it’s the number one platform in 35 of the 56 countries Canalys tracks, resulting in a market share of 48 percent. Apple’s iOS meanwhile, holds second place, with a market share of 19 percent. Samsung managed to grow globally and overtook Nokia, all the while shipping 17 million devices, a rise of 421 percent versus a year ago. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 is looking at 1 percent of the market share, something that Steve Ballmer is definitely not happy with.

    Source: Reuters

    Wear your transit card with OI.

    Gadgets Team
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    Wear your transit card with OI.

    For a country that really needs to revamp its public transportation to make traveling more efficient, here’s something that may help. Since the only transit card is available for the Manila Metro Rail Train System (MRT), a similar (and much simpler way) to board other forms of public transportation (particularly the bus) comes in the form of Oi – a wearable transit card. Designed by Benjamin Parton and like London’s Oyster card which is a contactless smart card with embedded integrated circuits that can process and store data, and communicate with a terminal via radio waves, Oi also uses an RFID chip except put into something more fashionable.

    Now you can wear your Oi, as a ring or a widget on your watch. This way, you won’t need to hold up the line of impatient passengers ready to get to and from work, dig through your bag, your wallet, your purse, or even your pocket just to get that ride.

    If only it could make it’s way here.

     

    Source: Yankodesign

    Diablo 3 will require a constant on internet connection, Blizzard doesn’t seem so awesome after all

    Gadgets Team
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    Diablo 3 will require a constant on internet connection, Blizzard doesn’t seem so awesome after all

    We’ve been seriously excited about the eventual release of Diablo 3, but recent news just brought down our excitement down a notch…to 0. Seems like Blizzard is doing an Ubisoft by requiring players to always be online when playing their game. Yes, seems like old Blizzard took a page out of Ubisoft’s “how-to-piss-off-people-who-just-gave-you-money” playbook and copied it word per word. There will also be no modding of the game of any sort which is a surprise considering there’s a huge modding community for Blizzard’s other titles. Finally, there will be RMT, or real money trading of items. Meaning anyone can buy (and sell) items in the game’s auction house for cold, hard, cash. We’ve already taken one highly anticipated game off of our shopping list (Driver 3) because of draconian, always-on DRM measures like the one Blizzard wants to implement, and it seems more than likely we’re taking another one off. Oh well, there’s always Guild Wars 2….

    Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

     

    Nido Discovery Center’s “i Play i Learn” hub officially opened to the public

    Gadgets Team
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    Nido Discovery Center’s “i Play i Learn” hub officially opened to the public

    Education has no boundaries because knowledge is limitless.

    MANILA, Philippines – Vibal Publishing House Inc. has officially opened its i Play i Learn Hub to the public on August 1, 2011, which is  located at the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center in Mall of Asia.

    The i Play i Learn Hub offers the chance to learn by interacting with some of the latest technology, combining education with entertainment. Children (as well as adults) will have access to games and activities on touch screen computers, digital storybooks on iPad and Android tablets (including Vibal’s Chikiting books) and a DOST information station that features an archive of digital articles and information.

    Vibal Publishing House Inc. is one of our country’s educational pioneers ever since it published its first textbook in 1961, and is also the founder of WikiPilipinas.org and Filipiniana.net. The i Play i Learn Hub is their most recent undertaking as part of the Vibal Digital campaign, which aims to incorporate digital content into the Filipino’s educational experience.

    The Vibal i Play i Learn Hub can be found on the second floor of the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center at SM Mall of Asia. The center is open from 10 AM – 8 PM on weekdays and 10 AM to 10 PM on weekends.

    Fore more information:

    Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center
    Vibal Publishing House Inc.

    Review: Samsung Galaxy S II

    Gadgets Team
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    Review: Samsung Galaxy S II

    The first Galaxy S had a lot of things going for it – it was slim, responsive, and was packed to the brim with all the latest tech goodies that the Korean manufacturer could stuff into it. It’s probably an understatement to say then, that the Galaxy S II has its work cut out for it. Thankfully the Samsung Galaxy S II manages to surpass the original in almost every way.

    The Galaxy S II is the latest in the line of Samsung’s superphones, and since it’s Sammy’s current flagship model, it’s packed to the brim with everything you’d expect – a fantastically bright and crisp 4.3-inch super AMOLED screen, a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and the latest build of Android, Gingerbread 2.3.

    The Galaxy S II is undeniably slim, and measures in at 8.5mm at its thinnest point. There’s a 3.5mm phone jack on top and USB/charger input at the bottom.

    There’s also an 8-megapixel camera on the back.

    The speakers are located on the small bump on near the bottom of the device. Unlike its competitors, the Galaxy S II only uses two touch sensitive buttons at the bottom of the screen.

    Physical buttons are slim pickings – there’s the power button on the right and the volume rocker on the left, with a home button being the sole, physical key in the front of the device.

    The overall build quality of the Galaxy S II is good, and though it’s mostly made out of plastic, we’re fairly certain it’ll stand up to abuse well. The Galaxy S II is extremely light, and only slightly tips the scales at around 116 grams. The design is simple, yet elegant, and the rounded corners plus the slightly textured back of the device mean that you’ll always have a comfortable and positive grip on it.

    One of the best things going for the Galaxy S II is its screen. It’s seriously one of the best, if not THE best displays we’ve seen on a smartphone so far this year. The super AMOLED screen is nice and bright, has excellent colors, viewing angles and so on and so forth. The blacks are amazing on the screen, and everything you do with it – from watching movies and videos – feels so much better than viewing it on a regular LCD screen. One thing though – AMOLED screens tend to suffer when exposed to direct sunlight, kind of like a vampire (no, not the one that shimmers). The Galaxy S II doesn’t suffer as badly compared to other AMOLED devices, but it’s still something to keep in mind.

    Like most other manufacturers, Samsung’s tweaked the stock Android interface and injected their own improvements by way of their TouchWiz UI.

    I especially liked the fact that four of the most important widgets – Phone, Contacts, Messaging and Apps – are always accessible even while going through the seven different (and customizable) homescreens.  As with anything Android, you can customize the screens depending on what you want.

    Performance-wise, the Galaxy S II did not disappoint. It trudged through Quadrant Standard like a champ, scoring an impressive 3259 points. To put that in perspective, the HTC Sensation we reviewed a couple of weeks back (which also had a dual-core 1.2GHz processor) scored 2212.

    It was pretty much the same story for AnTuTu, with the Galaxy S II scoring extremely high, nabbing about 5249. It was weird though that it didn’t reach the highest benchmark score on AnTuTu (which was about 5600) even though it was set by the same unit, the Galaxy S II.

    Battery life was excellent, and it managed to last more than a day on a single charge. Usually battery life is the my main complaint when it comes to reviewing smartphones, with most devices not lasting the night if not plugged in to the socket. The Galaxy S II managed to stay on even when I forgot to charge it of the night, which speaks volumes about the screen’s power efficiency.

    It’s hard to find fault in the Galaxy S II, but there is one thing that really bothered me about it. The back cover on the device is extremely flimsy – it’s less than a millimeter thick, and judging from the condition of the cover when the unit got to us, it’s a bit prone to damage.

    But don’t let that little detail stop you from trying out the Samsung Galaxy S II. It’s possibly one of the fastest smartphones, if not THE fastest smartphone out in the market today. It’s also one of the slimmest around, and brings both style and technology in a beautiful package that fits in the palm of your hand.
    What’s Hot:

    Super AMOLED screen

    Extremely responsive

    Fast processor

    Excellent performance
    What’s Not:

    Back cover is flimsy, prone to damage

    Bottomline:

    It was a tall order, but the Samsung Galaxy S II managed to surpass the original in every way. Definetely a must buy.

    Buymeter: 9

    TECH SPECS

    • Operating System
    • Android 2.3, TouchWiz UI
    • CPU
    • Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor, Mali-400MP GPU
    • LCD size
    • 4.3 inch, Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen
    • Physical Dimensions
    • 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5mm
    • Weight
    • 116 grams
    • Band
    • GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

    TV5 and MMDA’s Traffic Navigator officially launches, mobile app will be available soon

    Gadgets Team
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    TV5 and MMDA’s Traffic Navigator officially launches, mobile app will be available soon

    So we’ve been using the Traffic Navigator that was developed by TV5 and the MMDA for a while now, and we’re not going to lie – it’s definitely a time saver. Little did we know that the site was only in its beta stages, and things have gotten better since then. The service was officially launched tonight at the EDSA Shangri-La, and it’s picked up a few improvements since we last saw it. The site has been optimized for web browsing on almost every screen and operating system, be it in your monitor or on your smartphone. They’ve also announced a few planed improvements to the site, including adding more roads, which will include Katipunan, Marcos Highway and Ortigas (hopefully including arterial roads as well) and mobile versions of the app for iOS and Android. The site is updated every 15 minutes, so people will hopefully get a good idea of what they’re getting into before they leave. Another nice feature that’s been unveiled is the ability to share traffic deets via Twitter and Facebook, and soon the ability to see the reason why a certain part of the road is congested.

    We were given a preview of the iOS app for Interaksyon app. Aside from giving users a way to keep track of the what’s happening on the road, the app also allows you to keep up with the stories that broke during the day, as well a way to download and read the articles later. As an added bonus, you can also listen to music from TV5’s own radio station, DWFM 92.3. Sadly, aside from the normal app development routes (Android, Blackberry and Windows), there’s no word on a Symbian app yet (this is still Nokia country, after all) but we’ve gotten word that they’re trying to find a way for non-smartphone users to benefit from the site.

    Doodle.ly: Why write when you can doodle?

    Gadgets Team
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    Doodle.ly: Why write when you can doodle?

    Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica – These fonts never had anything on those crazy little doodles that once filled the pages of your notebook. Now, the web is your personal sketchpad with Doodle.ly. This new website allows you to get those creative juices flowing and create your works of art and share them with the rest of the world rather than keeping them in between your school notes and trapper keepers. Put color, character and personality into your sketches and leave those boring old fonts for the class and boardroom. Visit the site, start doodling, and share via Twitter or Facebook. (I’m sure the guys over at wewilldoodle will absolutely love this!)

    Hopefully soon, it’ll find its way into your iPhone and iPad. What’ll you do at school/work then?

     

    Source: Coolhunting

    Unmanned drone can crack your WiFi and GSM networks

    Gadgets Team
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    Unmanned drone can crack your WiFi and GSM networks

    Every year the Blackhat Security Conference and DEFCON becomes the stage where hackers, whatever hat they wear, come and play. This year’s conference however, had our inner nerds smiling and our paranoid selves looking for the nearest tin hat. It’s because of the WASP, or the Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform. Basically it’s an unmanned drone (kind of the like the one that the US Army uses to blow up targets in Afghanistan) that’s been heavily modified to snoop in on wireless and GSM networks. It’s able to break into secured wireless networks with ease, and it’s GSM antenna allows it to eavesdrop on calls and text messages in whatever area it’s flying in.

    And if that wasn’t enough, aside from takeoff and landing, the drone can be completely automated. After take off you can forget about it, and once it lands, you can have your way with all the data it’s managed to accumulate. Oh, did we mention that it’s totally capable of taking videos too?

    Source: Forbes

    Globe drops the price of its Tattoo BB stick to Php 995

    Gadgets Team
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    Globe drops the price of its Tattoo BB stick to Php 995

    Been itching to grab a Globe Tattoo BB stick but was too stingy for it? Well, now’s the time to drop the cash – Globe’s dropped the price of its Tatoo BB stick to a measly Php 995. Aside from surfing the web on this USB powered dongle, users will also get 120 hours of surfing good for 5 days with their purchase. Though users may be a bit wary when purchasing Globe’s internet sticks now that Smart’s come out saying that theirs is significantly faster than the competition. Regardless, Php 995 isn’t much, and at that price (and the surfing time included) means that you still get your money’s worth.

     

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