Apple has slipped an update for the iOS, with the new patch 4.3.3 fixing some of the issues with the location cache that caused such an uproar a month ago. Listed on the official apple website, the patch reduces the size of the cache used to store the data, and removes the automatic backup of the cache into iTunes. In addition, the new patch also deletes the entire cache when a user opts to turn the location services off.
Source: Apple
Being a Honda owner for several years now, I know that with it comes a smooth, refreshing driving experience. Whether in the city or those long roadtrips out to the countryside, you’re assured a pleasant, comfortable and enjoyable ride. Here, Honda continues the legacy.
Honda Cars Phils., Inc. (HCPI), one of the leading automotive manufacturers in the country, announces the appointment of Tatsuya Natsume as its new President and General Manager effective April 1, 2011.
Prior to his assignment in the Philippines, Mr. Natsume was the marketing director of Honda Siel Cars, India, Ltd. (HCSI). Now on his fourth overseas assignment, Mr. Natsume also held posts in Germany and Italy.
Mr. Natsume’s Philippine assignment marks a significant chapter in his career as he celebrates his 25th anniversary in Honda. Mr. Natsume joined Honda Motor Co., Ltd. right after graduation in 1986, “My first car was a Honda Civic. I fell in love with its excellent performance and put high regard in the brand. This strongly motivated me to join the company,” said Mr. Natsume.
In his 25 fruitful years in Honda, Mr. Natsume has been considerably versed with several overseas operations. Apart from his assignments outside Japan, he also handled the Latin America, Middle East, Africa, Asia – Oceania and China operations from Honda Motor’s headquarters in Tokyo.
Mr. Natsume shares his enthusiasm to his new post. He said, “I am very excited to get to know the Filipinos better. Ten years ago, I visited the Philippines to conduct a market study. And now, as president of HCPI, my goal is to assess and have a deeper understanding of the market in order to provide the finest products and services the Filipino customers are looking for.”
After months of looking longingly at LG’s product pages in other countries, local consumers can finally partake in some dual core smartphone goodness. LG Philippines have announced the local availability of the Optimus 2X and Optimus Black.
The Optimus 2X barely needs introduction, but we’ll do it just the same for the people not in the know. This pretty little thing is certified by the Guinness Book of World records as the world’s first dual core smartphone, sporting a dual core Tegra 2 processor running at 1GHz. The 4-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen is nice and bright, and again is pretty darn responsive.
The device has very little physical keys.
Disappointingly, the Optimus 2X is only armed with Froyo (Android 2.2). LG execs assure me that it’s able to take Gingerbread, but did not specify when the OTA for it would come.
The Optimus 2X has an 8 megapixel camera. It also has a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera.
The Optimus 2X is pretty responsive, and we wasted no time getting down and dirty with it. We downloaded Neocore, a smartphone benchmarking tool from the Android market, and ran it on the Optimus 2X. Unsurprisingly, the Optimus 2X netted an impressive benchmark of 75.6 FPS.
Also unveiled at the event was the LG Optimus Black, one of the skinniest and brightest smartphones around. Sporting a 700 nit screen which, according to LG, is brighter than “Competitor B” (*cough*iPhone*cough*) which only has 518 nit screen. The 4-inch NOVA screen is supposedly proprietary to LG.
Like the Optimus 2X, the Optimus Black is equipped with Froyo, with an option to upgrade to Gingerbread later.
The Optimus Black has a 5 megapixel camera.
Side views of the Optimus Black.
The LG Optimus 2X and Optimus Black will launch next week with a Php 27,990 and Php 19,990 sticker price respectively, and will initially be available at LG’s concept stores.
Indeed Samsung has made amazing innovations in the industry. Over the years, many have recognized the originality and advancement of Samsung, and now even Hohenstein Institute Germany has recognized the performance of its home appliances.
Hohenstein Institute is an internationally recognized research and service center for hygiene and biotechnology. They tested Samsung microwaves and validated its anti-bacterial performance. This makes Samsung Microwaves the very first to get a certification mark for anti-bacterial technology, recognizing its ceramic enamel cavity inside.
The ceramic enamel cavity in Samsung microwaves do not turn rusty or crack as they age and prevents it from being dirty and collecting bacteria. It does not discolor in high temperatures and prevents bacteria from proliferation. The institute also accredited Samsung’s anti-bacterial agents which have high durability against corrosion.
Korean Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) acknowledged that Samsung Electronics’ anti-bacterial ceramic enamel cavity ensures a level of durability that is at least 7.5 times higher than iron plate to which epoxy coating is applied.
“Our antibacterial ceramic enamel cavity is created the way pottery is produced,” said Mr. Chang Wan Hong, executive vice president of the Samsung Digital Appliances business. “We apply antibacterial porcelain enamel that is produced in high temperatures – up to 830 degrees Celsius – to the inside of a microwave. The result is a high-class material that has a smooth, shiny surface like that of a piece of pottery. We’re the only company in the world to have such a feature in microwave ovens,” he added.
Samsung plans to apply its antibacterial technology to all their microwave products to provide consumers healthier tools for cooking.
source: samsunghub
As our lives revolve around our growing addiction with collecting different forms of multimedia, the rapidly increasing demand for more storage capacity is also at hand.
Fortunately, Seagate has made a revolutionary advancement in this department, by creating the world’s first 3.5” hard drive to break the 1TB areal density barrier, ultimately resulting in a 3TB HDD. Not only will this add much needed space for storage, but it will also vastly improve performance as well.
Official shipping dates are still TBA.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer just made an appearance at the Blackberry World conference to announce that Microsoft and RIM are bringing Bing search to BlackBerry devices. What’s surprising about the move is while Bing will be an app for Blackberry devices currently in the market, it’s going to be embedded in the code itself to allow for deeper integration for future devices. As a result, new BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook tablet will default to using Bing for search and mapping.
This puts Microsoft at a delicate position, as it also has it’s own smartphone ambitions. In one hand, it needs to take steps to try and stop Google from gaining the same search monopoly it achieved on the PC space. On the other hand, Microsoft also has its own OS, Phone 7, which directly competes with RIM’s Blackberry devices.
Source: Engadget
Alright, so UPS devices aren’t the most glamorous gadgets in the world. Truth is, they’re not very interesting. That ambivalence towards these products lasts until the power cuts out and you’re left with nothing but a candle in your hands. Emerson’s newest UPS, the Liebert GXT3 gives IT managers the option of packing higher power capacities into smaller spaces. The new UPS comes in 5 to 10kVA models. The Liebert GXT3 can be installed in a rack or tower configuration, with a rotating LED display panel that adjusts accordingly. The Liebert UPS features replaceable, hot-swappable internal batteries that provide four or more minutes of runtime at full load, with higher backup time available at typical loading conditions. The 5kVA and 6kVA models require only 5U of space, while the 10kVA models require only 6U of space. Optional battery cabinets, adding just 3U to 4U of rack space, provide additional runtime via the plug-and-play connections on the rear panel of the UPS.
Petron Student Art Competition now open for entries
Everyone’s Vision Petron is an exhibition and competition for all young and budding artists. Themed Lakbay Pinoy —Journeys to Remember, Pathways to Rediscover, this year’s competition focuses on life journeys expressed symbolically by roads, highways and byways. It can be a mountain path representing a journey to success, or a zigzag lane symbolizing seasons of change. It can be a forest trail sparking childhood memories, or a nostalgic route conjuring reminiscences of student life.
Petron believes that everyone has his/her own unique perspective on things and that this uniqueness can be expressed in so many different ways. This is the inspiration behind Everyone’s Vision Petron — the belief that free artistic expression remains intrinsic to nation-building.
Everyone’s Vision Petron is open to all talented students enrolled in a regular university or college course, or in tutorial and photography classes. Student artists may compete in three categories: Painting (oil and water-based media), photography, and t-shirt design.
In the painting category, six Grand Prize winners will each receive P50,000; for the colored photography category, six Grand Prize winners will each receive P30,000; and in the t-shirt design category, three Grand Prize winners will each receive P30,000. All winners will also receive a trophy/plaque designed by National Artist Napoleon Abueva.
Application forms are available at participating Petron service stations and bulk plants nationwide, or from the Secretariat Office (c/o Studio 5 Designs, 28 Paseo de Roxas cor Jupiter St, Bel-Air Village, Makati City, telephone 02-8909318). The form may also be downloaded from the website: www.visionpetron.com.
Deadline for submission of entries is 18 July 2011 at Petron bulk plants nationwide or 25 July 2011 at the Project Secretariat.
Going green as well as going beyond “Earth Hour” has become an on-going and pervasive trend in today’s businesses. And one figure who remains actively dedicated to educating humankind about the causes and consequences of global warming and offering solutions to the looming crises implicit in the changes to the earth’s climate and habitability is Nobel laureate and former US Vice President, Al Gore.
Push Pop Press, a new digital publishing platform that’s redefining the way we publish and experience books, has launched Al Gore’s 2009 book “Our Choice,” a book which proposes a plan to solve the climate crisis, into an iPad app.
The app includes an introduction from Al Gore who provides a tutorial, though that app itself boasts intuitive controls and easy navigation between chapters as well as turning pages. The app also allows users to view images and pictures full-screen while expandable elements contain geotags that are displayed on a global map. With all of this included, you’re sure to come out wanting to save the planet now more than ever.
New Al Gore app spearheads the future of interactive books
Download on iTunes for $5.
If there ever was a time you thought the internet was a place where unicorns prance around without care, you’re in for a rude shock. Symantec has just shared their 16th ISTR (Internet Security Threat Report) with members of the media yesterday, and the report highlights worrying trends in this series of tubes we call the internet.
Aside from the regular threats – more targeted attacks with more sophisticated coding – probably the most worrying threat that’s hitting close to home is the spread of malicious code through the use of social networks.
Hackers and other malicious coders have embraced the rise of Facebook and Twitter wholeheartedly and have used both as a base to deliver their payloads. They use attacks specially tailored to a target, using the marks’ own data against them. Once an account is successfully attacked, they leverage news feeds to spread spam, scams and other attacks.
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For Twitter, the attackers use shortened URLs to hide malicious links. According to the ISTR, 73% were clicked 11 times or more when compared to longer URLs.
Another worrying threat that’s rising is mobile attacks. With the advent of smartphones that are fast approaching regular PCs when it comes to computing power, it only makes sense that attacks on the different platforms will continue to rise. Mobile vulnerabilities are steadily rising, with 115 vulnerabilities in 2009 rising to 163 in 2010, a 42% increase. Symantec wouldn’t say it, but it seems that the Android platform is particularly more vulnerable to attacks simply because of its nature. The open system and loose development guidelines mean that it’s easier to develop and publish malicious programs masquerading as legitimate software.
So how can you protect yourself? The easiest and best way is to practice a hefty amount of common sense. If you see links or application invites posted on your wall from your friends that are out of place for their character or was sent en masse to his/her other contacts, that’s already a red flag. Same thing for FB chat – if a friend that you don’t talk to that often suddenly pops in giving you a link to visit, ask them about it through a PM. For Twitter, be careful about the links you visit, especially shortened ones. Don’t go clicking on everything you see, especially ones that promise scandalous videos like the recently made Lady Gaga Twitter scam. Finally, make sure to invest in a good anti-virus software solution, like Symantec and make sure it’s always updated.
The new Blackberry Bold 9900 and 9930 are the thinnest and most powerful BlackBerry Smartphones to date. It combines the renowned BlackBerry Keyboard, High Resolution touch screen and the New BlackBerry 7 OS.
“The new BlackBerry Bold smartphones and BlackBerry 7 OS are inspired by millions of customers around the world who want the ultimate combination of performance, functionality and style,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO, Research In Motion. “These fully-loaded and beautifully crafted smartphones offer a highly refined user experience with blazingly fast performance, a brilliant touch screen and an outstanding typing experience.”
These new Bold Smartphones have a brushed stainless steel frame and a high-gloss glass weave backplate all enclosed in the thinnest BlackBerry yet, measuring 10.55mm.
These smartphones have a great performance with a 1.2 GHz processor, Liquid Graphics touch screen, and support for high speed 4G/HSPA+ wide area wireless networks.
The Liquid Graphics touch screen is the new feature of BlackBerry 7 which delivers fast and smooth performance for highly responsive touch-based navigation, browsing and other media. It offers up to 60 frames-per-second with 287 dpi for ultimate visuals.
BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 can support up to 720p HD video recording and playback which can be easily shared and synced to a computer using Media Sync in the BlackBerry Desktop Software.
The new Blackberry 7 OS is for ultimate performance and provides an easier, faster and improved experience in browsing, voice-activated searches, contents and apps.
The new BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 smartphones are expected to hit stores around the world beginning this summer.
source: blackberry
In an era of acquisitions and buyouts, Twitter joined the craze as they have recently acquired TweetDeck, a third-party software application for Internet Social Networking Services. Reports say that Twitter payed up to $50 million for the said deal.
There was previous reports of UberMedia having a 30-day exclusive on the deal but because negotiations took too long, Twitter had the chance to make a higher offer.
Twitter is one of the most popular social networking services along with Facebook and Zynga. It is valued at $3.7 billion in a $200 million funding round led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Auctions of Twitter shares for secondary market suggested investors were valuing the shares at more than $7 billion.
The cash and stock deal came to a close tuesday and is approximately priced between $40 million to $50 million.
Source: Reuters
For all you audio aficionados out there, the cumbersome task of digitizing your vinyl collection for portability may soon be over. A designer by the name of Olivier Meynard has forged a breakthrough concept which fuses the worlds of analog and digital together.
In theory, the machine is essentially a turntable with an iPhone charging dock embedded into it. Users will simply have to play their favorite LP record or 45 and simultaneously record and convert songs for instant use with the iPhone.
Granted, while this is certainly not the first machine or design to hit the market, Meynard’s idea is unique because it is slated to have its own built in amp encased within a modern yet sleek exterior.
Source: Engadget
While most of us are familiar with the entertaining past time of playing air guitar, you rarely see anybody doing it with a piano. Perhaps this is because imagination has crossed over into reality, as the world’s first AirPiano has been officially released.
Conceptualized and invented by Omer Yosha of Berlin, the AirPiano is essentially a slim walnut wood panel adorned with infrared sensors and LED lights encased in acrylic glass. It is a musical controller/interface which can host up to 24 invisible keys and 8 discrete faders communicating via MIDI and OSC. Connecting to a computer via USB, the AirPiano is programmed through its own specialized software wherein users can create and save their own presets. A jack is also provided on the hardware unit for connecting an expression pedal/foot switch.
For more information on the AirPiano, visit their official website.
Source: MusicRadar
The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks may be dead, but it doesn’t mean that his name is done doing damage. We’ve been seeing a large amount of Facebook posts created by an app that’s taking advantage of the demise of the most wanted terrorist on earth.
The post promises that you’ll see Osama’s execution video. Instead, it’ll spread the same link to your contacts and flood them with the same request. It’s still not clear what that particular threat does, but it’s probably safe to assume that it’s not good. So for your own sake, DON’T click on that link. This is a popular tactic for most malware creators, that preys on people’s inherent curiosity to spread their malicious code. Use a healthy amount of common sense when it comes to clicking on things that you see on your Facebook wall, and if you really want news, go and visit a well established news site.
