In our world today, almost any activity or chore can be accomplished without having to go out of the house. Indeed, it has become easier to be a veritable recluse in the age of supercomputers and the internet. Even here in Cebu City, running a business can be effortless, if you just have the right tools and know how to use them. One such tool that can be quite indispensable for a home-based businessman is the virtual office.

Now, What is a Virtual Office

Well, it is an office environment equipped with a reputable physical address, a phone line along with a message handling service, and meeting rooms. However, unlike the typical office space, virtual offices can be accessed anywhere as long as there is an internet connection.

What exactly are the benefits of a virtual office?

1. It is relatively inexpensive compared to renting a physical office space. You do not have to spend money for the rent or office furnishing as well as pay monthly dues for the electricity, phone line, internet connection, and other amenities commonly attributed to conventional offices. Neither do you have to hire many employees to man the office since many companies that offer virtual offices have their own virtual receptionist that could answer or take calls on your behalf.

2. It gives a company a reputable business address without the extra cost. Many investors or clients put much importance on a company’s mailing address because being able to afford that is one of the signs of a company’s financial stability. However,  these things usually come with expensive price tags. With virtual offices, you can have the address at a fraction of the price.

3. It enables you to hire employees based on factors that really count. Many home-based workers don’t really have to be physically impressive or presentable to be able to accomplish their work or deal with clients. This means that they are evaluated based solely on their skills and efficiency. In short, you have a pool of highly skilled individuals in the tip of your fingers—or at least to the extent of your research skills, powers of deduction, and judgement skills.

4. It is really flexible. You can bring your office and all its necessary equipment with you, whenever and where you are. You can work according to your personal schedule, no matter how many changes you might bring to it. Also, your employees can work according to their schedules and may still accomplish a lot of good work. All you and your workers would need is to develop effective time management skills.

Successfully managing an enterprise is serious business, so it is essential that you get the right assistance and people with the right skills to help you out. You can certainly try the conventional way of running a business, i.e., hunt for a prestigious and pricey business centre Cebu and hire all the needed employees to run it. However, if you have a better alternative, it might be a tad unwise not to try it. With virtual offices–and some minimum effort from you—you can efficiently run or start up a business from home without too much cost and unnecessary stress.

About the Author

Regus ph is a company that caters to clients from various corners of the globe. They offer a range of products, from virtual offices to physical business centres.

The new governors are:

Vicente M. Joyas, Chairman of the Board
Rosario T. Setias-Reyes, Vice Chairman and Governor for Greater Manila
Oliver A. Cachapero, Governor for Northern Luzon
Maria Imelda Q. Tuazon, Governor for Central Luzon
Ramon S. Esguerra, Governor for Southern Luzon
Avelino V. Sales, Governor for Bicolandia
Jose Vicente R. M. Opinion, Governor for Eastern Visayas
Von Lovel D. Bedonia, Governor for Western Visayas
Dale Bryan D. Mordeno, Governor for Eastern Mindanao
Noel A. Ben, Governor for Western Mindanao

The Board of Governors leads all members of the Bar and serves for a term of three years.

Reference:
Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles
IBP Public Information Officer

Parental apps represent a niche market, but nevertheless they are a segment with high monetization opportunities says the new report “The U.S. Parental App Market 2015” from research2guidance. Between 2010 and 2015 the number of capable devices in the target group will be increasing steadily. Smartphones and tablets will reach a penetration rate of over 100% by the end of 2015. Thus, in two year’s time there will be 14 million parents with 16 million capable devices in the U.S.

Mobile apps that accompany parents during the first years of their children’s life represent a market fragment which is highly relevant for their users. “Monetization chances for parental apps are high because of daily multi-time usage, high brand awareness, high relevance and the intrinsic sharing need of parents. Thus, parental apps should on average be able to charge higher app download prices, generate in-app advertisement and purchase revenues compared to apps of other categories” explains Ralf-Gordon Jahns, Head of Research at research2guidance.

Mobile apps that support parents to securely raise their children are of high value. App developers can build their apps upon strong mobile use cases like “never miss a moment” (baby diaries), “peace of mind” (information and guidance) or “quantified self” (child development trackers).“

At present there are almost 4,700 parental applications in the major app stores and by 2015 the total number of parental apps will exceed 9,500”, says Anca Aneculaesei, Senior Research Analyst at research2guidance. “This illustrates the intensifying competition in the niche market of parental apps.”

More than a quarter of all parental apps will be published on the iOS platform and more than half them on Android.

At the same time, the high competition is matched by high demand from parents, as demonstrated by the 124 million downloads for parental apps by 2015 and a multi-million USD market.

The new report “The U.S. Parental App Market” by research2guidance is the only available market report on parental mobile applications addressed to app publishers, VCs and other funding organizations, as well as to healthcare companies.

Well for me, I am investing in the Stock Market via Colfinancial and my other investment goes with International Marketing Group Philippines (IMG).

IMG is a broker of different investment company from Insurance, Mutual Funds, Real Estate and More.

All I can say is that it is good to be invested in a Philippine market. I know that in the Long run my money will appreciate.

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Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, born in Manila was a former mayor of San Juan before he became the president of Philippines.

On this election he defeated former Mayor Alfredo Lim with a small difference.

Meanwhile, his running mate, Isko Moreno also win in the Vice Mayoral position defeating an actor Lou Veloso.

The partial and unofficial tally showed Estrada of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) with 288,058 votes while incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim of the Liberal Party (LP) had 257,631 as of posting time

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to the World’s Thinnest 2.5-inch Solid State Hybrid Drives from WD

MANILA, Philippines – May 8, 2013 – WD^®, a Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company, and SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced that the two companies are collaborating to introduce hybrid storage devices that feature best-in-class flash memory technology from SanDisk and best-in-class hard drive technology from WD.

 SanDisk is supplying a SanDisk iSSD™ storage device for the WD Black™ solid state hybrid drive (SSHD), the world’s thinnest 2.5-inch SSHD solution, which utilizes both WD proprietary hybrid technology and industry standard SATA IO technology. The SanDisk iSSD brings an elegant balance of performance, low power consumption, cost, reliability, and a compact form factor to this SSHD, which will offer ample storage to meet consumers’ growing appetite for digital content as well as flash-enabled speed, data throughput and responsiveness – all within ultra-slim form factors.

“I am delighted for SanDisk to team up with WD on these exciting new hybrid products,” said Kevin Conley, senior vice president and general manager of client storage solutions at SanDisk. “By combining SanDisk’s unparalleled flash memory expertise and technology with the hard drive know-how of WD, WD Black SSHDs offer outstanding hard drive-like capacity, and the slim form factor and the level of performance that you will only get with flash memory solutions.”

“Working with SanDisk, WD realized our vision for products that combine the best of both technologies,” said Matt Rutledge, vice president of client computing at WD. “WD’s SSHDs are a significant achievement in the continuing SSHD/flash storage revolution.”

About WD Black Solid State Hybrid Drives

WD Black SSHDs use WD hybrid technology that blends responsive, intelligent flash memory technology from SanDisk with high capacity hard drives from WD. This powerful combination greatly improves the PC user experience, enabling both high capacity and a higher level of performance than traditional hard disk drives, including increased speed, instant-on and faster application launching.

With device volume being a key concern for PC manufacturers who want to design slimmer devices, the WD Black SSHDs are designed to accommodate integration into the market’s thinnest notebooks. The WD Black 5mm SSHD offers 500GB of capacity, while utilizing almost 50 percent less volume than current standard notebook hard drives (which are approximately 9.5mm). The low-profile of the solid state hybrid drive is complemented by the extremely small form factor of the SanDisk iSSD, which is built on 19 nanometer (nm) process technology, the world’s smallest and most advanced semiconductor manufacturing process. The WD Black 5mm SSHDs are shipping to OEMs. WD is also currently shipping to OEMs ultra-slim, 7mm and 9.5mm SSHDs for portable devices.

MANILA, Philippines – May 2, 2013 – WD®, a Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company and world leader in storage and connected-life products, today announced it is shipping the world’s first ultra-slim 2.5-inch, 5 mm hard drives and solid state hybrid drives (SSHD) , which are designed for integration into the slimmest devices and space-constrained computing environments. With 500 GB of storage capacity and models with high performance-enabling solid state hybrid drive technology, this slim product line helps to address the tradeoffs system designers often make between capacity, physical size and performance.

“With the launch of our new WD Blue™ 5 mm ultra slim hard drives and our WD Black™ SSHD products, currently shipping to OEMs, WD is delivering to our customers a variety of solutions that maximize storage capacity and volumetric efficiency, as well as performance and system responsiveness, for consumers,” said Matt Rutledge, vice president of WD’s client computing business unit. “Our engineering team took a clean-sheet approach with 5 mm to deliver an ultra-thin hard drive that enables a world of possibilities and applications for mobile computing and beyond.”

WD designed the new WD Blue and WD Black 5 mm drives to enable new levels of device portability. The new drives are aimed to increase internal storage capacity while enabling it to fit into smaller device slots. In addition, the slimmer and more portable the device, the more vulnerable the hard drive is to user-induced stress. To battle this, WD has designed key enablers to the 5 mm form factor:

• Ultra-slim Form Factor – 5 mm height with compact connector offers system designers a greater degree of chassis design freedom. This ultra-slim form factor reduces weight by up to 36 percent compared with a standard 9.5 mm drive.
• Best-in-class Acoustics and Shock – WD’s best-in-class acoustics use technologies that reduce noise when the drive is active or idle. The WD Blue and WD Black 5 mm drives deliver unprecedented operation and non-operation shock specifications with 400 G and 1000G, respectively.
• Edge Card Technology – WD designed the connector and board utilizing cell phone miniaturization technology to maximize the mechanical sway space in the hard drive and ensure shock performance.
• Edge Card Connector – WD Blue 5 mm hard drives also feature the first application of a new small form factor SFF-8784 edge connector. This new connector receives power from and interfaces with the host I/O bus via the SATA interface connector SFF-8784.
• StableTrac™ – The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking during read and write operations which enables consistently higher performance.
• Dual Stage Actuator – Leading-edge enterprise dual stage actuators provide two actuators that improve positional accuracy over the data track(s). The primary actuator provides coarse displacement using conventional electromagnetic actuator principles. The secondary actuator uses piezoelectric motion to fine tune the head positioning to a higher degree of accuracy.

Price and Availability

Shipping today to select industrial distributors and OEM customers in 500 GB capacities, WD Blue 2.5-inch 5 mm hard drives, (model: WD5000MPCK) has a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of PHP 3,995. WD Blue 2.5-inch 5 mm hard drives are covered by a two-year limited warranty. WD Black SSHD versions are currently shipping to OEM’s and integrators with both WD proprietary hybrid technology and industry standard SATA I/O technology.

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Both platforms now combine 82% of all app downloads. Will this duopoly last for the next years or will the market see another major change in the market structure as witnessed 5 years ago when the dominance of Symbian started to fade away?

The most likely scenario is that the duopoly will give way to a more heterogeneous mobile operating system landscape. There is evidence that already in 2013 the market will enter a new phase with more relevant mobile app platforms which would be the beginning of the end of the duopoly.

1. New platforms, new choice: Microsoft, BlackBerry, Firefox, Ubuntu or Jolla have come up with fresh and new app platforms which will challenge the two market leaders. Some have financial muscles others have cool new concepts and solutions. All seems to attract a lot of market hype indicating that the market got a bit bored with iOS and Android and are looking for something new.

2. Old problems of the computer/mobile device industry, old strategies: Today, 90% of all smartphones come with an iOS or Android operating system. Maybe mobile phones users can live with this uniformity but most of the smartphone device manufacturers can’t, if they don’t want to compete only by price.  As a consequence new and fresh operating systems will be loaded on smartphones especially from 2^nd tier device manufacturers like HTC, Huawai and ZTE to offer something different.

This market shift would have an impact on the app initiatives companies have launched over the course of the last years. Every app developer and publisher will have to adjust their app development and distribution strategy to compete in a market with 5-7 relevant mobile operating systems. In essence app development and distribution will become more complex.

Compared to the world today, where most of the app publishers and developers are concentrating on iOS and Android, the need for adding at least Windows Phone and BlackBerry to the “served platform list” will increase over the next 2 years. If companies want to reach out to the community of early adopters they would even have to include new OS platforms like Ubuntu or Jolla to the list. Adding HTML5 makes 7 platforms to watch and/or maintain.  That is good news for the app development industry and multi-platform tool vendors but starts to become a real management task for companies trying to reach their customers with the help of mobile apps. (Note: End of Q2 2013, research2guidance will release the 3rd edition of the „Multi-Platform App Development Solution Report“. Email us to get on the distribution list vs@research2guidance.com).

App stores will remain the main distribution channel for apps during the upcoming years. In addition to new OS platforms and their app stores, new app distribution platforms will emerge. They will specifically address e.g. business, health, adult and children app users needs and offer additional downloads and marketing opportunities for app publishers. The number of app stores increase month by month and it is not possible to track all of them, but it is a safe bet to say that there are more than 500 apps stores out there. App publishers don’t need to know all of them but they should be aware of the most relevant for their target groups as well as upcoming service providers that help to distribute an app on dozens and hundreds of app stores.

Building and marketing an app is becoming increasingly complex and will demand a systematic fact based approach to handle market turbulences in the coming years.

Find more of the most current market analysis on the smartphone app market in our new update of “The Smartphone App Monitor Vol. 9”.

This was announced today by La Liga Policy Institute, member of the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI), a budget advocacy network led by Social Watch Philippines (SWP) which is the DENR’s budget partner among civil society organizations (CSOs). La Liga serves as convenor of the Environment Cluster of ABI, consisting of more than 60 non-government organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations and individual advocates.

“For the first time in the history of alternative budget advocacy for the environment sector, the DENR opened up its budget preparation process to participation of different civil society organizations where citizens’ generated plans, project and budget proposals can begin to be integrated into the upcoming Department budget,” La Liga President and Managing Director Roland Cabigas said, as the various groups troop to the “Citizens’ Participation for the Crafting of the 2014 DENR Budget Thematic Budget Dialogue” today, April 5, at the DENR main office in Quezon City.

He added, “Participatory budgeting is not only a means to ensure transparent and responsive environment governance but, more importantly, we are hopeful that this will lead to more efficient and effective budget allocation and resources for critical and urgently needed environment protection and rehabilitation programs.

DENR Bureaus and offices and various citizens’ organizations are expected to come together to discuss priority themes such as Green Environment (relating to the National Greening Program, forest protection, community-based forest management, protected areas/watershed, etc.); Blue Environment (coasts and rivers, marine protected areas, marine protection, mangrove areas); and, Brown Environment (solid waste management, clean air and mining), with climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction as cross-cutting thematic discussions.

“While we highly appreciate the budget reforms undertaken by the DENR and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), we are exploring ways to ensure that citizens’ participation in crafting the DENR budget be regularized and hopefully institutionalized, at the same time we hope to see participation conducted not only at the national level but at the regional and local level as well” Cabigas concluded.

ABI Envi Cluster members include: La Liga, Alyansa Tigil Mina, AMRSP-JPICC, Earth Day Network, Earth Savers Movement, EcoWaste Coalition, First Philippine Conservation Incorporated (FPCI), Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE), Haribon Foundation, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, Mother Earth Foundation, Healthcare without Borders, Kilusan Para sa Makatarungang Lipunan at Gobyerno (KMLG), No-Burn Coalition, KAAKBAY, Partido Kalikasan Institute (PKI), Partnership for Clean Air (PCA), Phil. Federation for Environmental Concerns (PFEC), Phil. Network on Climate Change (PNCC), Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), Saganang Buhay sa Liga ng Bayan Foundation (SBSB), Sustainability Watch, Upholding Life and Nature (ULAN), Tambuyog and  Tanggol Kalikasan.