In conjunction with Sony Ericsson unveiled three new and exciting mobile phones in the market today that are geared towards consumers looking for mobile entertainment for their phone.

I like the way SE decided to give names to its phones instead of calling them by their model number.

The first one is the Kita (or Yari as called outside the country) which is a revolutionary slider phone for gaming. It detects your movements and gestures with its camera sensor to play games similar to what Wii does with its Wiimote. Instead of a remote, you use hand gestures or body movements to play its preloaded games of boxing, tennis, etc. I tried it and it looked really cool.

Here are some of its specs:

• 262,144 color TFT QVGA (240 x 320)
• 5 MP camera with autofocus and LED Flash
• QVGA @ 30fps video recording
• Accelerometer (good for playing LocoRoco)
• FM Radio
• 60MB internal memory with microSD support (up to 16GB)
• Data connection: 3G, Bluetooth, USB
• Comes in Achromatic Black and Cranberry White

Retail price of the Sony Ericsson Kita is P12,990

The second phone is the Aino which is geared towards Playstation 3 owners. You can use the Aino to communciate with your PS3 using its WiFi or 3G connections. You can play media from your PS3 to the Aino or even use it as a remote to your PS3.It comes with a matching Bluetooth headset and desk stand charger.

Here are some of its specs:

• 16,777,216 color TFT (432×240 pixel)
• 8.1 MP camera with autofocus, image stabilizer, face detection and LED Flash
• VGA @ 30fps video recording
• Accelerometer and limited touchscreen functionality
• FM Radio
• 55MB internal memory with microSD support (up to 32GB)
• Data connection: WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, USB, DLNA, Mac connectivity
• Comes in Luminous White and Obsidian Black

Retail price of the Sony Ericsson Aino is P23,950

Last but not the least is the gorgeous Satio which is the first Ericsson phone to offer ninth High Definition (nHD), a mobile High Definition TV experience directly to your phone. It has a 3.5-inch wide touchscreen that could play your 16:9 format HD videos while on the go.

It also has a built-in document reader and editor to handle your Office and PDF documents.

Here are some of its specs:

• 16,777,216 color TFT touchscreen (360×640 pixel)
• 12.1 MP camera with autofocus, face detection and xenon flash
• VGA @ 30fps video recording with video flash
• Accelerometer
• FM Radio
• 128 MB storage; 256 MB RAM with microSD support (up to 32GB)
• Data connection: WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, DLNA, USB
• Comes in Black, Silver and Bordeaux

Retail price of the Sony Ericsson Satio is P32,500

Satio, Aino and Kita comes with exclusive content via the Sony Ericsson Entertainment Asia portal where you can get films from Sony Pictures, songs and music videos from Sony Music and game titles from the Gameloft library.

The launch of these new phones is in partnership with SM Supermalls and UNICEF to support the Mobile Education and Child Protection Program for Street Children.

Windows 7 will be officially introduced to consumers this Saturday (Nov. 7) at the Cyberzone in SM North Edsa. If you’re interested in acquiring a license of Windows 7 but don’t know which edition is the right one for you, here’s a chart to guide you.

If you’re wondering about Windows Home Basic, it is targeted towards netbook users and is similar to Home Premium but with the following restrictions:

• No Windows Media Center
• Partial Windows Aero functionality
• And you can only join Home Group (not create)

For the local prices (according to a Microsoft marketing rep):

• Windows 7 Home Basic – P8,000
• Windows 7 Home Premium – P9,500
• Windows 7 Professional – P15,500
• Windows 7 Ultimate – P16,500

There’s also a special promo that will last until Nov. 8 where you can get Windows Basic for only P7,777 at all retail stores.

Prices for 32-bit and 64-bit version of Windows 7 will be the same.

For multiple-license upgrades, it is currently available for businesses and not for home users. Will let you guys know if this will change.

Note: Prices and promo per store may slightly differ. In Octagon (SM Megamall), you can get the Home Premium for only P7,500 for a limited time.

Last week Apple unveiled the world’s first multi-touch mouse, the Magic Mouse. Apple’s Mighty Mouse’s predecessor is now a wireless, sexy-looking piece of gadget.

What Apple basically did was turn the glass touchpad surface of their Macbook Pro into a wireless, mouse-shaped device. No more mechanical buttons and now you can do all those finger gestures that you can do on the touchpad with the Magic Mouse.

You can scroll through long documents as if the magic mouse has a scroll wheel, pan across large images or swipe to move forward or backward through web pages and photos.

Magic Mouse uses Bluetooth as its wireless connection to your Mac from up to 10 meters away. It is powered by two AA batteries that Apple claims would last you about 4 months.

At least a Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.8 or later) is required for the Magic Mouse.

It is now already available with the new iMac but is expected to be sold separately next week for Php3,490.

Sony Philippines sent us their new ultra-light and ultra-thin laptop — a Sony Vaio X, powered by the fastest Intel Atom Z550 processor running at 2.0GHz. Check out our unboxing video and some close up shots.

Sony Vaio VPCX113KG/B
11.1″ LED screen @ 1366×768 pixels
Intel Atom Z540 @ 1.86GHz
2GB DDR2 SDRAM
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500
64GB SSD (PATA)
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Media Card Reader
Li-Ion battery up to 3.5 hours
Weight: 655 grams (1.44 lbs)
Price: Php69,999

Sony Vaio VPCX117LG/B
11.1″ LED screen @ 1366×768 pixels
Intel Atom Z550 @ 2.0GHz
2GB DDR2 SDRAM
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500
128GB SSD (Serial ATA)
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
Media Card Reader
Li-Ion battery up to 6.5 hours
Weight: 760 grams (1.68 lbs)
Price: Php92,999

See unboxing video below:

The LG GD900 Crystal is one of the most coolest and interesting looking phone I’ve seen in a while with its transparent slide-out keypad made with tempered glass.

If you’re wondering how the design concept came about with the LG Crystal, here’s an interview with Youngho Kim, VP of design at LG Mobile Communication.

Q: Tell us about the experience of creating the LG GD900 Crystal. How did you come up with an idea of transparent phone?

Kim: We started toying with the idea in 2005 and later the concept won the Presidential Design Award at the Korea Industrial Design Exhibition in 2006. At the lab, we are always examining new designs and always on the lookout for something that would stand out from the rest. Ironically, we created a ”stand-out" phone by making it transparent!

Transparency is one motif that many designers around the world have experimented with at one time or another. It’s like invisibility – the holy grail for designers because we’re essentially working with something that’s almost invisible. But the challenge is also a reward because we’re not constrained by the barrier of a shell or covering. Once the opaque skin is stripped away, the interior is exposed, creating a kind of emotional connection.

Q: There are a few transparent concept products from other manufacturers. What is it that distinguishes the LG GD900 Crystal that your team has developed?

Kim: Everything else we’ve seen are prototypes at the conceptual stage whereas this handset is now just a few weeks from being in the hands of an end-user. Other transparent products have never made it this far and usually have ended up as experimental design concepts that end up in a museum or design studio.

The real challenge of creating the LG GD900 wasn’t that the transparent design had to be attractive but that the handset itself had to function no differently than any other premium mobile phone. Consumer insights, which play a big role in how we approach handset design, have shown time after time that design and style are important but unlikely to be accepted by the masses unless the functionality is all there. Even fashion-conscious customers want a good lens on their camera for those important photos and clear sound even when they’re on the subway.

Q: Did you have any difficulty developing the design of the LG GD900 Crystal?

Kim: One challenge we had to overcome is that consumers want big screens but they don’t want big handsets. So on the GD900 Crystal we expanded the touch screen functionalities to the touchpad itself. We adopted an inner slide system utilizing a gapless rail support mechanism to achieve the simple look. The final challenge was making the electric circuitry invisible which was achieved with the help of a layer of touch-sensitive film. We achieved all these breakthroughs and still managed to keep the thickness to a slim 13.5 millimetres.

Q. Advances in design are often driven by the development of new materials. What new materials were used in the creation of the LG GD900 Crystal?

Kim: We’ve used many kinds of materials on other models that have turned out to be successful and popular with consumers who want a different look. This is easier said than done, as the right materials also have to have the right look and feel. For LG Shine, we used a full metallic body, first ever used on a mobile phone; and for LG Secret, the initial concept was a "style that lasts" and we used premium materials of tempered glass and carbon fibre. For GD900 Crystal, it’s made of a highly durable tempered glass and is framed and reinforced by a band of Liquidmetal, a relatively new material that designers are looking into that is very strong and quite shock-absorbent.

Q: Tell us your outlook for transparent consumer products.

Kim: Transparency is another form of invisibility. It’s something that everyone fantasizes about but until now, that’s all it’s been. The fact that we can now make devices for daily use that are, for the lack of a better word — “invisible” — is significant because we are no longer constrained by a solid “barrier” in design. It’s like a window that is also an input device — it’s revolutionary. We’re excited about what the future holds in the next generation of “design transparency”.

Check out the review of the LG GD900 Crystal at Yugatech.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Subic to try out the Olympus Tough 8000 digital camera under unusual conditions, the Treetop Adventure while drizzling and the Ocean Adventure. The Tough 8000 is the newer version of the Olympus SW line of weatherproof digital cameras.

When I took the camera from an ice cooler filled with ice and cold drinks, I didn’t doubt its toughness. In fact, I tried banging it on a wall for good measure. Hehe.

Here are the specs on how tough this Olympush Tough 8000 really is:

• Shock-proof from heights of up to 2m (6.5 ft., I also tested this!)
• Waterproof up to 10m (32.8 ft.)
• Crushproof up to 100kg
• Freezeproof up to –10°C

For some stress test videos, check out these couple of recordings we made.

Inside the tough, metal shell of this compact camera you will also get:

• up to 12 megapixels resolution
• 28 – 102mm lens capable of 3.6x WIDE optical zoom
• 640 x 480 video recording mode (mic is good on this one)

Ok enough of that, it’s now time to use it.

I find the controls really intuitive that if you’ve been using digital cameras for quite a while then you can understand the dials and buttons without having to read the manual.

An upgrade from the old SW series of Olympus digicams, the Tough now has real image stabilisation (sensor-shift type) compared to the digital version of older models. I have the 1050SW and I always have trouble with blurred shots even with good lighting condition.

Another feature that the Olympus Tough 8000 have is the auto-photostitch when shooting in Panorama mode. You can line up to three adjacent shots and the Tough 8000 will guide you as to where to pan the next shot then it will do the stitching itself without the need of extra software.

Image quality on the Tough 8000 reminds me of those taken from older digital cameras. I guess they didn’t put too much advancement into that area compared to other brands. However, they’re pretty serviceable actually for ordinary photos.

Quality of underwater shots depends on the water condition and how much light is available. Just don’t expect those professional underwater shots you see in travel magazines.

As for battery life, I wasn’t able to check if the one we got has a full charge in it but it lasted us for half a day with heavy previewing and video recording.

Just like other Olympus cameras, the Tough 8000 uses xD cards but quite fortunately, they also included microSD capability on this one as well.

Final Words

While it cannot produce the best image quality compared to its competitors, it’s really difficult to find a compact camera that you can bring into any weather conditions. The Olympus Tough 8000 camera is one of a must-haves for any extreme adventure junkie.

Taking snapshots while kayaking, or exploring caves, or just plain snorkeling, bring it on!

The Olympus Tough 8000 has a retail price of P26995 and comes with a 1-year warranty. It’s already available along with other Olympus cameras including the Tough 6000 at all authorized dealers. Axis Global Technologies is the distributor of Olympus cameras here in the Philippines.

When NetSuite established their office in January 2007 here in Manila, it was already the company’s largest office location outside the United States. Yesterday, NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson just announced that they will be doubling their Philippine operations at RCBC Tower in Makati which already house 300 employees.

NetSuite is a leading vendor of cloud computing business software suites which enables mid-market companies to manage core business operations in a single system. This includes Accounting, ERP, CRM and E-commerce.

The Manila office serves as a key center for the company’s global technical support, services and back-office operations is now expanding to include product development and quality assurance capabilities.

The company also announced NetSuite Version 2009.2 which is their latest localized product designed to meet the requirements of our BIR with key tax compliance, reporting and data export requirements.

If you’re unsure whether you want to go with NetSuite, their key customers include Jollibee Foods Corporation, ABS-CBN Global and MOTECH Automative Education Center Inc.

cloud computing + virtual data room

LG Electronics Philippines extends its deepest sympathies to all those affected by the recent typhoons. As a way of helping communities rebuild their lives, LG is launching “LG With You!”

From October 19 to 31, 2009, 9am-6pm, LG is offering FREE unit cleaning and repair* to all LG customers in the Greater Manila Area. You may visit them at the following venues:

LG Electronics Office – Gate 2, Maybunga, Pasig City

Marikina City Hall Parking, Marikina City

Cainta Liwasan Plaza , Cainta, Rizal

You may also get in touch with them via Customer Hotline to schedule their technicians for home service.

Customer Service Hotline:

Tel. number: (02) 905-5544
Fax number: (02) 902-5542  

Smart: 0920-9002525
Globe: 0917-8242525
Sun: 0922-8022525

*Free labor only. Customer may avail of up to 50% discount on replacement parts, if needed. Per DTI-NCR permit 5602 series of 2009

Whenever somebody asks me what I think of Norton as an antivirus application, I always say that it’s bloated and will hog down your memory resources. I didn’t know until today that Norton Antivirus is already one of the fastest and lightest antivirus out there.

Actually, it has vastly improved from its slow performance during the mid-2000’s with the release of Norton 2009. Now with the launch of Norton 2010 products, it still maintained its quickness, light footprint and ease of use with a new technology to boot.

During the Norton 2010 launch yesterday, regional product manager of Asia Pacific, David Hall, talked about Norton 2010’s reputation-based technology codenamed Quorum.

Traditional threat detection is usually based on its signature (a threat’s fingerprint) or heuristics (a threat’s behavior). However, both detection requires a huge sampling to be really effective.

But what if you’re one of the first to be infected with a new malware? That’s where Quorum comes in. More than three years in the making, Quorum tracks files and applications and their dozens attributes and combine them using complex algorithm to determine a reputation. This reputation gets updated by Quorum as it is distributed across the Internet and is important when a file is new or likely to be a threat.

Bottomline is, Norton is banking on its Quorum reputation-based technology to be a better weapon against newer threats that are less likely to be detected by other antivirus.

Ok enough about the new technology, as a returning Norton Antivirus user here are some results that you would be interested in from PC Benchmark and Test Software, PassMark, comparing different popular antivirus programs of today.

Average System Boot Time (lower the better)

Norton Internet Security 2010 is just above the industry average.

Scan Speed

Norton Internet Security 2010 leads the pack in this test scanning 6159 files (totaling 982MB).

Memory Usage while Idle

Norton Internet Security 2010 leads the pack again using just a little over 10 MB of RAM when it is idle.

Another important thing about resource usage is that Norton 2010 will automatically delay updates and similar activities if you are watching videos, burning media or playing games full-screen and other resource-intensive processes so it won’t impact your PC’s speed.

If you want to see the full report of this Passmark testing, you can check out the PDF here.

PC Magazine’s test on malware blocking

Of course what good is an antivirus if it can’t detect malwares right? Here’s the result from PC Magazine’s anti-malware testing comparing it to other antivirus.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1871,iid=241255,00.asp

Aside from its threat detection capabilities with fast and light performance, here are other noteworthy features that I like about Norton Internet Security 2010:

• Norton Download Insight – Uses extensive online intelligence systems leveraging reputation to proactively protect your PC. Analyzes and reports on the safety of new files and applications before users install and run them.
• Norton System Insight – Provides features and easy-to-understand system information to help keep PCs performing at top speed
• Norton Safe Web adds protection when you search, shop or surf by annotating which sites are safe and which are not.

Pricing

There are 3 flavors of Norton 2010 and all are made affordable:

Norton AntiVirus 2010 is for the price sensitive consumer who doesn’t go online a lot. Php1960 for a 3-PC license and Php1125 for a single PC license.

Norton Internet Security 2010 is for the user who wants comprehensive security whether offline or online. Php2270 for a 3-PC license and Php1360 for a single PC license.

Nortong 360 Version 3.0 is for those who want it all, security, backup and PC tune up.

Those prices come with a 1-year subscription but you can opt for a multi-year subscription if you like. Norton will be deactivated when the subscription is up but it will inform you when the time is near to renew your subscription.

You are eligible for FREE upgrades (if available) in the middle of your subscription.

On FREE AV and Pirated Softwares

Now I always suggest to my friends and relatives that FREE antivirus is enough for personal use because that’s what I’m using (with success). However, I also realized that you have to be tech savvy to be using those free AV’s to avoid being attacked of infected with trojans and malwares. Something my relatives are not.

And if you’re going to use pirated software (which I strongly advise against), please don’t let it be an antivirus. It’s like buying a car with defective airbags. You think you won’t be needing it but when you do, you wish that you have paid premium for it.

So if you’re shopping for a new antivirus, try Norton 2010. It’s officially back at the top.

Globe has upgraded their Duo service with Super Duo — an add-on landline number attached to your mobile phone number which enables you to make unlimited landline calls as well as unlimited mobile phone calls to any Globe or Touch Mobile number nationwide.

For an additional Php499 per month on top of your regular subscriptions, Globe Super Duo gives you unlimited phone calls to any Globe/TM phone nationwide. Price for prepaid subs is Php599 per month or Php35 per day. No need to get a Duo-activated SIM — your existing SIM card will do.

To activate Super Duo, text “SUPERDUO < area > ON” to 8888.