MakaPalm

Admob on Carrington Mobile

Ederic — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:55:29 +0000

Makapalm’s mobile version is now powered by Carrington Mobile for WordPress. To add Admob advertisements on its mobile site, I edited three files under the carrington mobile theme folder:

/posts/posts-default.php for ad on the homepage
/single/single-default.php for ad on individual blog posts
/pages/pages-default.php for ad on pages

Job opening at Yahoo! Southeast Asia

Ederic — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:47:03 +0000

Reposting from ederic@cyberspace:

Yahoo! Southeast Asia is looking for an energetic social media producer to draw, connect and interact with users through new channels such as Twitter and Facebook. This position will be based in Manila.

As part of your daily responsibilities, you will be at the forefront of driving our news articles, blogs, discussions, polls and community activities through social media networks with the goal of attracting a wider audience to Yahoo!.

You must have at least 3-5 years of editorial experience at a newspaper, magazine, wire service or online media site and be able to work under a tight deadline. Blogging and multimedia experience is also a must.

An established personal online brand is an ideal. As a power user in social media, you must have at least 300 followers on Twitter, at least 200 connections on LinkedIn and at least 400 friends on Facebook.

You need to have a passion for social media and a thorough knowledge of the industry. You will be expected to flag trends and be aware of new social media sites on the horizon.

Palm Pixi is the second webOS phone

Ederic — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:36:58 +0000

While we in Asia have yet to hear about Palm Pre’s availability here, its maker has introduced the second webOS phone — the Palm Pixi.

An update on Palm’s official blog introduced the Pixi:

“All the power of Palm webOS — including multitasking activity cards, Palm Synergy, intuitive notifications, and universal search — will soon be available in a striking new form factor. Palm Pixi — due on the Sprint network in time for the holidays — is Palm’s thinnest phone ever.”

This appears to be the same device previously called Palm EOS, Castle, Pixie, Mini Pre, Palm Pre Mini, and Pre Lite.

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Microsoft, Yahoo! announce search deal

Ederic — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:30:21 +0000

Microsoft and Yahoo! have just announced a major search deal. Under the agreement, Yahoo! will use Microsoft’s Bing search engine, while Yahoo! will become the worldwide exclusive relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.

Read the full press release below for more details:

Microsoft, Yahoo! Change Search Landscape

Global Deal Creates Better Choice for Consumers and Advertisers

SUNNYVALE, CA and REDMOND, WA — 29 July, 2009 — Yahoo! and Microsoft announced an agreement that will improve the Web search experience for users and advertisers, and deliver sustained innovation to the industry. In simple terms, Microsoft will now power Yahoo! search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.

For Web users and advertisers, this deal will accelerate the pace and breadth of innovation by combining both companies’ complementary strengths and search platforms into a market competitor with the scale to fuel sustained development in search and search advertising. Users will find what they care about faster and with more personal relevance. Microsoft’s competitive search platforms will lead to more value for advertisers, better results for web publishers, and increased innovation and efficiency across the Internet.

Under this agreement, Yahoo! will focus on its core business of providing consumers with great experiences with the world’s favorite online destinations and Web products.

“This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development,” said Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz. “Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides. Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities, and mobile experiences.”

Providing a viable alternative to advertisers, this deal will combine Yahoo! and Microsoft search marketplaces so that advertisers no longer have to rely on one company that dominates more than 70 percent of all search. With the addition of Yahoo!’s search volume, Microsoft will achieve the size and scale required to unleash competition and innovation in the market, for consumers as well as advertisers.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the agreement will provide Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, the scale necessary to more effectively compete, attracting more users and advertisers, which in turn will lead to more relevant ads and search results.

“Through this agreement with Yahoo!, we will create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company,” said Ballmer. “Success in search requires both innovation and scale. With our new Bing search platform, we’ve created breakthrough innovation and features. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there’s so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.”

“This deal fits the long-term strategic direction of Yahoo! to remain the world’s leading online media company and Carol Bartz has the full and unanimous support of the Yahoo! Board behind this deal,” said Roy Bostock, chairman, Yahoo! Inc. “This is a significant opportunity for us. Microsoft is an industry innovator in search, and it is a great opportunity for us to focus our investments in other areas critical to our future.”

The key terms of the agreement are as follows:

The term of the agreement is 10 years;
Microsoft will acquire an exclusive 10 year license to Yahoo!’s core search technologies, and Microsoft will have the ability to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its existing web search platforms;
Microsoft’s Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! will continue to use its technology and data in other areas of its business such as enhancing display advertising technology.
Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. Self-serve advertising for both companies will be fulfilled by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, and prices for all search ads will continue to be set by AdCenter’s automated auction process.
Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force.
Yahoo! will innovate and “own” the user experience on Yahoo! properties, including the user experience for search, even though it will be powered by Microsoft technology.
Microsoft will compensate Yahoo! through a revenue sharing agreement on traffic generated on Yahoo!’s network of both owned and operated (O&O) and affiliate sites.
- Microsoft will pay traffic acquisition costs (TAC) to Yahoo! at an initial rate of 88% of search revenue generated on Yahoo!’s O&O sites during the first 5 years of the agreement.
- Yahoo! will continue to syndicate its existing search affiliate partnerships.
Microsoft will guarantee Yahoo!’s O&O revenue per search (RPS) in each country for the first 18 months following initial implementation in that country.
At full implementation (expected to occur within 24 months following regulatory approval), Yahoo! estimates, based on current levels of revenue and current operating expenses, that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual GAAP operating income of approximately $500 million and capital expenditure savings of approximately $200 million. Yahoo! also estimates that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual operating cash flow of approximately $275 million.
The agreement protects consumer privacy by limiting the data shared between the companies to the minimum necessary to operate and improve the combined search platform, and restricts the use of search data shared between the companies. The agreement maintains the industry-leading privacy practices that each company follows today.

The agreement does not cover each company’s web properties and products, email, instant messaging, display advertising, or any other aspect of the companies’ businesses. In those areas, the companies will continue to compete vigorously.

The transaction will be subject to regulatory review. The agreement entered into today anticipates that the parties will enter into more detailed definitive agreements prior to closing. Microsoft and Yahoo! expect the agreement to be closely reviewed by the industry and government regulators, and welcome questions. The companies are hopeful that closing can occur in early 2010.

The companies have established a website at http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com to provide consumers, advertisers and publishers with additional information about the benefits of the agreement.

Conference Call – 5:30 a.m. PDT, Wednesday, July 29

Yahoo! and Microsoft will host a conference call with Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to discuss the agreement at 5:30 a.m. Pacific/8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today. To listen to the call, please dial 1-866-515-2908 in the U.S. and Canada; +1-617-399-5122 international, reservation number: 47968026. A live webcast of the call can be accessed through Yahoo!’s Investor Relations website at http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/results.cfm. The companies have also established a website at http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com to provide consumers, advertisers and publishers with additional information about the benefits of the agreement. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be available through the same link. An audio replay of the call will be available for two weeks following the conference call by calling 1-888-286-8010 in the U.S. and Canada; +1-617-801-6888 international, reservation number: 91217610.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release refers to operating cash flow (operating income before depreciation, amortization of intangible assets, and stock-based compensation expense, or OCF), which is a non-GAAP financial measure. The most comparable GAAP measure is income from operations. The estimated annual OCF benefit of $275 million included in this press release is the estimated annual benefit in income from operations of $500 million less approximately $225 million of estimated annual savings in depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation expense.

Palm webOS SDK now public

Ederic — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:26:19 +0000

Palm Pre users may soon expect additions to the App Catalog now that the webOS software development kit (SDK) has been publicly released.

Anyone with a valid email address ay now download the Palm Mojo SDK at http://developer.palm.com.

“This is one more step in delivering webOS to all developers and providing the tools they need to build great applications for Palm phones,” Chuq Von Rospach, Palm’s Developer Community Manager, said in a blog post.

Meanwhile, Motion Apps has announced that its Classic Palm OS emulator for webOS devices will soon be able to run HotSync.

As this developed, Apple released an iTunes update that update “disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre.” Thus, Palm Pre users will no longer be able to sync their music files with iTunes.

Palm Pre carriers in Europe announced

Ederic — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:03:06 +0000

Palm has announced the European carriers that will exclusively offer Palm Pre in time for the Christmas season.

The widely anticipated webOS smartphone be available initially in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany on the O2 network, and in Spain on the Movistar network, according to a Palm press release.

Palm’s official blog also carried the announcement.

“Europe continues to be an important region for Palm, and we’re proud to work with O2 and Movistar to spread the excitement Palm Pre has already ignited in North America,” said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer of Palm.

In Canada, Palm Pre will be offered by Bell Mobility “in the second half of 2009.” As of this writing, there is no word yet on its availability in Asia.

TXTPower: Lower rates, ban text spam

Ederic — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:13:53 +0000

Below is a press release from our group, TXTPower, issued on Saturday:

To solve “vanishing load” scam, NTC must lower rates, ban spam — TXTPower

The National Telecommunications Commission must “do more” than extend the expiry of prepaid load to decisively end the issue of “vanishing prepaid load” that is bedeviling the country’s more than 70 million mobile phone subscribers.

In a press conference, consumer advocacy group TXTPower.org Inc. (TXTPower) said that “the absurdly short expiry load, arguably the shortest in the whole world, is the least of consumers’ problems. To solve “vanishing load”, the NTC must exercise its powers to immediately lower rates for cellphone calls, text messaging and other mobile phone services. The NTC must also crack down on telcos and content providers that abuse their licenses by sending millions of spam messages,” said TXTPower president Anthony Ian Cruz.

“Prepaid load quickly gets lost or stolen because of the high cost of placing cellphone calls. The NTC, unfortunately, has not exercised its powers to reduce rates in favor of the public. All it does is to bless the promotional offerings of telcos that may be pulled out whimsically and capriciously,” said Cruz.

Cruz said that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s case illustrates the problems faced by consumers daily.

“The Senate President is lucky. He immediately got a refund even without asking for it,” said Cruz, adding that “but for the rest of us whose prepaid load are stolen by the millions through high prices, spam and short expiry, we don’t have any recourse.”

Cruz said TXTPower is now studying ways for consumers to get refunds from the “vanishing loads”.

Make “unlimited calls, texting” permanent services

According to TXTPower, the NTC should compel telcos to finally offer “unlimited calls” and “unlimited texting” as permanent, not promotional, offers.

“The telcos have recovered the old investments on which the current pricing for calls, text and other services had been based. It is about time the NTC and the government compel these telcos to make the public benefit through ‘unlimited calls’ and ‘unlimited texting’ which are standard offers of many telcos across the world,” said Cruz.

“This should not prejudice moves towards per-six second charging, which has long been demanded by consumers,” said Cruz.

The NTC, Cruz explained, is “so addicted to its false belief that the industry’s deregulation means that it has no powers to champion consumer welfare and that it should only support the telcos.”

“It is thus no surprise that consumers are left to fend for themselves, so much unlike the Senate President, who has mobilized the power of the Senate and his office to lay bare the issues,” said Cruz.

Consult consumers

TXTPower also called on Senate President Enrile and Senator Mar Roxas, whose committee leads the Senate hearings on telco issues, to consult with consumers and to include consumers in the technical working groups that are being formed.

“The NTC, for instance, has routinely failed to adequately inform consumers and end-users of public hearings on its draft circulars, including the latest one on the expiry of prepaid load,” said Cruz.

“Only the telcos were consulted,” said Cruz.

TXTPower Action Center, Kabataan YouTube video

TXTPower vowed to keep the pressure on government to act on consumer demands through various means.

Kabataan partylist congressman Mong Palatino today unveiled a YouTube video encouraging students and youth to report their complaints to the NTC and to TXTPower.

The Computer Professionals Union (CPU) meanwhile also launched today the TXTPower Action Center which aims to receive consumer complaints through the following contact points: Website http://www.cp-union.com/txtpowercenter, Text 0907-1134503 and Landline (02) 4134196.

Pre’s UK launch to be announced July 7

Ederic — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:08:55 +0000

Palm will announce on July 7 the details of Pre’s launch in the United Kingdom, says a T3.com report.

On that day, the launch date, price, and the network — which the Guardian reports as O2, the same network that carries the iPhone in the UK — will be revealed.

Tech sites reported last month that the Pre will be in Europe by September this year.

Earlier this week, there were reported sightings of the Pre’s GSM version in London and Vietnam.

The Philippines’ major telcos also use the GSM system.

Smart to offer Android fone HTC Magic

Ederic — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:56:59 +0000

I just learned from Migs Mobile and ABS-CBN News that Smart is bringing HTC Magic, a Google Android-powered smart phone, to the Philippines.

HTC Philippines country manager Mark Sergio reportedly said that Smart will start shipping units of the HTC Magic to the local market by the end of June.

Update from YugaTech: Globe was able to sell HTC Magic starting last week, and will be able to do so until Smart’s exclusive contract with HTC takes effect.

HTC Magic runs on Android, a Google-initiated, Linux-based software platform for mobile devices.

The smart phone gives its users instant access to Gmail, Google Search, YouTube and Maps. It also has Microsoft Outlook synchronization, Smart Dialer, and an onscreen keyboard with predictive text.Its biggest competitor, Apple’s iPhone, is exclusively available in the Philippines to Globe subscribers. Apple recently announced feature upgrades on its new version, the iPhone 3G S.

On the other hand, the Palm Pre, Palm’s newest smart phone and touted as a challenger to the iPhone, was launched in the US last week.

Asked in April if their company will be Palm Pre’s carrier here, a Smart insider replied: “I think Palm is talking to all the carriers. So is Blackberry. No exclusivity required with those brands.”

(Image from www.htc.com)

Palm Pre in Europe by September?

Ederic — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:45:57 +0000

Palm launched its newest smartphone in the United States last week, but there is no official word yet of Palm Pre’s availability and pricing in the Philippines or the rest of the world.

However, tech news sites are reporting that Palm Pre may become available in Europe as early as September this year. If this is true, there’s a chance that the Pre will come to the Philippines by the end of the year.

The marketing director of IRIS, a local distributor in Romania, reportedly said that Palm Pre should be available in Eastern Europe, including Romania, by the end of September at a price similar to that in the US — which is estimated to be $550 without subscription.

Mirror.co.uk cited a Softpedia report, which in turn got the news from Romanian site Ziarul Financiar.

Last year, the Palm Centro was launched in the United Kingdom on Valentines Day. Two months later, Palm announced its availability in the Philippines. Philippine cellphone networks use GSM technology, like its European counterparts.

I received Palm’s newsletter announcing the availability of Palm Pre in the United States after midnight last Sunday. That’s afternoon of June 6 in the US. By that time, proud Palm Pre owners were already tweeting or blogging about their first few hours with their new gadget.

By Sunday noon, a former officemate texted me, asking how much Palm Pre is in the Philippines, and if the phone will work here. I told her that while it is available in the US for $200 with contract, the GSM version that will work here has not been announced yet.

But as I said, the latest rumor of its availability in Europe raises hopes that it will also be released in the Philippines soon. Start saving, maka-Palms. :p

Based on MakaPalm’s visitor referrer data, it appears that a number of Pinoys are still interested in the Palm Pre despite the announcement of iPhone’s new model.

Here are some interesting reports before and after Palm Pre’s US launch:

MakaPalm

Admob on Carrington Mobile

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Job opening at Yahoo! Southeast Asia

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Palm Pixi is the second webOS phone

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Microsoft, Yahoo! announce search deal

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Palm webOS SDK now public

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TXTPower: Lower rates, ban text spam

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