Quantcast Mobile Philippines: October 2006 Archives

October 2006 Archives

tms-coffee-bean.jpg Our recent Mobile Pilipinas 2006 event showcased a mass of banners that had the Mobile This! tag strewn on. Apart from this, we had several hundreds of copies of our sampler issue with Anne Curtis on the cover. Note that these tags will still work even if you decide to shoot them with your cameraphone one month or even one year later! That's the cool thing about TMS. mobile-this-in-the-magazine.jpgAlso, another tip we would like to share is that when you are trying to shoot a tag from a CRT monitor, make sure that you try and capture the image when the "moving lines" aren't blocking the screen. This is much easier to do with Nokia phones since the tag automatically gets recognized without having to press any button. Have you spotted any of these tags in the wild? Share them with us by mailing the staff at editors at m-ph dot com.

The Apple Gazette iPod Nano Giveaway

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Apple is a hot item these days. Apple's sales have been rising and the MacBooks' (Pro and non-Pro) share in the laptop market is growing. Due to Apple's popularty and our love for our Macs, we at the Bloggy Network decided to open a new blog dedicated to--you guessed it!--Apple! Apple Gazette launched with a bang! Barely two weeks into the blog's existence and we've been DUGG to DIGG's frontpage seven times already to date. But what's really exciting with our launch is our gift to our Apple lover readers--our iPod Nano Giveaway.
It’s easy. Just subscribe to the AppleGazette RSS Feed, and start looking for the “word of the day
mobile-tag.jpg If you attended our event during the weekend at the Alabang Town Center, you may have noticed several banners littering the presentation venue with a strange bar code alongside a "Mobile This!" tagline. This barcode is part of a service known worldwide as TMS or Tag Mobile Service. And now, it is here in the Philippines, making its debut in Mobile Pilipinas 2006, the country's biggest wireless tech expo. In one sentence,
TMS is a convenient way to download any form of multimedia into your mobile by turning your phone's camera into a barcode scanner.
Welcome to the next generation of content distribution in the Philippines! In the "old days" we used to grab content (quotes, movie schedules, breaking news, ringtones, movie clips) by texting a few characters to an odd number combination (text "imhandsome" to 5555). This is well and good, but it is time to take advantage of a much more convenient piece of technology that allows you to really make your mobile phone an extension of your personal life. Imagine being able to:
  • Avail of discounts in restaurants by shooting a promotional TMS tag
  • Bank online by shooting tags
  • Link your personal blog to a TMS tag to be viewable online
  • View promotional videos of shelf products before you buy them
  • Download your favorite (legal!) music
  • Turn your cellphone into a debit card
  • In fact, if you have your cameraphone right now, you can point your browsers to the TMS Philippine Embassy website and download the java applet for your phone. If your phone is not listed, try downloading the app closest to your phone model. You can also choose to download the app directly to your phone by going to mobi.tms.com.ph on your phone's browser. Then, try launching the application and take a picture of the Mobile This! tag on this site and see what happens! During the event, we gave away free "song souveniers" of our tech tracks band (and the winner is ... Jeepney Joyride!) by allowing our audience to "take home the concert" by merely shooting the tag and downloading the six original songs the bands played during the event. This is an example of how powerful the TMS service is. As of the moment, shooting a TMS tag to access data is FREE for 2006. Standard GPRS, 3G and WiFi rates apply. Stay tuned for more news and TMS tag sightings around the metro!

    A Worm in the Apple (iPod)

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    Apple Computer has warned that a small number of its video iPods came with a Windows virus, RavMonE, inside. Apple's Vice President, Greg Joswiak, assures that only a tiny number coming from a contract manufacturer came with the virus, which can easily be detected by updated antivirus software. He notes that it only affects Windows computers and not the iPod itself, and that everything is now back to normal. ZDNet news here. My thoughts? Forget the virus. Apple's  Vice President is named Joswiak? Now why do I get the feeling that he was hired primarily because it was cute to have someone onboard whose name was a contraction of Jobs and Wozniak? Heheh...

    Treo 680 Official

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    First came the rumors of a budget smartphone from Palm. Then a list of rumored specifications popped up here. Now it's official. Palm has now formally announced the newest addition to its line of smartphones, the Treo 680. So the rumors are true after all - but how accurate were they, really? Most of the specs posted before were pretty accurate. Memory is pegged at 64MB user-accessible - slightly better tha the 60MB rumored - but no news of how much memory is actually onboard. Dimensions and weight were hardly significant - fractions of a millimeter and 3 grams off. In most people's hands, the difference won't even register. What will register, however, is its color. The 680 will come in 4 different flavors: Orange, Strawberry, Coconut, and well - whatever flavor you can assign to gray. Officially though, the four colors of the 680 will be Copper, Crimson, Arctic, and Graphite. There's still no word on pricing, so we can't really determine what Palm defines as a "budget" smartphone. Personally, I hope it means under $300 (roughly PHP15k), but I know this is probably wishful thinking.
    jeepjoy.JPG Norman Bernardo - vocals Ruel Maderazo - drums Christian Salunga - guitar Botchok Almoquera - bass Daboy Valerio - percs Chris Sison - tenor sax Joey de Guzman - alto sax Melvin Cabanero - trumpet Richard Romero - trombone Jerwine Dumalag - keyboards JEEPNEY JOYRIDE Jeepney Joyride, a staple in the present Philippine alternative music scene, was formed in 1999. Since then, the band has been performing in various clubs that cater to alternative music. The band also performs in weddings, birthday parties or wherever and whenever there is a promise of food, booze, and people willing to listen to them. Norman (vocalist), together with other horn section members (Melvin, Chris), likes to flex their muscles and do all sorts of contortions before setting foot on stage. As they play their crazy music, they can't help but conduct egg rolls, leaps and jumps on the stage before during and after each song. The band started out doing cover versions of songs by "The Mighty Mighty Bosstones" and "Reel Big Fish." Eventually, the nagging desire to express their emotions and ideas compelled the members to play their original compositions. The independently released interactive CD/EP dubbed as, "God Knows Hudas Not Pay" contains six songs and two music videos. The songs "Kape," "Lilim" and "Jeepney Joyride" received a significant amount of airplay at NU 107 and k-lite 103.5 FM . Jeepney Joyride has played at the 2006 MMFF. The band played for the 2004 and 2006 Fete de la Musique and 2005 edition of the much-awaited musical event, Pulp Summer Slam and was part of other special events. An article written by Erman Ballecer, PULP Magazine, May 2005 issue. The band has gained a bit of recognition when they play in out-of-town gigs as they are oftentimes seen in UNTV. The band's repertoire includes renditions of songs from various artists (which are also the some of the band's influences): The Beatles, Tom Jones, George Michael, The Cure, The Dawn and even megastar Sharon Cuneta. They sing about a wide array of Filipino emotions and experiences that people from all walks of life can relate to. Their songs speak of love, friendship, and change. Jeepney Joyride is as Filipino as the proud jeepney plying our crowded streets - colorful, crazy, loud and merry. Watch them, see them, hear them and let this band take you for a JOYRIDE.

    Tech Tracks Band #5: Top Junk

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    topjunk.JPG Band Members Marizel Sarangelo :vocals Dennis Leung : drums Tim Panganiban : guitar Coy Placido : bass Junk would be defined as something of little value, a refuse, a clutter of odds and ends discarded, among others. Clichés aside, different people do easily relate to finding treasure in these bits of disposed rubbish for all the reasons afforded by the human mind; and the mere tension (if ever poetic) of coining a phrase like top junk sets another level of interpreting junk in its decent sense. Of doing things that is passionate, why not realize them in the uppermost? Top junk, indeed: a union of different ideas- music, images, portraits and words to mediums of mass communication. Divergent or pop, it strives to define the truths of life and its inevitable marriage to art, and its divorce to the remotely conventional. Top Junk is composed of Marizel Sarangelo, Dennis Leung, Tim Panganiban, and Coy Placido: four individuals notorious of daydreaming. Like most gossip shows, their response to how things came about would be a standard liner: well, we started off as friends Top Junk owes its origins to a peculiar video by its founding mad hatter duo Marizel and Coy. The video features the Masked Rider or Kamen Rider, one of the most popular TV franchises in Japan that dates back to the early '70s. Its despondent electronic music portrays an essential inspiration to a spin-off of a self-confessed amateur production. The video highlights the supposed action figure as a superhero doing hallucinogenic struggles with fame and drugs, fleeing from cheap super villains with the help of its elaborate battle armor. By September of 2005, top junk has risen to a phenomenal membership of four. Forming a band out of necessity and lack of good humor, the group has since composed a couple of dozens of unadulterated original songs and scorings at least inside their scheming heads. Dennis, fresh of Inquirer fame remarkably agrees to play the drums, finely equipped with doll monkeys in slick suites. Exploiting the guitar with his teeth and fingers, Tim offers jackyard of jack TV a style of comedy and technical junk, as top junk would expect a junkie to deliver. Their music is upbeat and childlike. These are good qualities associated with youngsters (we would like to call them in an alternate future as junkies). True. The band members cant help but indulge in an enjoyable recollection of the past thinking how much theyve grown old, withered, and grayed ok, cynical. Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion. Realizing how fleeting time is, not in a philosophical manner, the group infuses punk and pop with their dance habits to rejuvenate the crazy bone inside their unseen pet (junkyard dawg, who in his own right a certified junkie). The rest is still the same. Rehearsals after work ceased at the junkyard in the heart of Q.C., amidst a seemingly posh village lurked the group, where the band concocted their parish contributions. The band although, does have future plans of contributing pop media into the distracted world as soon as you read these words: give them your lovely junk.

    Tech Tracks Band #4: Quadro

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    Boogie Romero - Vocals Jaime Uy - Guitars Raymond Veran – Guitar Ogie Barsaga - Bass Dane Cuna – Drums Formed in February 2005, they maybe a new band making its presence felt in the music scene, but having been together for only over a year, the band has actually captured quite a number of believers and followers. Heavily influenced by grunge,chill out and ambient, and rock, QUADRO formerly now known as Cryola didn’t want to stick to just one sound, having their own different individual tastes in music the band explored other genres and created their own unique sound. With each member contributing their own personal touch, and created a masterpiece of one collective and distinct sound that is QUADRO. It is evident that in their already matured songwriting, composing skills, unique style and creativity in music cryola has recorded a number of songs independently, which they aim to reach a wider and more diverse audience. With Jaime on lead boggling the screws off the heads of the guitar, boogie’s vocal versatility, raymond’s effortless yet captivating rhythm, ogie’s powerful bass lines owen’s impeccable timing which unfortunately has to leave the band But will always be a part of the band whose post was later on taken over by Dane cuna- a young and vibrant drummer whose style and technique fit the band’s sound perfectly, with their passion for music and dedication to their craft, it’s a virtual certainty that QUADRO will be not only be making their presence felt in the music scene but will undoubtedly be recognized as talented and dedicated musicians who aims to leave a mark and are one in it’s goal in keeping the pinoy rock scene alive.

    Tech Tracks Band #3: Grasspipe

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    grasspipe.jpg Band Members Jonas – Vocals / Guitars Keith – Bassist / Vocals Simon – Drummer / Vocals Grasspipe formed in their hometown of Cainta on the summer of 1999. Started out as a weekend project, they met every saturday night and went in the rehersal studio to create their own material. After 2 years of finding their own sound, they went in the studio and recorded a 6 track demo. Then after recording they passed the demo to a local rock station which landed them a slot on UNTV's In The Raw. Constant gigs followed their TV appearance. Playing in every possible venue, Grasspipe gained friendship with other bands. Now exposed to different bands, they encorporate their sound with other genres making their music unique. After nearly 7 years of existence, Grasspipe finally went back to the studio seeking the expertise of Shinji Tanaka(Sound Creation Studio), they are now recording their full length album. Now armed with a fusion of punk and progressive rock, the album will feature 11 tracks depicting true feelings of frustrations, disconsolation and discord.

    Hi! I'm Angelo. What's Yours?

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    Hello folks. This is J. Angelo Racoma, and I'll be your guest blogger for the month of October. I'm a full-time professional blogger, wannabe tech evangelist, new media consultant, and a self-confessed MacHead. I write for ForeverGeek and BloggingPro under the Bloggy Network, and several local team blogs like Pinoy Tech Blog and the Man Blog. I also do some headhunting work for Enthropia (know any crack MMORPG writers?). Then, of course, there's my personal blog on techie and other interesting (or so I think) stuff, the J Spot. One of my latest projects is the Paypal for the Philippines campaign (have you signed up already?). Actually, I was supposed to have started blogging here last week, but typhoon Milenyo happened, and we lost power at home for almost six days! The only way I could connect was thru WiFi at the local coffee shop. And during the first few days after the storm, even that was difficult. The cafés and restos either had no power or the network connections were down. Sigh. Talk about a mobile lifestyle. It's great if you have the freedom to roam about and still be connected, unwired, untethered, unrestricted. But when you have to, then that takes all the fun away.
    makatha.jpg In Filipino, the root word “katha
    cosmiclove.jpg Genre: World / Acid Soul
    Anton Saldana – Vocals Bong Luib- Guitars Paolo Asuncion – Guitars Kc Casanova – Bass Lourd Sevilla – Drums Carive Rodriguez – Percussions Erwin Ilagan – Percussions Ryan “MC Psylent
    If you still don't know, we are celebrating the third year of Mobile Pilipinas next weekend at the Alabang Town Center. Part of the events we're going to hold during those three days is an "indie band vote out" if I may call it that. We have a lineup of several indie bands which we are going to feature on the blog in the next few days but more importantly we're going to have their music uploaded onto several portable music players for the public to listen on to. Now here's the beef - anyone who listens to these tracks will be able to vote for their favorite bands, giving them a chance to fame and (probably) fortune. We'll be doing a lineup of the band information in the next few days so stay tuned!

    Mobile Pilipinas 2006!

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    mobile-pilipinas.gif It's that time of the year once more as we celebrate the third Mobile Pilipinas 2006 at the Alabang Town Center from October 13 to 15 2006. If you love fiddling around with the latest portable gadgets in the market, then come down to the south for the weekend. Admission is free!
    Mobile Pilipinas 2006 proudly presents Wireless Possibilities, the country's biggest annual mobile technology expo, presented to you by Mobile Philippines magazine, The Ultimate Guide to Mobile Technology. Get ready as Wireless Possibilities preview amazing ways of expanding Communication, Productivity, Entertainment, and Creativity. Exciting activities include:
  • PHOTO EXHIBITS by notable photographers
  • MP3 PLAYER GALLERY featuring cool indie tracks. With live performances by Makatha, Cosmic Love, Top Junk, Grass Pipe, Jeepney Joyride, Quadro & Silent Sanctuary
  • SMART WORKSHOPS by notable tech user groups: MaPalad (Philippine Palm Users Group), PodCentral (Filipino iPod Community), PhilMUG (Philippine Mac Users Group), PinoyMac (Filipino Macintosh Community), Pinoy Windows Mobile (Mobile Users' Group), Airfagev (Pinoy Smartphone Users group), and other tech user communities.
  • LATEST PHONE DEMOS
  • MUSIC-VIDEO and SHORT-MOVIE SHOOTING and EDITING on the spot
  • Wireless Possibilities is a three-day expo from October 13 to 15, 10am onwards at the Town Plaza, Alabang Town Center. ADMISSION IS FREE. Wireless Possibilities is co-presented by LG Mobile. Also brought to you by the following major sponsors: Asus, Blue, Canon, Creative, ECS EliteGroup, Epson, Intel, Microsoft, Optimal, and VillMan. Minor sponsors include Archos, Bose, BPI Express Credit, Digital Walker, Fujitsu, Jabra, MPIO, Motorola, MSI-ECS, Plantronics, Razer and Sony. Media sponsors include NU 107.5 K-Lite, Jam 88.3 and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Food sponsor: Gerry's Grill. Send inquiries to events @ hip dot ph or call (02) 759-2022. Log on to our website for the latest tech developments, news and previews.

    Treo 680 Specs?

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    My fellow guest blogger Elber wrote about Palm releasing a "budget" smartphone, apparently called the Treo 680. Straight from palminsider.com comes more detailed specs:
    • Palm OS 5.4.9
    • Radio: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (GSM 850/900/1800/1900)
    • Intel XScale 312MHz processor
    • 320 x 320 color TFT touchscreen display 16-bit color displays up to 65,536 colors
    • 128MB (60MB user accessible) non-volatile
    • Bluetooth 1.2 (Support for Bluetooth stereo headsets)
    • Speakerphone
    • Hands-free headset jack 2.5mm
    • Polyphonic MIDI, MP3, WAV & video ringtones (w/ vibrate mode and external ringer on/off switch )
    • Microphone mute option
    • TTY/TDD compatibility
    • 3-way calling
    • 0.3 megapixels - VGA Camera
    • Standard SD card slot
    • Removable 1200 mAH Lithium-ion Battery (Talk time up to 4.5 hours - Standby time 10 days)
    • Infrared (IR)
    • Size 111mm x 58mm x 22mm
    • Weight 154 grams (5.4 ounces)
    Keep in mind these specs haven't been confirmed, but hopefully Bluetooth really is built-in, and A2DP support wouldn't hurt too. A2DP allows you to stream music to your Bluetooth headset, meaning no more wires needed. Rico Mossesgeld also writes for The Smart PDA, a blog that provides daily info on Smartphones and PDAs.
    Let's face it, there is only one good reason why you should apply for international roaming when you head out into the world. And that is to receive text messages. Try placing a call, or even a text message, from your roaming phone when you're out of the country and you'll soon realize that the rates ought to be illegal under the Geneva Convention. It's almost always cheaper to just get a SIM card in the country you're visiting and use it for your outgoing calls and text messages. Unfortunately, this defeats the purpose of putting your primary SIM card on roaming status. Case in point: at the moment, I am swapping SIM cards like crazy, plugging my primary SIM into my phone to check for incoming messages, and then plugging the Vietnam SIM card in for communications with my contacts here and elsewhere. Which is why I have decided that, before going on my next trip abroad, I should first buy myself another mobile phone. Even just a cheap tri-band one. That way, I don't have to wear my phone's SIM receptacle out with my constant swapping. Next time you decide to put your SIM card on roam, think about getting an extra phone to host your foreign SIM card. At the very least, it gives you a valid reason to shop, heheh.

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