March 2008 Archives

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net NEO recently launched its first Intel-powered Netbook PC, the Neo eXplore X-1, designed to address the need for affordable Internet-capable PCs, and to provid e a "simple, practical, PC-type gadget that is also ruggedized, durable and lig htweight," said Mariel Que, business development manager of Neo. Here's an interview I conducted. Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographe r Janie Christine Octia. The new gadget was specifically designed for kids as a learning tool, as well a s for users who mainly need to access the Internet. Intel Philippines country manager Ricky Banaag said "Intel and Neo are working to... develop affordable and relevant PC designs to suit local market needs. Th e Neo eXplore is designed for people who previously couldn't afford to buy a PC for accessing the Internet." The Neo eXplore X-1 is priced at P16,999, and is powered by a 900-Mhz Intel mob ile processor. It has 512MB memory, a 30-gigabyte flash drive, wifi and Ethern et connectivity, two USB 2.0 slots and SD/MMC card reader, and weighs in at onl y 1.4 kg. The eXplore X-1 comes with the Genuine Windows XP Starter Edition. Neo Manufacturing and Services is a Philippine-based manufacturer of personal c omputers.

By Lawrence Casiraya INQUIRER.net NOTHING brings people together from different parts of the world more convenie ntly than the Internet. So in order to foster collaboration among its more tha n 175,000 employees, Accenture took its cue from popular social networking sit es like Friendster and Facebook and created its own social networking tool called Accentu re People. Everyone in Accenture from CEO Bill Green down to employees has created his or her own personal profiles. The site, however, isnât really made for sharing p ersonal details but rather knowledge within the company. Or primarily, as in the case of Annbel Tierro (shown here with her personal pr ofile behind her on the screen), who heads Accentureâs systems integration bus iness in the country, it at least gives her an idea who sheâs talking to when doing conference calls with fellow Accenture executives from different locati ons. The site was created by a team of Filipino developers headed by Michael Duff (s hown pointing at his picture). Duff, a project manager for Accenture Philippine s, keeps a blog wherein he shares programming âtips and tricksâ with the rest o f the Accenture network. In fact, he says he recently got a call from someone w orking for Accenture in London, asking for his help. Social computing is one of the major technology trends Accenture foresees takin g off this year. With a dose of Filipino software skill, the company is simply practicing what it is trying to preach.