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 provide a “simple, practical, PC-type gadget that is also ruggedized, durable and lightweight,” said Mariel Que, business development manager of Neo.

Here’s an interview I conducted. Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia.

The new gadget was specifically designed for kids as a learning tool, as well as 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. The 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 mobile processor. It has 512MB memory, a 30-gigabyte flash drive, wifi and Ethernet connectivity, two USB 2.0 slots and SD/MMC card reader, and weighs in at only 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 computers.

By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net

NOTHING brings people together from different parts of the world more conveniently than the Internet. So in order to foster collaboration among its more than 175,000 employees, Accenture took its cue from popular social networking sites like Friendster and Facebook and created its own social networking tool called Accenture People.

Everyone in Accenture from CEO Bill Green down to employees has created his or her own personal profiles. The site, however, isn’t really made for sharing personal details but rather knowledge within the company.

Or primarily, as in the case of Annbel Tierro (shown here with her personal profile behind her on the screen), who heads Accenture’s systems integration business in the country, it at least gives her an idea who she’s talking to when doing conference calls with fellow Accenture executives from different locations.

The site was created by a team of Filipino developers headed by Michael Duff (shown pointing at his picture). Duff, a project manager for Accenture Philippines, keeps a blog wherein he shares programming “tips and tricks” with the rest of the Accenture network. In fact, he says he recently got a call from someone working for Accenture in London, asking for his help.

Social computing is one of the major technology trends Accenture foresees taking off this year. With a dose of Filipino software skill, the company is simply practicing what it is trying to preach.