OUR technology reporter Lawrence Casiraya is in Shanghai, China covering the Intel Developer Forum. Apart from writing articles for Infotech, he’s also been sending videos for INQUIRER.net VDO. Who says you can’t multitask?

Check out these two clips he sent.

This video clip shown at IDF gives you a taste of the functions of the Aigo mobile Internet device.

This one is a preview of several new notebook designs, including two “Netbook” models from Lenovo and Founder. The Netbook is a low-cost, low-power laptop designed primarily for Internet connectivity and targeted at emerging markets. Intel said these laptops will arrive in June.

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 Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MICROSOFT might have forced itself too much when it attempted to subdue Apple in the handheld media player business when it launched the 30 Figabyte Zune about a year ago. Sad to say, it didn’t fare as hoped. A year later, Microsoft again makes an attempt but has added to its repertoire two new models aimed at the Apple iPod’s smaller iteration, the Nano. It recently launched the Zune 4, Zune 8 and Zune 80, all of which now feature the Zune Pad, a look-alike of iPod’s tried-and-tested Click Wheel.

Zune 4

For this review, the Zune 4 will be the featured model and it’s the one Microsoft is pitting against the iPod nano 4 gigabyte, and as such, uses flash memory instead of the small hard disk drives of its big brothers. Physically, the smaller Zune is nearly identical in shape and size to the first and second generation iPod nano. Its dimensions are 1.6 inches by 3.6 inches by 0.33 inches, and it weighs 47 grams. It also comes in four colors (red, pink, green and black) of which the front is in matte finish, which gives it a rugged look. The screen is twice as large as that of the first generation iPod nano and is about the same size as that of the current generation iPod nano. Nevertheless, the Zune’s screen is equally bright.

The Zune has a total of three buttons (except for the lock slider at the top of the unit). Two smaller buttons on the left and right side below the glass screen serve as the play/pause and back buttons. The large oval button below the screen is Microsoft’s pride and joy with the smaller Zunes: the Zune Pad. Much like the iPod Click Wheel, the Zune Pad is largely the unit’s full control interface. It can be used as a four-way directional button but its best feature is its slider option where the user can just flick his or her thumb left-to-right or up and down to navigate through the unit’s options. Whereas the user has to rotate the Click Wheel on the iPod to navigate through voluminous content, the Zune user can just flick, then hold in one direction until the desired song, photo, or video is found. It’s also easy to deduce that the Zune Pad will be nearly as sensitive as the Click Wheel especially when the lock slider is not activated. Luckily, even without it, the user can put the Zune in a side pocket and not worry about the songs being changed while walking about.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net

FIRST off, there are a host of iPod docks to choose from, and Philips has its own family of iPod docks. It really depends on what you want. You want a simple dock to plug in your iPod, they have one. You want to have one of those that support Bluetooth, they have it. Name it, and most likely they have it mapped out. This review is about one of its models, AJ300D iPod Go Gear dock.

This baby is perhaps the most “basic” dock Philips has to offer. Quickly, the AJ300D features an alarm clock, a remote, a dual wake-up alarm, a built-in radio FM tuner, and five speakers. It uses Philips’ wOOx technology (more on this later). All these at the suggested retail price of P4, 999. Yes, boys and girls, it’s relatively cheap considering what it offers.

Just to give you an idea what this iPod dock is like, let’s consider these basic points.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net

UPDATE: Editor’s note: Added URL of X-mini site.

OKAY, so we journalists usually get nifty giveaways, but this one — the X-mini Capsule Speaker — stands out from the coffee mugs and USB thumb drives so it’s worth mentioning here.

It’s a portable “capsule” speaker (it actually looks a lot like a mosquito repellent device), which sets it apart from the generic, mostly two-speaker types. It connects via a two-prong cable, one for your USB port and another for your standard 3.5mm stereo jack.

Best of all, no need to plug it because the battery’s rechargeable via USB. So if it doesn’t have its own power, what about sound quality then? Not bad at all, I’d say it’s definitely better than those portable speakers you’ll find in P88 stores. The package did say “Hearing is believing.” I tried supporting that point with this video.