Recently in Hardware Category

Music has always been an integral part of the Filipino culture.  From the days of the vinyl records to CDs to digital music players, Filipinos have always wanted to carry their own music with them around. Some would downl oad songs and play them from their home theaters, some of which boast of high f idelity audio speakers (others actually think they can produce surround sound i n a 5.1 channel speaker set up with only a dual channel stereo source).  At any rate, Fili pinos do get around when it comes to sound production. Some are going after a c omplete surround sound set up while others go for a 2.1 speaker system that emu lates surround sound. Most of these are played on PC speakers. A few brands are already available in the market including Logitech, Bose, Altec Lansing and Cr eative.  Singapore firm Cr eative recently introduced a few new products, notably PC speakers. It introduc ed three new models, all of which are part of the companyâs high-end brand Giga works. One of the new Gigaworks speakers is the 2.1 channel T3, which delivers a muc h pronounced bass speaker courtesy of a new subwoofer design called symmetrical ly loaded acoustic module (SLAM). Unlike most subwoofers that use only two driv ers, the T3âs subwoofer uses three, producing deeper bass.  The T3âs two spea ker drivers are also has a low standby power mode when no sound is coming out o f them.  Two other Gigawor ks models are the T20 and T40 series II, both of which are 2.0 speaker sets. Ev en without subwoofers the T20 and T40 are able to produce bass, which may not b e as pronounce as it is in the T3 but nonetheless high fidelity.   Because they are small, the T20 and T40 are best used with small desktop computers and laptops. These can also be connected to an ordinary LCD TV to improve the TVâs audio qua lity.  Creativeâs most b asic speakers are its T3130 and T6160; 2.1 and 5.1 speakers, respectively.  While the company has been in the PC peripheral business in the Philippines for a while, its spe akers are by far its largest business, amounting to about 50 percent of their r evenues in the Philippines.  In an interview, Creative Labs Asia Sales Manager Paul Seow said the company is banking on the i mproving economy for higher sales, which also affects the buying patterns of co nsumers.  âAs needs become greater, Filipinos would buy products that are reliable, efficient and also fit their lifestyle,â he said.  Seow also said th e entire business for Creative in the Philippines is expected to about 20 perce nt to 30 percent, majority of which would come from speakers.   "Our growth in th e Philippines for 2008 was flat, which is good since other regions had negative . This means we're poised to grow our business in the Philippines in the coming year," Seow said. -- Alexander Villafania

SOLAR technology in clothes, "talking" to the Internet and personal "digital sh opping assistants:" these innovations will take place in five years or less, IB M said. Now on its third year, IBM's annual Next Five in Five lis ts down innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years. IBM says its list is based on market and societal trends expected to transform our lives, as well as emerging technologies from IBM's Labs around the world th at can make these innovations possible. "These technologies are in different stages of development right now, and the w ork done in IBM labs all over the world contributes to making these trends into reality," said Lope Doromal, chief technologist for IBM Philippines. Here are IBM's top five innovations forecasted to shape the world -- and human life-- within the next five years: Energy saving solar technology will be built into asphalt, p aint and windows. In the next five years, solar energy will be an affo rdable option for you and your neighbors. Until now, the materials and the proc ess of producing solar cells to convert into solar energy have been too costly for widespread adoption. But now this is changing with the creation of "thin-fi lm" solar cells, a new type of cost-efficient solar cell that can be 100 times thinner than silicon-wafer cells and produced at a lower cost. These new thin-f ilm solar cells can be "printed" and arranged on a flexible backing, suitable f or not only the tops, but also the sides of buildings, tinted windows, cell pho nes, notebook computers, cars and even clothing. You will have a crystal ball for your health. In the next five years, your doctor will be able to provide you with a genetic map that tells y ou what health risks you are likely to face in your lifetime and the specific t hings you can do to prevent them, based on your specific DNA -- all for less th an $200. Ever since scientists discovered how to map the entire human genome, it has ope ned new doors in helping to unlock the secrets our genes hold to predicting hea lth traits and conditions we may be predisposed to. Doctors can use this inform ation to recommend lifestyle changes and treatments. Pharmaceutical companies w ill also be able to engineer new, more effective medications that are targeted for each of us as individual patients. Genetic mapping will radically transform healthcare over the next five years and allow you to take better care of yours elf. You will talk to the Web. . .and the Web will talk back. In th e future, you will be able to surf the Internet, hands-free, by using your voic e -- therefore eliminating the need for visuals or keypads. New technology will change how people create, build and interact with information and e-commerce w ebsites -- using speech instead of text. In places like India, where the spoken word is more prominent than the written word in education, government and culture, "talking" to the Web is leapfrogging all other interfaces, and the mobile phone is outpacing the PC. In the future, through the use of "voice sites," people without access to a personal computer and Internet, or who are unable to read or write, will be able to take advanta ge of all the benefits and conveniences the Web has to offer. You will have your own digital shopping assistants. A combinat ion of new technology and the next wave of mobile devices will give the in-stor e shopping experience a significant boost. Fitting rooms soon will be outfitted with digital shopping assistants -- touch screen and voice activated kiosks th at will allow you to choose clothing items and accessories to complement, or re place, what you already selected. Once you make your selections, a sales associ ate is notified and will gather the items and bring them directly to you. You'll also be able to snap photos of yourself in different combinations and em ail or SMS them to your friends and family for the thumbs upâ¦or the thumbs dow n. Shoppers can access product ratings and reviews from fellow consumers and wi ll even be able to download money-saving coupons and instantly apply them to th eir purchases. Forgetting will become a distant memory. In the next five year s, it will become much easier to remember what to buy at the grocery store, whi ch errands need to be run, who you spoke with at a conference, where and when y ou agreed to meet a friend, or what product you saw advertised at the airport. That's because such details of everyday life will be recorded, stored, analyzed , and provided at the appropriate time and place by both portable and stationar y smart appliances. To help make this possible, microphones and video cameras w ill record conversations and activities. The information collected will be auto matically stored and analyzed on a personal computer. People can then be prompt ed to "remember" what discussions they had, for example, with their daughter or doctor by telephone. Based on such conversations, smart phones equipped with global-positioning tech nology might also remind them to pick up groceries or prescriptions if they pas s a particular store at a particular time. It's not hard to imagine that TVs, r emote controls, or even coffee table tops, can one day be the familiar mediums through which we tap into our digitally stored information.

HEREâs somet hing for the fashion-addict but budget-conscious users. Motorola has a range of phone models that cater to a broad market spectrum but it is primarily known for its ROKR and RAZR models nowadays because of their fa shion-minded designs and solid construction. Motorola can also be credited for making the first "flip phone" the StarTAC way back in the mid-90s. From then on, Motorola has been leveraging on fashionable design but sometimes sacrificing functionality. While it has been chased after by Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson in many of t he segments that it once dominated over, Motorola is still holding on its own i n the entry-level phone space by extensively introducing a host of models that are just about dirt cheap as any other brand. Some of these phones can be bough t for no less than P4,000. Though it is being closely followed by other brands, such as Sony Ericsson, Motorola still dominates the "super entry-level" phone category. Among the cheapest of the cheap are Motorola's ZN200 and the W388, which cost b etween P3,500 and P7,000. The W388 in particular is one of Motorola's cheapest while the mid-level ZN200 is a several steps behind the MOTOSLVR series. W388 for the classy masses The W388 is simply a consumer entry-level ph one. While some of the other mobile brands still hark about making phones that are cheap with good design, the W388 is already successful in that department. The phone is particularly small, at just about 109 millimeters in length and 14 millimeters in thickness. It also weighs barely 100 grams. Motorola's music-orientation is also evident on the W388 as there are readily a vailable music buttons. The upper left button has a musical note icon that when pressed, leads the user to the music segment of the phone. The four-way keypad also controls the music segment of the phone as it has the forward, back, volu me, play/pause buttons that are used when playing music. The use of the four-wa y button as a music controller is nothing new but the W388 executes it pretty w ell. Music and other files can also be stored in its shared 7.5 megabyte internal me mory but it can be expanded with a microSD card up to 2 gigabytes, thereby expa nding content-saving capabilities. However, this device can only play music fil es. No video can run on it. Because it is targeted at basic users, the W 388's graphical user interface has only but the barest of bare essentials. It h as the standard calculator, alarm clock, stopwatch and SMS messaging. Internet access is also available on the W388, by way of an integrated Internet browser and a Google client but because of the limited screen size, low resolu tion (128 kb by 160 kb), and the lack of a 3G platform (it only uses GSM and al though it claims to be HTML-ready its EDGE capabilities are very limited) makes it less of a useful Internet-ready phone. Still, the W388 boasts of Motorola's CrystalTalk sound feature, which allows fo r clearer sounds when making calls or listening to music. This device also has a 2-megapixel camera. The camera control interface does no t do much with photos. But having a camera seems a nifty add-on to an otherwise very basic mobile phone. ZN200: For the budget conscious but a bit fancier If not the W388, a user may try something a bit better looking with slightly better graphics and applications. The ZN200 is one such device. One of the few Motorola slider models, the ZN200 is still considered an entry-level phone due to some downgraded features, notably its In ternet capabilities. For one, the ZN200 is almost the same size as the W388 but is noticeably heavie r at 115 grams. Of course, it becomes longer when the keypad is fully exposed f rom underneath the device. The button and alphanumeric keypad layout is very mi nimalist; the keypad is actually integrated into one plastic part but it is not difficult to access the numbers. Even the call/power and left/right menu butto ns are integrated into a similar manner. Unlike the W388 which relies on the filename of the MP3 music file to help iden tify it, the ZN200 uses the file's ID3 tag, which separates the song's title, t he musician, the album and the genre. This is helpful when navigating through t housands of music files. The ZN200 also has an integrated 2-megapi xel camera, which can be used for video recording. The ZN200 can zoom eight tim es than the W388's 4 times zoom but the quality is quite degraded and since the ZN200 doesn't have an image stabilizer, photo taking or video recording at the maximum zoom can be wobbly if not downright difficult. Nevertheless, the 220x176 pixel resolution LCD screen is better, allowing for s harper photo and video viewing. Because the phone has EDGE connectivity, the ZN 200 can view HTML and WAP sites better but still with limited features. Surprisingly, the ZN200 can only accommodate microSD cards of up to 2 Gb. This is despite some older generation of entry-level multimedia phones that are able to accommodate at least 4 Gb. Fewer new phones that accommodate microSD cards are using less than 4 Gb of capacity. On the other hand, it has a 30 megabyte i nternal memory which stores quite a number of short videos and medium-quality p hotos. One nifty feature of the ZN200 is an incoming message indicator on top of the s creen. When a message (either SMS or if email is set up on the phone) is receiv ed, an image of an envelope lights up. This is useful for users who put their p hones in their chest pocket and when phones are on silent mode and without the vibrating feature. On the other hand, the ZN200 has some speed issues. Trying to access files on t he microSD card is slow. A fraction of a second from the time a button is press ed to the time the screen refreshes is already noticeable. Even when typing a m essage, the screen would put in the letter pressed after a small fraction of a second. While it is not exactly a major concern, this slow reaction time could be a bit annoying for users. Battery life As mentioned earlier, the Motorola ZN200 and W388 are entry-le vel phones with limited functionalities. Because these models do not have large LCD screens and have basic applications installed, battery life for both phone s is better than other models in the same class. Both phones use 810 milliamper e-hour (mAh) batteries. On standby mode, both phones can last from three to fou r days. Even when used for calls, both phones can last for at least 48 hours on one full charge. Charging also takes less than one hour. This is appealing for users who are always on the go and do not have time for charging an electronic device. Verdict Motorola has successfully introduced entry-level phones that cater to fashion a ddicts with a very limited budget. There are kinks on both phones, notably on t heir graphical user interface, small expandable memory capacity, and slow react ion time, but at least they still look good. For now, Motorola is finding its w ay into the hands of the many Filipinos who like to look good without spending so much.

AFTERÂ keeping it under wraps for months, the group of young Filipino engineer s and designers have unveiled a prototype of what it claims to be the next-gene ration interactive device. It is called the "Ilumina" interactive television and it already has one patent pending for its curved design. Inovent r ecently showed an "ultra-alpha prototype" of the Ilumina with the goal of highl ighting the concept of research, development and design (RDD) in the Philippine s. Inovent is composed of no more than eight people, some graduates from the Unive rsity of the Philippines, Ateneo De Manila and De La Salle University. The Ilumina is a television panel integrated with computer component s installed in a handmade fiberglass bezel. It is the bezel's inward curved des ign that Inovent has patented with the Intellectual Property Office Philippines . The Ilumina's basic component is its 32-inch LCD TV panel. Inside it are comput er parts that run a scaled-down version of Ubuntu Linux operating system. With a flick of a button, the TV interface changes to the Iluma's user interfac e that provides access to features, such as video and music playback and Intern et. While the TV source still requires a physical cable, the Internet connectivity only requires a wireless fidelity (Wifi) access point, as the Ilumina has a bui lt-in Wifi receiver. It also has a web camera that will allow users to do video chat while accessing the web or watching TV. Apart from the regular TV remote, the Ilumina also uses wireless keyboards and mouse for computer applications. It also has a USB (universal serial bus) port for connection to other external peripherals. The Ilumina concept has not been used in other commercial products. Inovent Chi ef "Inoventor" Brian Quebengco said the idea is not new. Some of the parts used in the Ilumina are off-the-shelf electronic components that were pieced togeth er to fit in a slim casing. "You will be surprise at how our developers made these components fit together. The parts had to be modified to make them work well," Quebengco said. Quebengco said the main highlight of the Ilumina is its design, which the local company has filed for patents early this year, as well as its software. The bezel design, which is curved inwards, allows the unit to stand on its own, removing the need for a removable stand normally used in many LCD TVs. While still in its "ultra-alpha" prototype stage, the developers will be adding new features in the Ilumina, which Quebengco declined to describe. "It's not something new as well but when you see it in a well--packaged product , it becomes an innovation. There's still a lot we're working on but this is to just highlight what we can achieve," he added. Quebengco said they are looking at a six- to eight-month period for the launch of a commercially ready Ilumina model. He is hoping that the price of the devic e will not go above five digits. "What's to be proud here is that we have people who are innovating and designin g things for a global market. We also hope to encourage and inspire others to d o the same," Quebengco said.

By Lawrence Casiraya INQUIRER.net YES, Microsoft is the biggest software company in the world but every now and t hen it dips its toes in hardware, most notably the Xbox and (less notably) its Zune mp3 player. But I'm guessing, it still surprises some people that Microsoft makes mouse, ke yboards and webcams. Microsoft demonstrated some of the latest gadgets to come out of its pockets, i ncluding a Bluetrack-equipped mouse that can glide on any surface (except glass ), a webcam that does more than show your face and one helluva keyboard intende d for hardcore gamers. Microsoft executives kept the lid on SRPs but forking some 5,000 pesos (or roug hly $100) for a webcam, for example -- in this era where even netbooks come rea dy with integrated cameras -- could tickle the fancy of only the uber-gadget fr eaks. Here's my video report:

By Anna Valmero INQUIRER.net MAKATI, Philippines â The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is interested t o fund further development of a locally made mechanical anti-terrorist concept or âMACâ robot that was initially funded by the Philippine National Police, a l ead developer told INQUIRER.net. MAC lead developer John Judilla of the Mapua Institute of Technology said the A FP will provide funding of about P1.7 million to improve the MAC. Currently, the MAC team is working to produce a cheaper version of the anti-ter rorist robot with a slew of enhancements, he added. Judilla said the new MAC will use lighter Lithium polymer batteries and fiber g lass for body frame to make it lighter. The prototype uses lead-acid batteries and has a metal body frame. The tilt of the video camera on the gripper was also adjusted to allow the operator better control of the MAC. Judilla said they will also make the new version capable of operatin g underwater and be able to go up and down staircases. Like the prototype, the new version will operate using 12 volts input/output of power. At present, the team is looking up for a manufacturer willing to mass produce t he enhanced MAC. âIf we are able to mass produce the MAC, we plan to sell each unit at P100,000, â said Judilla. Mining countries Cambodia and Laos can benefit from low-cost alternative techno logies like this, he said. âRight now, the trend is affordable, advanced technology. So instead of focusin g on the materials to use, we have shown that through the MAC you can invent a smart technology from cheaper materials via engineering process innovation,â sa id Judilla. âKey to this process innovation is a good foundation in basic science and engin eering,â said Judilla. He cited as example of this process innovation a design modification they imple mented on the prototype MAC so they can work within the P300,000 development bu dget from the Philippine National Police. During the prototypeâs development, the team considered buying more powerful to rque motors than the one they bought so the robot will lift objects. Focusing on low-cost development, the team instead used a simple compound pulle y system to increase the torque effectively so the arm can lift 5kg-objects eve n with the use of a medium-sized high torque motor, said Judilla. Last month, the prototype MAC robot won first place at the First World Cup on C omputer Implemented Inventions in China, competing against 18 countries and ove r 40 inventions. After the competition, the team has received interest for intensive collaborati on with a foreign university, said Judilla. A publisher of elementary and science high school science books also requested for the MAC to be featured in its future paperback edition. During his presentation at the international competition, Judilla told judges t hat the MAC is a symbol of national pride, self reliance and technology capabil ity. With the MAC, they hope to reinvent robots in the Philippines, particularly tho se used in bomb disposal. âWe envision that U.S. and European institutions will eye MAC as an alternative robotics technology in terms of competitive pricing,â said Judilla. The MAC team has started showcasing the robot in different locations. Last week, it joined other school inventions at the Intellectual Property Offic e-Department of Trade and Industry in Makati. Starting November 4, it will be d isplayed at the SMX Mall of Asia in Pasig. Meanwhile, the MAC developer team has filed for a utility model upgrade to inve ntion patent at the Intellectual Property Office for the technology.

By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net SAN Francisco, California -- Oracle announced its entry in the storage and data base hardware business with Hewlett Packard (HP) as partner, Oracle CEO Larry E llison said here at Oracle Open World. Oracle will enter the storage server and database server market in hopes of pro viding a technology solution to the growing and complex database and storage de mand from enterprises. Working with computer company HP, Oracle expects to rival products of existing storage and database server players, Ellison said. Mark Hurd, Chairman of the Board and CEO of HP, said the computer giant is exci ted to work with Oracle in delivering these two joint products. "This is a great thing for Oracle and HP and for our customers," said Hurd who joined the announcement over a video feed beamed into Moscone Center. Ellison said HP and Oracle have co-developed these new products for three years , adding select customers are already running these systems for a year. Ellison said Oracle's storage server, dubbed Exadata Storage Servers, aims to s olve the growing database requirements of organizations. Meanwhile, Ellison said the HP Oracle's Database machine will compete directly with existing rival products. The HP Oracle Database Machine is made up of a grid of Oracle Database Servers and a grid of new Oracle Exadata Storage Servers packaged in a single rack orde red as a complete system from Oracle. The latest offering is a result of Oracleâs and HPâs long-time engineering rela tionship, Ellison said. Ellison explained that Oracle Exadata Storage Servers intend to solve the "data base bandwidth problem" that occurs between database servers and conventional s torage. The Oracle CEO said the HP Oracle Database Machine is a powerful machine config ured for data warehousing. Hurd said the two new products runs on HP Proliant technology combined with Ora cle software and Intel's latest microprocessors. HP Oracle Database machine includes a grid of eight database servers, 64 Intel processor cores and Oracle Enterprise Linux; and a grid of 14 Oracle Exadata St orage Servers that include up to 168 terabytes of raw storage and 14 Gigabits p er second data bandwidth to the database servers. "I know you have a burning question. How much music can this hold," Ellison qui pped as he introduced the Oracle Database machine to attendees of Oracle Open W orld.

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.net MAKATI City, Philippines -- Just three months after releasing the HTC Touch Dia mond in the Philippines, mobile handset manufacturer HTC launched its Touch Pro , the companyâs most powerful business mobile phone yet. The Touch Pro is the fourth generation of the HTC Touch series and is very simi lar to the Touch Diamond with the addition of a sliding QWERTY keyboard and a g lobal positioning system (GPS). The Touch Pro also has a much improved Touch FLO 3D, the touch screen interface that is unique to the HTC Touch series. The Touch Pro shares several similarities to the Touch Diamond, such as a 2.8-i nch screen, 3.2 megapixel camera, and Qualcomm 528 megahertz processor. Just like the Touch Diamond, the Touch Pro also has quadband cellula r network capability, EDGE, UMTS, and HSDPA. It also runs Microsoft Windows Mob ile 6.1. Touch Pro, however, has bigger RAM (288 MB compared to just 192 MB for the Touc h Diamond, including a microSDHC memory card slot), longer battery life, an int egrated GPS antenna and a wireless fidelity antenna. Even with the inclusion of a sliding QWERTY keyboard, the Touch Pro is only sli ghtly heavier than the Touch Diamond at only 165 grams. At P50,800 the HTC Touch Pro is also more expensive than the Touch Diamond, whi ch only cost P42,000 when it was launched in the Philippines in June. It is pri marily targeted at business users since it also includes several business appli cations such as Internet Explorer Mobile, Opera Browser, and Microsoft Office M obile. Despite the higher price, HTC Southeast Asia Managing Director Kevin Hou is co nfident that the new HTC Touch Pro will sell in the Philippines, especially as more business users choose handsets with touch screen interfaces. Hou said that the entry of touch screen mobile phones have enabled the developm ent of more efficient user interfaces and more interactive applications. Hou is optimistic that the business for mid-level to high-end business phones w ill continue to grow as phones become more like computers.

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.net MANILA, Philip pines -- Despite tightening budgets, Filipino buyers are becoming more selectiv e when buying electronic appliances. They want both a mix of function and desig n rolled into their equipment and some are willing to pay some extra. This was the principle behind Korean appliance maker LG's rebranding strategy i n the Philippines. The company launched its new set of "lifestyle appliances" a imed at choosy buyers. LG Electronics Philippines Head of Brand Marketing Raymond Hernandez said the c ompany has studied the Philippines market for electronics and noted a growing m arket of younger generation of users who want a balance of aesthetics and perfo rmance. "These are the 'premium seekers'. They are a new market that we're expecting to generate more income from for the company," Hernandez said. Nevertheless, Hernandez said the company is still sticking to their bread and b utter business, which is the mass market, commodity segment that is also cost c onscious. In the Philippines, the most popular gadgets for all market segments are LCD TV s, mobile phones, refrigerators and air conditioning units, he added. "We're not alienating the commodity segment because they are our biggest market . But we're seeing a shift from commodity to the new premium seekers in terms o f revenues and this will happen starting this year," Hernandez said. LG manufactures over a dozen product types from LCD TVs, home theater equipment , to vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, washing machines, microwaves, and refri gerators. The Korean firm has a division that makes mobile phones.

ASUS is clearly dominating the ultra-mo bile notebook market with its Eee PCs. But local executives said that it will r emain a niche player in this ever-competitive market for notebooks. The photo features the Eee Box (left) which comes with a 16-inch LCD monitor, w hile to the right is the Eee PC 900, the first to have the Intel Atom processor, which has not ye t been introduced to the Philippines due to the availability of the Eee PC 1000 series. INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alexander Villafania talks to Asus Philippines Country Man ager Leon Yu who stressed that its latest Intel Atom-based ultra-mobile not ebooks will not compete with other brands using the same processor. "The market for ultramobile PC is huge and we're only targeting people who have specific needs. We don't have any problems with the other brands in the same m arket," Yu said. Yu, however, acknowledged that the Intel Atom-based ultra-mobile notebooks will boost demand for low-cost, low-power computers especially in the Philippines w here there is a huge segment for budget-conscious buyers eyeing their first com puters. So why are people going gaga over the new Eee PC and Eee Box? Here are the published specifications: The Eee PC 1000 incorporates several new features not seen in previous Eee PC m odels. Among these include the Atom N270 processor running at 1.6 Gigahertz (th e previous Eee PC 900 uses an Atom processor but was not introduced in the Phil ippines). It is also the first model to have Bluetooth connectivity and the new 802.11N Wifi antenna allowing for faster Internet connection. The Eee PC 1000 also has a standard 6-cell battery instead of the 3 or 4-cell b attery. This should make it last approximately 7 hours on idle or about 3 hours on active mode with all the wireless connectivity switched on. It has a 1 Giga byte memory and 80 Gb hard disk. The keyboard is also bigger at 95 percent making it more comfortable to use tha n previous generations of Eee PCs. The screen is also bigger at 10.2-inches and can render images up to 1 megapixel. Meanwhile, the company also introduced the Eee Box, a mini-desktop computer tha t uses the Atom 230 processor variety. It is just slightly bigger than the Eee PC 1000 but has nearly the same features, except for Bluetooth. Both the Eee PC 1000 and Eee Box use Windows XP Home operating system. The form er costs P29,900 while the latter costs P24,999 bundled with a 16-inch widescre en LCD monitor.