old 3

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Universal mobile phone charging solution okayed October 22, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags:
1 comment so far , edit post
More An energy-efficient universal charging solution for mobile phones has been approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized United Nations body.

The solution enables the same charger to be used for all future handsets, regardless of make and model, the ITU said in a statement.

Besides reducing the volume of cellphone chargers produced, shipped, and eventually discarded, the new standard will allow users worldwide to recharge their phones anywhere from any available charger, while also reducing the energy consumed while charging.

The new UCS standard was based on input from the GSMA, which predicts a 50 percent reduction in standby energy consumption, elimination of 51,000 tons of redundant chargers, and a subsequent reduction of 13.6 million tons in greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Based on the Micro-USB interface, UCS chargers will also include a 4-star or higher efficiency rating – up to three times more energy-efficient than an unrated charger.

“This is a significant step in reducing the environmental impact of mobile charging, which also has the benefit of making mobile phone use more straightforward. Universal chargers are a commonsense solution that I look forward to seeing in other areas,” Malcolm Johnson, director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), said.

The announcement comes as ITU lobbies hard to have the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) recognized in the draft Copenhagen Agreement as a key part of the solution towards mitigating climate change. Read the original post herehttp://www.gmanews.tv/story/175316/universal-mobile-phone-charging-solution-okayed

Hot on Heels of Google, Facebook to Take First Step Into Music October 21, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags: ,
add a comment , edit post

Several reports Wednesday indicate that Google is set to roll-out a music service at an event at the iconic Capitol Records building in Hollywood next Wednesday. The service, we’ve confirmed from three people briefed on the details, will offer searchers a better way to find and sample music on Google – much in the same way people can get detailed financial information about a company from Google Finance.

So for example, if you search for Green Day’s song “21 Guns,” a Google page devoted to the song will offer lyrics, photos, tour dates and opportunities to sample the music from streaming services like Lalaand iLike, a division of MySpace. We have also learned that more online music services, includingImeem, may be added to the Google service in the next week. No money is changing hands in these deals, a person with knowledge of the discussions said.

But Google isn’t alone in wading into the music business. Facebook, which has been toying with bringing music to the social network for at least a year, will also take its first step by integrating Lala into its popular gift store, according to a person briefed on the plans. Representatives of Facebook and Lala would not comment.

Currently, the Facebook gift store is stocked with images like birthday cakes and dogs (many illustrated by the former Apple interface designer Susan Kare, incidentally). People buy these images for a dollar — with 10-cent Facebook credits — and pass them on to their friends’ profile pages.

Over the summer, Facebook began, in limited tests, allowing companies to add their virtual wares to the gift store, and now I’ve confirmed they are set to go live with that effort later this week. Companies like American Greetings, SomeeCards and JibJab will list their virtual goods next to Facebook’s images.

But adding songs from Lala is clearly the most interesting step. People can give friends, say, Elvis Costello’s aging ballad, “Veronica” for their 40th birthday. And Lala is the perfect partner for this. It charges 10 cents (or one Facebook credit) for a “Web song,” which can be played online in perpetuity; for full price, usually around 10 credits, the recipient of the music gift will be able to download the song and transfer it to their iPod.

Bottom line: Web users are about to have a lot more ways to find and sample music.

Read the original article herehttp://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/hot-on-heels-of-google-facebook-to-take-first-step-int-music/?pagemode=print

FlyScreen Puts Calendars, Weather, and More on Your Phone’s Lock Screen October 19, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags: ,
add a comment , edit post
Android/Symbian: FlyScreen saves you the trouble of unlocking, clicking, and waiting for an app to open to get calendar items, weather updates, SMS messages, or most anything else by putting swipe-accessible widgets on your “lock” screen.

Anything you can grab from an RSS feed can be loaded into FlyScreen, but the developers have included a healthy set of custom news feeds in their widget gallery (note to developers: we wouldn’t mind being included next to our brother Gizmodo). What’s really convenient, though, are the Calendar and SMS access widgets. Click a day, and you’ll see all your appointments, and your most recent text messages can be stored one screen over, without having to awaken your phone and dig into your apps.

As an experienced Android (or under-performing Symbian) user probably knows, the more widgets you load into FlyScreen, the more likely you are to experience battery drain and slowdown. You can tweak FlyScreen’s dependency on your system by adjusting its refresh times and limiting widget screens, though, so you might find a happy medium between at-a-glance information and please-just-let-me-get-to-the-browser moments.

FlyScreen is a free download for Android and Symbian phones, requires an account sign-up to use.

http://lifehacker.com/5383294/flyscreen-puts-calendars-weather-and-more-on-your-phones-lock-screen

New Wi-Fi technology allows gadgets connect directly October 18, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags: , ,, ,
add a comment , edit post

The Wi-Fi Alliance, a multinational industry group specialized in wireless connection technology, Wednesday said it had nearly finished working on a specification that enables electronic devices to connect each other directly. Wi-Fi Direct, a set of technical rules, will let cameras, smart phones or PCs connect to printers, digital photo frames, sensors, TVs or projectors without joining a traditional network in the vicinity.

Wi-Fi Direct devices can broadcast their availability and seek out other Wi-Fi Direct devices. They will connect each other at existing Wi-Fi speeds — up to 250 mbps.

The devices can connect in pairs or in groups with Wi-Fi, and only one of the devices needs to be compliant with Wi-Fi Direct to establish a peer-to-peer connection.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, the devices with the new technology are expected to be on the market by mid-2010.

By then, Wi-Fi Direct will be an alternative to Bluetooth and other short range networking technologies. Compared with Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth uses less power but has much shorter range and a lower transfer speed. http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/tech-times/4028-new-wi-fi-technology-allows-gadgets-connect-directly

3 Speed Test Servers now available for Philippine Internet Users October 17, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags: ,
add a comment , edit post

What is Speedtest.net? Use Speedtest.net to test the speed of your Internet connection. See if you are getting what you pay for or share your results with others!

This one’s good news!

In the past, only one server in the Philippines, which is sponsored by Bayantel, is available for speed testing. Now there are three.

If you are from the Philippines and you go towww.speedtest.net, you will be brought to the Philippine map where these servers are located. Other places in the world will be different locations based on your location but still available for your use.

First, the one in golden yellow is the server recommended by speedtest.net. It is located in Quezon City, Philippines. Sponsored by Bayantel, this server gives me a latency between 310-360.

The second server is sponsored by PLDT. Homed in Makati City, Philippines, this server says that I have a latency of 75-100.

The third server is located in the south, specifically in Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines. It is sponsored by Philcom Corporation. It reveals my latency of 300-320.

At least now, we have a choice on what server to test our connection with.

The distance between user location and the server plays an important role in determining exact connection speed. The farther a user is to the server, there’s more probability that he gets inaccurate results.

Factors like latency, weather, internet traffic and many others can affect the results of speed tests.

So there you go. Enjoy speed testing. http://coolbusteratyourservice.blogspot.com/2008/07/3-speed-test-servers-now-available-in.html

Test your speed here speedtest

The hot new musical instrument: Your smartphone October 16, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags:
add a comment , edit post

Often in the middle of the night, while his wife sleeps beside him, John Sheridan picks up his iPhone from the nightstand and shakes the device like it was a conductor’s wand on fire.

Sometimes he goes on like this for more than an hour at a time. There’s a point to this midnight madness, though.

By day, Sheridan is a 53-year-old real-estate agent in Florida. But by night, he’s an iPhone musician.

In the past few months, he has used his phone to record and upload at least 30 songs to the Web using an iPhone application called ZOOZbeat, which helps anyone — regardless of musical talent or lack thereof — create songs by selecting instruments from a list and then waving his or her phone around. Video Learn how ZOOZbeat works »

“You don’t have to know anything. You go in there and click on it, and it’s playing guitar chords,” Sheridan said. “It’s pretty neat, actually.”

A quick flick of the wrist produces a high note. A gentler movement belches out a lower tone. The app loops the sounds and lets users edit their tracks on the fly or afterwards. Read the complete original article here http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/15/iphone.music.zoozbeat/index.html

Solar Cellphones Go on Sale LG Samsung October 15, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags:
add a comment , edit post

SEOUL—Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Co. separately started selling solar-powered phones Wednesday, a big step in a budding trend of cellphone makers seeking to tap growing consumer interest in eco-friendly products.

Samsung
Samsung’s Blue Earth
SUNPHONE

Samsung rolled out a touch-screen model, dubbed Blue Earth, with a shell made from recycled plastic water bottles and a solar panel on the back. LG’s model, called the GD510 Pop, also has a touch screen but its solar panel is an optional add-on.

Consumer demand for solar-based phones is hard to gauge, but makers are planning to market them as good for the environment as well as a way to hedge against running out of battery power.

Both the Samsung and LG phones have features that promote walking, such as software that measures distance traveled, and allow customers to calculate how much they can reduce carbon dioxide emissions with physical activities that replace driving.

“It is premature to say whether they will be successful, but overall it’s the right direction because people are increasingly interested in saving energy,” says Park Sung-min, a telecom industry analyst at Kyobo Securities in Seoul.

Samsung is aiming the Blue Earth model at premium customers, with pricing around $300. The phone, which can also be charged with a traditional plug-in cord, is initially available in Sweden; Samsung said it will quickly roll it out elsewhere in Europe and Asia.

LG
LG’s Pop
[SUNPHONE] LG
LG said the Pop phone will also initially be sold in Europe and be priced around $300 with the optional solar panel about $50. The companies said decisions are pending about U.S. sales.

Samsung said the Blue Earth phone can accept enough charge under an hour of normal sunlight to allow for 10 minutes of talk. LG said the Pop model permits about 13 minutes of talk after being charged for an hour under normal sunlight. The companies said the phones will also charge under artificial light, but more slowly.
Nokia Corp., the world’s largest cellphone maker by units and revenue, introduced a solar-based cellphone in 1997 but it didn’t continue in the company’s regular lineup. The company earlier this year demonstrated a concept phone that runs entirely on solar power.

Samsung, the second-largest maker, in June introduced its first solar-based phone, a bar-shaped model with a normal keypad and solar cells on the back. That phone, called Solar Guru in some markets and Crest Solar in others, was aimed chiefly at developing countries and sells for as little as $60. But Samsung also offers it in some wealthy European countries like France.

The Hidden Cost of Nokia’s $299 Netbook October 15, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags: ,
add a comment , edit post
Nokia announced yesterday that its Booklet 3G will be available this holiday season from AT&T and Best Buy at a price of $299. When the hidden costs are calculated in the Nokia Booklet 3G becomes an expensive option in a cheap device niche.

That subsidized price comes with some strings that affect the total cost of ownership though. The $299 price tag is based on a 2-year wireless service commitment with a mandatory data plan requirement. So, $299 isn’t just $299. It is $299 plus $60 a month for two years which brings the total cost up to over $1700.

But wait, there’s more! The data plan you get for $60 a month has a limit of 5Gb of bandwidth per month. Even moderate netbook users could easily surpass the bandwidth cap and end up hit with steep overage charges that add even more hidden costs and increase the total cost of ownership for the Booklet 3G.
To be fair, all netbooks are little more than glorified calculators without some sort of wireless network service. But, just keeping things within AT&T, I could buy an un-subsidized Acer Aspire One netbook and get DSL service from AT&T for $19.95 a month without the bandwidth limit. Granted, I would have to spring for the $40 to add a wireless router to my network, but the total cost for the netbook and Internet access over the same two years is about half the cost of the Booklet 3G contract (not including charges for going over the data limit).
-
You can forego the AT&T subsidy and purchase the Nokia Booklet 3G outright for $599 without the contract. That brings the total cost over two years down significantly, but the device is still almost double the cost of comparable devices.

-The success of the netbook market is built on the fact that netbooks are cheap. Granted, netbooks have other advantages as well. What they lack in horsepower or bells & whistles, they make up for by being smaller and lighter and having longer battery life than their full-sized notebook cousins. But, price is still arguably the number one factor in the success of the netbook.
-
The Nokia has some compelling features that set it apart. It has sturdier aluminum construction, built-in GPS receiver, HSPA wireless communications, and a longer than average battery life. It is debatable if those additional features make the Booklet 3G worth twice as much as the competition though.
By Nokia’s standards, coming from the mobile device handset market, a $599 price tag (or $299 subsidized) may seem perfectly reasonable. Just look at the unsubsidized cost of mobile handsets like the iPhone or the Garmin Nuvifone G60. However, in the mobile computer market, $600 can buy a range of full-sized notebook computers with faster processors, larger hard drives, more memory, and bigger displays.
-
The Nokia Booklet 3G faces an identity crisis. It has the price tag of a high-end netbook– eclipsing the price of much more powerful notebook computers– with the features of a middle-of-the-road netbook device. The subsidized cost may lure in some users who want the prestige or are willing to pay twice as much over time in order to spend less today, but compared with other netbook and notebook alternatives the Booklet 3G is just not a good value.
-
-Nokia doesn’t seem to understand the market it is getting into. It is thinking in mobile phone handset terms, competing with netbooks, and pricing like a notebook. Only a fool would take this deal.
-

Solar-charging backpacks set for hike to market October 15, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags:
add a comment , edit post
Mascotte’s messenger bag prototype

(Credit: Mascotte)

G24 Innovations has shipped its first flexible solar panels, which are destined for the outside of backpacks and other bags, the company said Wednesday.

The U.K. company’s dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) are thin-film photovoltaics that can be manufactured in flexible rolls relatively cheaply. It is a material the U.S. Air Force has been looking into for use in its unmanned aerial vehicles for longer endurance.

G24’s DSSC cells, which are designed to create electricity from indoor light as well as outdoor sunlight, will be put into commercial use by the manufacturer Mascotte Industrial Associates.

Solar backpack, duffel

(Credit: G24 Innovations)

The Hong Kong-based company is integrating the DSSC panels into a line of backpacks, duffel bags, e-book covers, camera bags, and messenger bags that can then be tapped to recharge items like cell phones or cameras.


Mascotte plans to display its solar bags at this week’s Hong Kong Electronics Fair, and the products could be available to consumers as soon as December, according to the company. Mascotte has already filled its Web site with photos of potential products.

While Mascotte won’t be the first to offer solar recharging in a backpack and while it hasn’t released its price list yet, the company’s use of DSSC cells may make it the first to offer a bag at a reasonable price to the masses. In 2006, Tumi offered a limited edition PowerPack, which cost almost $700. In mid-2007, the Mana Solar Claw offered a $230 solar backpack cover. Read the complete article herehttp://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10374821-54.html?tag=nl.e404

Cell phones and smartphones Fall tech preview 2009 October 8, 2009

Posted by philippinetech in Uncategorized.
Tags: ,
add a comment , edit post
Cell phones and smartphones Fall tech preview 2009

Fall isn’t just about Halloween and back-to-school sales; it also indicates the nascent start of the holiday season. And with that comes the arrival of many new cell phones and smartphones to entice your hard-earned dollars–everything from eco-friendly handsets to multimedia showstoppers. Here is just a sample of some of the hottest phones we expect to see in the next few months. See all the latest models herehttp://reviews.cnet.com/fall-tech-preview/cell-phones/?tag=contentMain;contentBody
Posted by Philippine Bargains at 3:31 PM

0 comments

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)