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New Globe offer to further drive Facebook penetration in PH

oised to increase usage of Facebook among Filipinos, Globe Telecom unveiled its newest offer that provides users with unlimited access to the social networking site via their mobile phones at an affordable price. Exclusively available to Globe Prepaid subscribers, Globe Super Facebook (SuperFB) is a mobile internet plan for Facebook users who are always on the go. Accessible via m.facebook.com for internet-enabled mobile phones, the service allows users to browse through their Facebook accounts to post status and comments, add friends, upload and tag photos, and more. TM subscribers can avail of the promo via the AstigFB offer. Globe SuperFB and AstigFB offers are available for only P10 and valid for an entire day of unlimited use. At less than P0.50 per hour, this is one of the most affordable mobile internet plans in the market today. With these new offers, Globe targets to exponentially grow its mobile browsing subscriber base by end of the year. The company has recently been cited as the most popular service provider for mobile internet in the Yahoo! Net Index 2011. The Philippines ranks 8th in the world with the most number of Facebook users, with over 27 million Filipinos accessing the social networking site. Online penetration has been recorded at over 92%, which means that out of 10 Filipinos who have access to the World Wide Web, 9 users have Facebook accounts. Globe continues to make the mobile phone Filipinos primary

Technews
source of social interaction, entertainment, and information. With our new Facebook mobile offers, we are bringing the worlds favorite social networking site closer to Filipinos, complete with a worry-free experience. You dont need to wait until youre home with your PC or laptop or constantly search for Wi-Fi just to be Facebook-connected. Get full-day Facebook access at a cost within reach with Globe SuperFB

EVERY MONDAY April 16, 2012

Travelling With Agfaphoto Eclipse Explorer

By JOSE GAMALIEL FELONGCO

f you have to come up with a list of objects prone to abuse, the camera would definitely rank on top of the roster. These gadgets are inadvertently dropped, submerged, or haplessly tossed about by the users on a regular basis. This is possibly the reason why manufacturers see to it that the offerings that they come out are both functional as well as durable. But often times, in the course of coming up with a hardy camera, functionality and overall effectiveness suffer. Agfaphotos Eclipse Explorer, tries to stand out from all the other handy digital cameras by being both rugged and functional. The Eclipse Explorer has nondescript appearance and proportions of a brick with keys thrown all over its faade as an afterthought. Given these, it nonetheless exudes an impression of durability. Its a solidly built block packed with sockets, lids, and buttons. As anybody who had worked with real cameras would state---including those who have been hefting image capturing devices before the age of digital devices---you can tell a good camera by how much it weighs.

and AstigFB, shared Joanna Africa, Head for Portfolio Management of Globe. To avail of the offer, Globe Prepaid subscribers can dial *143#, the companys newest service that allows subscribers to easily register to various Globe promos without having to memorize keywords. TM subscribers can register by texting ASTIGFB10 to 8888. *Except for BlackBerry and those using Opera Mini-Browser as internet browser

Pride or Privacy
How many friends do you have in Facebook? Who follows you on Twitter? Are you the mayor of a restaurant or a street? You see, it seems like one of the factors why we keep on wanting to increase our network is about the competition and pride. We just ignore privacy. Receiving so much hits everyday are Facebook and Foursquare. While they are absolutely fun to use and provide bountiful of new information, it is overstated that these social networking sites are grinding the bones of our privacy and sucking the marrow of our personal data. Do we even care? We check in at all the establishments we go to and we post minute by minute status updates on what we are doing. In just a snap of a finger, all our friends already know about our activities even if theyre not with us. Through the use of a single location-based application linked to several accounts, voila, hello stalker alert! Its scary. Seriously, our privacy today is no longer just within ourselves, but known by the whole wide world. While we have the choice to stop posting and sharing information about us, I believe the location-based applications also has to do something to make sure users know what they are exposing and when. With the absence of proper controls, its easier to expose everything in one go exactly what happens today.Thats why Anthony Wing Kosner, a contributor at Forbes.com, thinks that there should be a device-level function for managing private data on devices. This way, users have an option to filter their data before it reaches out to the world. This functions goal, as Kosner says, is for users to be aware and in control of their mobile data in real time. These setting should be able to be applied app-by-app or globally at any time. He samples something as simple as a traffic light: - Green Light: Open for anything. App can use my public and private data to recommend context specific content to me based on my location and can broadcast my public data to make others, who have access to that data, aware of my location. - Yellow Light: Recommendations only. App can use my data to recommend context specific content to me based on my location but not broadcast my public data. - Red Light: App cannot access my data at all and cannot broadcast or record my location in any way. As location-based applications continue to grow, I do hope that developers would consider having such features in order to save the lives of many people unaware of privacy issues. More often than not, users utilize apps based on what they only see rather than knowing what theyre actually doing. If they see such traffic light functions, then theyd be more careful on what they post depending on their chosen option. (Glenn Richmond Ong)

The Eclipse Explorer has non-descript appearance and proportions of a brick with keys thrown all over its faade as an afterthought. Given these, it nonetheless exudes an impression of durability. Its a solidly built block packed with sockets, lids, and buttons. As anybody who had worked with real cameras would state---including those who have been hefting image capturing devices before the age of digital devices---you can tell a good camera by how much it weighs.

Weighing in at 145 grams and having dimensions of 105mm x 55.5mm x 20.1mm, you can tell the camera apart from the cellphone in your pocket by the difference in mass. The Eclipse Explorers compact design utilizes all of its available surface area. In contrast to the more common horizontallyoriented cameras, the camera is oriented vertically for a smaller footprint and maximized viewing screen area. Its rear side features a 2.5-inch LCD screen and nine buttons for navigating the camera functions. Though it could take some time to get used to, the camera itself is easy to navigate as the buttons themselves are bound to perform only one specific action when pressed. But the simplicity comes at a price, it does not possess features normally found in other similar cameras such video and photo effects. As a video camera, the Explorer is more than just decent. It is capable of filming in HighDefinition at 1080p and does the job in a swift manner. Perfect scenes dont wait and the Explorer wont. A simple button press prompts the camera to immediately capture videos. Once you have the videos, immediate viewing can be done through the use of an HDMI cable connected on an end device. The camera does not stop in taking vivid videos as it is also proficient in capturing videos in cinematic 3D. With just one press, the camera is then able to take full 3D videos, and it does so with ease. On a side note, the camera has a 4x Digital Zoom and employs Digital Image Stabilization. As a camera, the Explorer is able to take a 5MP still shot. It employs in-camera features such as Face, Smile, and Blink Detection, Red Eye Removal and Panorama Pan Capturing. It may not be the best camera when it comes to taking still shots, but as a second functionality, the Explorer is not bad. The camera functions well even underwater and is waterproof to approximately 5m (16.5ft) of depth. This feature makes it perfect for outdoor swimming adventures and

snorkeling. But what if you accidentally drop it? Even if you do it deliberately, the phone is made to withstand about 1.5m or approximately 5ft of fall. Agfaphotos Eclipse Explorer is a no frills camera built for abuse. It has the functionality and the capability to acquire videos, but it also solidly build for the rigors of the job. This video camera is God-sent to people who love to go on travels, nature trips, or even to those who are simply clumsy.

Alcatel-Lucent Philippines names new president

Leading global network technology provider Alcatel-Lucent recently announced the appointment of Geoffrey Webb as its new country president and managing director. Geoffrey Webb possesses over 10 years of experience as a business transformation expert in the telecommunications industry. Prior to his current post, he served as Vice President of Alcatel-Lucents Services, Business Development and Sales Division for Asia Pacific since 2007 and has been responsible for significant business growth across the region, including the Philippines. He worked for the consulting firm Cap Gemini and Coca-Colas mega-bottler group, Coca-Cola Amatil, Ltd., for 14 years before joining Lucents Services Organization and then Alcatel-Lucent. He succeeds Jonathan Goh in the top country post for Alcatel-Lucent Philippines.

Geoffrey Webb President & Managing Director, Alcatel-Lucent Philippines

Boomer Gen
uiz question: Which company makes the most number of microwave ovens in the world? Well, I am not sure if the answer is the same, but in the early 1990s, a friend and I befriended a grandson of the founder of Samsung, which was one of the largest appliance companies already back then, and the largest manufacturer of microwave ovens. One thing led to another, and we were given a chance to introduce some of the Samsung electronics products in this country. Unfortunately, the founder passed away right after, and in the confusion that ensured, we got shunted from being the sole distributor of appliance lines to just handling white lines. I distinctly remember the microwave ovens because after a difficult time selling these under our own

Jose Ma J Fernandez

Samsung Launches Mirrored Microwave Oven

brand name, we gave up and decided to bring the units into the country in behalf of an established appliance manufacturer whose US brand also made use of Samsung-made products. Those microwave ovens were built like tanks and tended to outlast anything the competition offered. Small wonder then that the largest appliance company in the USA decided to shut down its own manufacturing facilities and outsource these instead to companies like Samsung. Something caught my eye when I saw a caption announcing the arrival of a novel concept in microwave cooking. The oven itself is called the Mirror Microwave oven, and its chief claim to fame is that it hasvoilaa mirror! Duh! Well, it seems that the inventors over at Samsung decided that poor harassed housewives, who already have to do so much work at home, deserved a break. And in a classic play at the tendency of women to be either conscious or vain or both, they thought that placing a mirror in the face of the oven would be a better solution than, say, a traditional see-through glass. Now, women all over the world can put their make-up on or tidy themselves up so they look lovely and presentable to the man of the house upon his return. Sounds so chauvinistic, but we must remember that a great percentage of households are still modeled along traditional lines. This play on womens vanity may be just a single selling proposition, but on the other hand, it is the little things like this that sometimes determine whether a product makes it in the market or not.