Smart Now Offers iPhone 5 in the Philippines

Attended the Smart Christmas Midnight Rush Countdown thingmagig at the Resorts World Manila last December 13 and had a blast anticipating the launch of the new iPhone 5.

Wireless leader Smart Comunications, inc. has officially began offering iPhone 5 in the Philippines. Customers can now order iPhone 5 from Smart's official iPhone site http://www.smart.com.ph/iPhone.

With an iPhone Plan Php 2499, iPhone 5 will be available at no cost (free) for the 16 GB and 32 GB model, and Php 6k for the 64 GB model in all Smart Stores nationwide. In addition, iPhone 4s and iPhone 4 will also be available at no cost with an iPhone Plan 2499 beginning today. Smart will allow iPhone 5 customers to connect to its fast HSPA+ network.

iPhone 5 is the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, completely redesigned to feature a stunning new 4-inch Retina display; an Apple-designed A6 chip for blazing  fast performance; and ultrafast wireless technology - all while delivering even better battery life.

iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the world's most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features including: Shared Photo stream, Facebook integration, all-new Maps app and Passbook organization.

Below are just some of the photos I took during the countdown to iPhone 5 launch. There were actually a lot of great looking and popular celebrities, artists, singers, models and the likes that I was not able to capture on camera due to being just so starstruck. I was staring all night and admiring how tall, slim and cool they were.

A lot of celebrities got to bring home a new iPhone 5 that night, and seems to be happy with the cool new gadget that's hot in the market right now. So what are you waiting for, grab one now!

I'm sure you'll want to own one too. How about you, what's your favorite gadget before the iPhone 5?

HP Lanches BYOD For Today's Technology Driven Society

With the proliferation of so many technologies available to an individual nowadays, this reality is having a sweeping impact on the way we live, work and enjoy life. Aside from a desktop PC, you probably also have a laptop, a smartphone, a digital camera and a tablet or "phablet" - phone tablet - PC. I very much believe I am not alone when I say so many of us have multiple mobile devices we use in our daily routine. We simply have a communication or automation gadget or device that we do not fail to use on a single passing day.

It would be nice if I can access all that I want from my own personal device. In this day and age, the line between personal time and professional time is already very blurry. You could also say that is already a fine line separating the two. The traditional 8-to-5 working days are long gone. However, I still prefer not to lug around multiple devices. I want one device with easy access to all my contacts. I want to be able to access my information from my office cubicle or from the basketball court over the cellular network. Though some admit that they purposely limit the capabilities of a device, it is done basically to cut down on cost. However, the quality and multi-functionality of a device is sacrificed. So unless a valiant technopreneur decides to give it all out for the consumers advantage, we might still have to lug with a lot of devices.

Regardless of this situation, employees, customers and partners agree it’s time to bring your own device—BYOD.

The catch here though is the issue of security and control over the personal devices. ...and since there are a huge list of brands and models with varying firmwares and user customizations, it might become a nightmare for IT security personnel to administer the company infrastructure. IT organizations are under tremendous pressure to deliver a controlled and safe way of accessing applications and company information with established and enforced policies. Otherwise users are going to subject enterprises to huge risks. If it was only one class of users then it may have been easy to manage.

Think about all the variables that IT has to deal with:

• Users – customers, partners, employees, contractors
• Devices - desktops, laptops, iPhones, android devices, blackberries, tablets
• Ownership – company owned, user owned devices
• Access medium – wired, Wi-Fi, cellular networks
• Services – outsourced, offshored, public cloud, private cloud, hybrid clouds

 

To say that I am going to only provide internet access to user owned devices is not even addressing the tip of the iceberg. It is very evident that device onboarding, provisioning and managing/monitoring is critical to support BYOD but IT has to take a holistic approach to manage the entire infrastructure to be efficient and optimize resources. BYOD is just one of the corner cases.

The HP BYOD solution is a robust, simple and secure way for enterprises to allow users to access the network as well as applications from their own laptop, tablet or smartphone. Leveraging a single pane-of-glass management interface, IT can onboard, provision and monitor users, devices and traffic on the network whether the user is an employee, contractor or guest and the device is attached to a wired port or connected wirelessly through HP's mobility solution. Through HP IMC and F5 BIG-IP, enterprise IT can identify the user and their device, assign and enforce policy based on the user and device profile and monitor traffic and user behavior to maintain the security of corporate assets without disrupting user productivity. When online, users are demanding rich multimedia and real time content and service. The new HP 10512 increases capacity and bandwidth to support connections with more than 6300 802.11n APs at line rate and enough throughput to stream the entire Netflix library simultaneously.

 

Benefits

• Identify and control network and application access for user-preferred devices
• Secure network and application access regardless of location
• Orchestrate wired and wireless networks with a single pain of glass management interface
• Simplify network design for assured scalability of wired and wireless LANs
• Satisfy the demand for mobile access and rich media content

Features

• Modular solution lets you add resources and functionality as required
• Seamless onboarding means minimal disruption in user productivity
• Single pane-of-glass management for wired and wireless devices
• Scalable performance from core to edge for the entire wired or wireless network
•  

WD Ushers In Blazing Fast HD Entertainment Solutions

We now have the Internet and advance wireless technology to thank for bringing us the option to explore new means of entertainment and a whole lot of other possibilities at home – change your home appliance systems with a home warranty in Florida.

WD, a Western Digital company, and a world leader in external storage and maker of the popular WD TV media player family, today unveils its first line of wireless home networking products, designed specifically to accelerate movies, video and gaming, delivering a premium high-definition entertainment experience. With the My Net family of powerful and easy-to-use home networking products, WD debuts its exclusive FasTrack technology that instantly detects entertainment traffic on the network and fast-forwards it to gaming consoles, media players, smart TVs, tablets, smartphones, computers and other Wi-Fi connected devices.

“With so many people within the home simultaneously watching movies, playing games and browsing the Web via their iPad, iPhone, Xbox and other devices, the network demands placed on today’s connected home has grown exponentially,” states Jim Welsh, executive vice president for WD's branded products and consumer electronics groups. “Our successes in creating Connected Home solutions with our WD TV media players and personal cloud products have given us valuable insights into the network-overload problems of home wireless users, and entering the wireless home networking market offers WD an exciting opportunity to strengthen our Connected Home offerings that are aimed at enhancing the home entertainment experience for consumers.”

Accelerated Entertainment
 
According to Nielsen and NM Incite’s recent U.S. Digital Consumer Report, data from the fourth quarter of 2011 shows that 33 percent of consumers streamed a movie or TV show from the Internet through a subscription service such as Netflix or Hulu Plus. Internet video services, multi-player online gaming sites, and live video chat services, combined with the explosive growth of tablets, smartphones and other devices that connect to the home network, have created a new model of home entertainment and Internet usage. 

With the industry’s only full line of HD dual-band wireless N routers, My Net customers can fully enjoy this new age of home entertainment. WD’s exclusive FasTrack optimization technology intelligently and automatically prioritizes Internet favorites like Netflix, Hulu Plus, VUDU, YouTube, Xbox LIVE, Skype and others, to create a smooth streaming experience in up to Full-HD 1080p quality. By using real-time analysis to maximize bandwidth for entertainment services, My Net routers provide a premium entertainment experience on any screen in the home that is connected to the router.  

Streamlined Setup and Ease-of-Use
 
The sleek hardware design of the My Net family of routers is complementary to the devices friendly and intuitive user interface, which was designed by a veteran team of developers to enable quick router setup from wireless or wired devices such as iPads and other mobile devices, as well as PCs and Mac computers.

The streamlined router setup is designed to make it easy for novice users to be up and running in minutes, while also providing all the customization tools expert users crave. The included My Net Dashboard makes it easy for users to customize, monitor or change the settings of the network, including setting parental controls, Internet security, guest network access, network name and password, printer and scanner settings, and mapping storage drives, all in one easy view.

New Combination Router, Personal Cloud and Automatic Wireless Backup
 
In addition to getting a premium home entertainment experience with My Net routers, customers can centralize storage and backup for all the computers in their home, as well as create a personal cloud for their digital media and remotely access those files anytime, anywhere. Part of the My Net family, My Net N900 Central is WD’s all-in-one N900 router with an integrated 1 TB or 2 TB internal hard drive. Remote access to My Net N900 Central is available on any computer through www.WD2go.com and with WD mobile apps for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch or Android smartphones and tablets.

In addition to keeping content safe at home and always accessible while away from home, users can rely on My Net N900 Central for automatic wireless backup with the included WD SmartWare software for Windows, while Mac users can utilize all the features of Apple Time Machine backup software.

Additionally, any WD external hard drive with SmartWare software can connect directly to a My Net router to wirelessly backup all PC computers in the home.

My Net Router Family

• My Net N900 Central – The My Net N900 Central HD dual-band storage router provides accelerated HD streaming plus integrated storage for wireless backup and remote access. With FasTrack™ Plus optimization technology, My Net N900 Central delivers high quality, accelerated HD entertainment that is intelligently and automatically prioritized to ensure smooth streaming. The wireless-N storage router features fast wireless performance with speeds up to 900 Mbps (450 + 450 Mbps on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands combined), as well as integrated 1 TB or 2 TB internal storage for automatic wireless backup. My Net N900 Central includes 4 LAN and 1 WLAN Gigabit Ethernet ports for up to 10/100/1000 Mbps wired speeds, 1 USB port for additional storage, printer and media share server use, and range amplifier antennas for extended range. Additionally, My Net N900 Central is Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certified for easy detection and connection of Wi-Fi devices. 

 

• My Net N900 – The My Net N900 HD dual-band router also provides a premium entertainment experience for movies, games, video, music, video chat and more. The My Net N900 offers the ultimate performance for all connected devices in the home, even while streaming to multiple devices at the same time. The exclusive FasTrack Plus technology provides intelligent, real-time traffic prioritization for simultaneous HD and 3D media streaming and online gaming. The wireless-N router features high wireless performance with speeds up to 900 Mbps (450 + 450 Mbps on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands combined) and also includes 7 LAN and 1 WLAN Gigabit Ethernet ports for up to 10/100/1000 Mbps wired speeds, 2 USB ports for additional storage, printer and media share server use, and range amplifier antennas for extended range. Additionally, My Net N900 is UPnP and DLNA certified. 

 

• My Net N750 – The My Net N750 HD dual-band router is optimized to deliver multiple simultaneous HD media streams on the network, delivering accelerated video to all connected wireless and wired devices. WD’s exclusive FasTrack technology detects entertainment traffic and prioritizes bandwidth on the network to smoothly stream multiple HD movies, shows, games and more to connected devices. The router provides a combined data rate of up to 750 Mbps (300 + 450 Mbps) and features 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports and 2 USB ports. 

 

• My Net N600 – The My Net N600 HD dual-band router is ideal for simple and fast web surfing and entertainment streaming with FasTrack technology for a smooth HD viewing experience. The router provides a combined data rate of up to 600 Mbps (300 + 300 Mbps) and features 5 Fast Ethernet ports with 1 USB port.  

Pricing

My Net N600	My Net N750	My Net N900	My Net N900 Central 1 TB	My Net N900 Central 2 TB
PHP 3,190.00	PHP 4,690.00	PHP 7,090.00	PHP 9,790.00	PHP 11,690.00

Availability

My Net N600, My Net N750, My Net N900, My Net N900 Central will be available at select retailers by mid of December. The My Net family of routers comes with 3 year warranty and is distributed by EA Global Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. and Iontech Technologies Inc. in the Philippines.

Christmas is Xmas

"In ancient Greek - X means Chi = Xplotoc = which early Christians used for CHRIST. They even used Xp or Xt or X to denote Christ. In the Christian symbol LABARUM, they used Chi-Rho = the uppercase P and an x at the bottom to denote again Christ. My point is, it does not matter how you write Merry Christmas/Merry Xmas as long as deep in your hearts you know who is the reason for the season and that we do have love for Him and our neighbors. All the other things are trivial and vanities. And yes, I'm a Catholic and Im a Xian."

RH Bill Passage Seen Much Faster ; Both Sides Claim Victory

The suspense over the House of Representatives’ third and final reading on the controversial reproductive health bill is expected to be shorter this time around.

Unlike the five-hour second reading vote, the third reading process will be much faster because under House rules, all lawmakers would first have to signify their vote before any of them would be allowed to explain the positions they have taken, according to Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II.

This means that the verdict would already be known by the time the representatives, if any, begin justifying their stance, Gonzales said.

Political Parties Only Promote Political Whores and Entertainers

“Here are the major political parties that had sprung up since 1986.

When you read the list, please ask yourself the following questions:

• Whatever did these parties stand for, really?
• How have these parties improved the lot of the poverty-stricken majority?
• How can parties be more inclusive, engaged with the people and not remain games that our political elite play?

You will notice that political parties in the Philippines never break up over questions of policy or principle, but simply due to the personalities involved.

Blogapalooza Bloggers is Born!

Hey, we've formed a new bloggers group on Facebook....The Blogapalooza Bloggers!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/299185770193563/


Blogapalooza Bloggers is a community of bloggers and businesses. It’s a link between big and small businesses who have something cool to share and the online community of people who love to share. This is a chance for big and small businesses to present their product, brand, event, advocacy and other thingamajig to several Influential bloggers and social media influencers and advocates.
A group that would not be too complex or restrictive for those that just want to bring back the old glorious days when blogging was meant to be a medium of personal expression....and not purely as a source of perks and freebies, or a means to get high page ranks thru excessive comment exchange and similar activities.

Chicken+Waffle Haus Opens at Cucina Andare

You've got to try out the Chicken+Waffle Haus that has a food stall located at the Cucina Andare Food Truck Market happening since Friday December 14. Cucina Andare starts from 4 pm and ends at around 3 am. Though the stall is not housed in a food truck, and it's located in the middle of the food market, its definitely deserves a big bite from you.

The amazing combination of a buttered Belgian waffle and boneless chicken thigh fillet, plus the optional Maple syrup, is quite an adventure in taste. Its actually very good even without the Maple syrup! I like both waffle and chicken and combining them into one sandwich really made my night. There is also the Sweet and Sour Haus sauce that you can use instead of the Maple syrup.

Francis Magalona Foundation and Born To Be a Hero

The Francis Magalona Foundation (FMF)'s Born To Be a Hero Program for Public High School Students presented in partnership with the Department of Education-NCR and The OneCORE, is the first character development program in the Philippines that equips students with skills in order to make BETTER Life Decisions.

You may also view the official music video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1ekXnuE7Ww

We are looking for 100 people to pledge Php 500.00 a month for one year for the scholarship of 50,000 public high school students. As a friend and supporter of FrancisM and his family, we hope that you are most willing to support and join this cause.                                                                       

I hope to get your participation in the fundraising campaign. 

Thank you and I look forward to partnering with you in helping the youth Find Meaning in the Filipino!