Lenovo Opens Concept Store in Tacloban

Wazzup Pilipinas!

LENOVO FIRST OPENS CONCEPT STORE IN TACLOBAN. Leading PC and smart devices developer Lenovo recently opened its first concept store in Leyte as part of efforts to bring its services closer to customers in the region. Located in the second level of Robinsons Place Tacloban, the store features Lenovo’s ever-growing product portfolio of notebooks, laptops, and desktops, which can be designed and customized to cater to the different lifestyles and tech needs. This process is part of the company’s overall thrust to focus more on customers in its overall strategy to achieve growth by delivering excellent service solutions. In photo from left to right: Eddie Uy, Managing Director of Electrocomputer Data Systems, Katherine Uy, CFO of Electrocomputer Data Systems, and Michael Ngan, Lenovo Philippines Country General Manager.

Technology leader, Lenovo, has recently opened its newest concept store in Tacloban City, Leyte, as part of efforts to bolster presence in the Philippines. This is the company’s first concept store in the Eastern Visayas region.

Located in Robinsons Place Tacloban, the store features Lenovo’s ever-growing product portfolio of notebooks, laptops, and desktops, designed and customized to cater to the different lifestyles and tech needs of various market segments.

“Lenovo position as a global leader is not just because of our innovative products, but because of our efforts in making them more visible and accessible to the public, especially in key cities with a bustling local economy such as Tacloban. Through our concept stores, which we plan to expand all over the country, customers can have a unique first-hand experience of our products and at the same time discover what suits their lifestyle and needs through the advice of our professional staff,” said Lenovo Philippines Country General Manager Michael Ngan.

With the unique, face-to-face experience that customers can get from visiting the concept store, Lenovo gains crucial insight about its customers, which enables it to develop the best customized solutions to meet market requirements. This process is part of the company’s thrust to focus more on customers in its overall strategy on achieving growth by delivering excellent service solutions.

This strategy has helped position Lenovo as a worldwide leader in terms of PC and smart devices sales. Between the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2017-2018 and the first quarter of fiscal year 2018-2019, the company experienced double-digit growth and improved profitability as its revenue reached $11.91 billion, a 19-percent year-on-year growth. These figures earned Lenovo the number one spot in PC shipments by Gartner.

Further growth is expected with Lenovo’s new and upcoming offerings. Customers in Tacloban can expect some of the recent additions like the IdeaPad 330, 330S, and 530S, the three powerful yet budget-friendly PC devices that run on Windows 10. Avid gamers can also expect to get their hands on the new Legion Y530.

”We’ll continue to develop more innovative products in the years to come. Hopefully with the help of our concept stores, we can introduce them to our customers in a simple, flexible approach. We know that in the Philippines, actual hands-on experience with devices is an important part of the buying decision. Through our concept stores, customers are given a unique and personalized experience that puts their needs first,” Ngan said.

There are currently 19 Lenovo Concept Stores serving clients in key cities across the nation. Lenovo Concept Store Tacloban is located at the second level of Robinsons Place Tacloban. It is open daily during mall hours from 10:00AM to 9:00PM.

UST Holds Sampung Sulyap Film Workshop

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The University of Santo Tomas recently conducted a film workshop for the participating production teams of Sampung Sulyap 2019 and other aspiring filmmakers from the Thomasian community at the UST Tan Yan Kee Student Center.

Becarios de Santo Tomas, an organization of UST scholars, co-organized the workshop with the Thomasian Film Society, the university’s premiere film organization. The scholars’ group also hosts the annual Sampung Sulyap short film festival featuring ten inspiring Thomasian stories.

Award-winning filmmaker Mikhail Red shared his experiences in directing. He helmed the full-length films Birdshot, Best Film in the Asian Future section in Tokyo and official Philippine entry to the 90th Academy Awards; Rekorder, Best Director winner in Vancouver; and the critically-acclaimed Neomanila for last year’s QCinema International Film Festival, He recently wrapped up production for Eerie and is now working on Block Z, both for Star Cinema. 

Advocacy filmmaker and film educator Seymour Sanchez discussed scriptwriting and other aspects of pre-production. Sanchez, a product of the 14th Ricky Lee scriptwriting workshop, won the grand prize in the screenplay category of the 59th Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature and second prize for Caretaker in the sixth CAM International Festival for Short Films in Egypt.

Johmar Damiles, director of photography and co-writer of the award-winning short film Heist School, talked about cinematography. A video producer at Pixelens Creative Solutions, he previously served as videographer of TomasinoWeb and Vice President for Productions of TFS.

Sampung Sulyap aims to highlight the creativity of Thomasians in filmmaking and production as well as to motivate people from all walks of life with films focused on the theme Sampung Tomasino, Sampung Natatanging Kwento ng Prinsipyo.

The short films will be produced by local and university-wide student organizations and will be featured in a week-long event at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex auditorium next year. An awards night will also be held to recognize the exemplary talents showcased in the films. 

AMBERLab: The First Blockchain Research Lab in the Philippines

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Blockchain continue to become a very promosing technology as more and more businesses embrace it. But still, there are many who are not yet in full acceptance due to vague areas. There arecstill many questions surrounding the technology similar to how new technologies were initially introduced to the world. Hesitations are quite normal since there are very few reliable local sources providing enough information to answer the inquiries.

Pioneering the establishment of a Philippine university-based education and research laboratory dedicated to blockchain technology, AMBERLab (Ateneo-MedixServe Blockchain Education and Research Laboratory) promises to be a hub for collaboration among other stakeholders focused on the study of this new wave in technology.

An incubation center "where we can help fund, build and launch their products globally" could be very promising as highly beneficial for all industries who want to tap the said technology in leveraging their business.

"On top of the research objectives, AMBER Lab will provide education programs and events. The facility also serves as an incubation center for blockchain-based startups."

The vision of both educational institution Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) and healthtech startup mediXserve is to maximize ICT, highlighting on blockchain, for nation building. The dynamic environment that will result from this will definitely be highly beneficial for the country.

"By founding AMBERLab, the potentials of blockchain in leveraging the delivery of affordable healthcare services will be more carefully examined and studied."

The blockchain technology will "eliminate layers of transactions that will also lower cost of service delivery. This means that they will be able to do more and serve more.

At the grand launch, we were shown their humble shared office at the 2nd floor of the PLDT-CTC building located inside ADMU in Katipunan, Quezon City.

NEM, a global peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and blockchain platform, was also at the launch and expressed their full support towards the effort to promote blockchain in the scientific and academe community by encouraging research efforts and development of courseware. 

The ceremonial chaining ceremony le

We have a video coverage of the launch featuring the talks of Dr. Maria Luz Viches, VP for Loyola Schools; Jojy Azurin, Founder and CEO of mediXserve; Regina Estuar, Director of AMBERLab; and Emerson Fonseca, Country Head of NEM. Please watch them at our Facebook page http://www.Facebook.com/WazzupPilipinas

For more information, below is the official press release from the event.

Ateneo de Manila University Launches First PH Blockchain Research Lab


Healthtech startup MediXserve together with Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) had launched the first university-based blockchain education and research laboratory in the Philippines last October 22 at university’s CTC Building.

The Ateneo-MedixServe Blockchain Education and Research Laboratory or AMBERLab will serve as a think tank and advanced research center that examines blockchain technology for developing countries and initiatives of the private sector. It encompasses health-tech, fintech, edutech, AI, data analytics and all other industries.

AMBERLab will design and build prototypes, develop training programs, curricula, and create a dynamic environment where researchers/scientists, entrepreneurs, academics, students, faculty, supporters and industry experts can come together and share knowledge as well as best practices in technology, health, finance and insurance, government, economics and even social enterprises.

It also welcomes research proposals and funds to promote the use of blockchain technology.

“Our motivation in establishing this research laboratory is that blockchain supports our vision in maximizing ICT for nation building. Most of the current services do not reach the underserved. And if it does, the cost is too high for an ordinary Filipino to receive its full benefits. To transform ICT solutions into blockchain technology, we eliminate layers of transactions, which mean lower cost of service delivery. This means that we are able to do more and serve more,” Dr. Regina Estuar, Head of AMBERLab said.

MediXserve leads the mission of bringing affordable healthcare to everyone especially in developing countries and within reach by providing a blockchain powered health care platform. By founding AMBER Lab, the potentials of blockchain in leveraging the delivery of affordable healthcare services will be more carefully examined and studied.

“Blockchain is such a raw technology that companies require people, money and resource to go into research and development. 'It takes a village' to make meaningful R&D results. MediXserve now has access to a large set of scientific and academic community to work on innovative products,” Mr. Jojy Azurin, MediXserve founder said.

On top of the research objectives, AMBER Lab will provide education programs and events. The facility also serves as an incubation center for blockchain-based startups.

"We also welcome start-ups with innovative ideas and technology on Blockchain to collaborate with us as we also have an incubation center in AMBERLab, where we can help fund, build and launch their products globally," Jason dela Rosa, co-founder of Medixserve explained.

MediXserve uses the latest IBM Hyperledger Fabric technology to create a permission-based distributed ledger. This new technology allows for easy, frictionless yet enterprise-grade solutions for industries that need to comply with data protection regulations.

NEM, a global peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and blockchain platform, fully supports the effort to promote blockchain in the scientific and academe community by encouraging research efforts and development of courseware.

“With Blockchain coming in as a major technology wave, AMBERLab is poised to be a major participant in the local efforts and we would like to offer our assistance by funding such project just like what the NEM foundation did in Malaysia,” Emerson Fonseca, NEM Philippines Head shared.