On December 2, Singaporeans and tourists got to experience the latest in entertainment, gaming, mobile devices, and music, as well as the ways they can express themselves using Sony’s technology. *SCAPE along Singapore’s Orchard link was transformed into a booming lifestyle hub where visitors can enter for free and play with Sony’s full range of products in ways they couldn’t enjoy at a Sony store.

Sony electronics, music, movies, and entertainment products were organized into fun, fully interactive displays, allowing everyone to experience the products’ wide range of features.

Near the entrance is the Sweet Treats booth, where you could chill and test out the latest Sony Cybershot and Handycam devices on a cupcake tower. I’ll be writing more about the latest cameras from Sony in a few days, but suffice to say that owning any one of them makes it easier to capture truly beautiful images.

The water-proof feature of the Android-based Sony Xperia Active was put to the test at a fishing pool, where they were completely submerged at the bottom. Visitors could grab a fishing rod and try to catch a fish, and whoever does so wins a Sony Xperia. Believe me, I tried, but trying to snare a fish with an unwieldy hook was a lot harder than it looks.

Speaking of games, there was also a large wall of Sony Bravia TVs hooked up with PlayStation 3 devices, where anyone could play games like NBA 2k12, Xtreme Legends, and FIFA12. I wanted to have a turn, but there was hardly a free controller – all the guys were really hogging the machines!

Inside the loft, guests could relax on sofas and enjoy the Sony BRAVIA Internet TVs mounted in front of them. The TVs had video cameras mounted on top of them, allowing you to carry Skype conversations in the comfort of your living room. I think families who have loved ones abroad should definitely have one of these at home. Laptops are fine for video calls, but you can only make the picture so big. A TV of this size and superior image quality gives the illusion of an actual face-to-face conversation so flawlessly that you barely feel the physical distance separating you and the person you are talking to.

My favorite Sony gadget has to be the HMZ-T1 3D Head Mounted Display, a personal 3D viewer that will be available in the Philippines sometime in 2012. The 3D Head Mounted Display is designed to display 3D PlayStation 3 games and any 3D movie – and I’m telling you, you have not experienced real 3D viewing until you have used this device. The speakers and headset kills off any stimuli coming from the environment around you, allowing you to be fully immersed in the 3-dimensional picture playing before your eyes. The experience was incredible; no other device has ever made me feel like I’m really part of the action like this one has.

An early highlight of the afternoon was the Grand Finals of the Like Performing Love Sony. Young artists from The Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia were invited to perform for the crowd and sing their way through a $5,000 cash prize. Our representatives were The Attitudes, who gave a perfectly polished performance of I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing. It would have been great to see them do a more upbeat song, but each contestant could only perform once.

The grand prize winner was this adorable girl from Vietnam, who did a stunning performance of Bad Romance. She could really dance and looked like she was having such a great time. I had a feeling she would win, because no one else grabbed the attention of the crowd the way she did.

The highlight of the Uphoria Party with Sony was an exclusive concert by Sony artists Mike Posner and Train. Both artists have never performed in Asia before, and seeing them live was the perfect way to cap off the day.

Have you ever been duped by a fake item? Piracy is so rampant in the Philippines, and many Filipinos turn to counterfeit goods because they can’t afford or don’t want to pay full price for an original item. However, it’s one thing to buy a fake item with the full knowledge that it’s fake, but it’s an entirely different matter when you pay for something you think is genuine, only to learn later that you got scammed. To fight the growing threat of piracy, HP Philippines teamed up with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and launched an advocacy against counterfeit items.

The campaign is called NO to Fakes, KNOW the Original, and it aims to educate people on the economic risks of piracy, so they can avoid buying frequently counterfeited items like fake HP ink cartridges, and avoid being a victim of counterfeit money. Its long-term goal is to remove the Philippines from the United States’ blacklist of countries that tolerate intellectual piracy. Already, there seems to be progress – government agencies have already seized and destroyed various counterfeited goods like electronics and designer products. The National Bureau of Investigation has also seized 22,000 fake ink cartridges and toners worth P21 million in 2011. Additionally, the BSP has also introduced sophisticated safety features in its new generation of Philippine banknotes. HP also installed security seal features on their ink cartridges and toners.

The campaign spreads the inspiration by enlisting the help of celebrities and personalities who embody the advocacy’s noble ideals. These include celebrity mom Pia Magalona and son Elmo Magalona, trendsetter Tessa Prieto-Valdes, renowned lifestyle blogger Cecile Zamora Van Straten and social visionary Bam Aquino. With the help of these advocates, HP hopes that Filipinos unite as they boldly say NO to fakes.

If you’re planning to buy something from Sony, do so after October 15, when the Sony 3D Days of Christmas Promo kicks off. From October 15, 2010 to January 15, 2011, every single receipt purchase of any Sony product worth a minimum of P1,000 from any authorized Sony dealer earns you a chance to join Sony’s nationwide raffle! You can also double your chances by purchasing any Sony 3D product of your choice.

Joining is really simple. After making your purchase, register your receipt at www.sony.com.ph or www.sony.com.ph/OnlinePromoReg and fill-up the form with the requested details. That’s it! You will receive a confirmation message after sending in your data. At the end of each month from November to January, Sony will announce the names of the lucky winners who will get amazing prizes! Exactly how amazing are these? Well, you can win exciting products like Pacman Limited Edition 3D World jackets and shorts, Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini phones, PlayStation Portable units, S-Frames, Walkman E453 players, Cyber-shot S2000 cameras, and so much more.

But there’s one more amazing prize oup for grabs at the Grand Draw of the Sony 3D Christmas Raffle Promo on January 28, 2011! For the 3rd place, ten (10) raffle winners will get a PlayStation 3 unit and a PS3 game. For 2nd place, five (5) Sony customers will get their very own brand-new NEX-5 camera. And for the 1st place, one (1) uber-lucky Sony customer will get a 46” Sony NX710 BRAVIA 3D TV unit with a BDP-S470 Blu-ray player. This is definitely a perfect start for the year!

Redemption of prizes will be within sixty (60) days from receipt of notification. Metro Manila winners may claim their prizes at the Sony head office while provincial winners may go to the Sony branch nearest to them as identified in the registered mail.

For more details, please visit www.sony.com.ph.

We don’t get enough freebies to give stuff away this Christmas, but we know someone who does! Yugatech is giving away a Modu phone, Globe Tattoo kits, and P500 prepaid call cards to random Twitterers, bloggers, and commenters in the first part of the Yugatech Great Gadget Giveaway. Click on the jump to find out how to snag one of these goodies!

Below are the contest mechanics for Twitterers. Up for grabs are a Modu phone, 10 Globe Tattoo and 20 Php500 prepaid call cards randomly. That’s 31 winners in all for the Twitter giveaway.

1) Follow @abeolandres and @talk2globe on Twitter.

2) Post a tweet “Just entered to win a Modu Phone. Quick! Go follow @abeolandres and @talk2globe and retweet: http://bit.ly/6e2q7O #thanks2yugatech”

Do you have a blog but no Twitter account? You can still join by following these mechanics. For the blog round, Yuga will give away another Modu phone, 10 Globe Tattoo and 10 prepaid load cards worth Php500 each. That’s 21 additional winners for a total of 52 winners this week.

1) Blog about the “YugaTech Great Gadget Giveaway”. Include the photo I posted here and link to this contest page.

2) Don’t forget to include in your post the mechanics for the Twitter contest above.

3) Leave a comment here with the URL of your entry.

No blog and Twitter account? You can still join!

1) Leave a comment on this contest page with the answer to this question — “If you’re stuck in an island with a phone and only have one call left, who would you call and why?“.

Ten most witty or creative answers will each win Php500 worth of prepaid load cards from Globe.

You can join in any of the 3 separate giveaways above but you can only win once for this round. If you win twice or on all 3, you get the bigger prize.

Good luck to us all!

What would you do if P500,000 pesos suddenly landed on your lap? If you join Smart’s BigTym Buddy Promo, you may actually need a ready answer for that question because Smart will be giving away daily cash prizes of P500,000, monthly raffles of P1,000,000, and a grand prize of P5,000,000! This is the biggest promo ever outside the lottery and you just might be the lucky winner. To join, just text BIG to 2332 (Php 15/text to join and get 15 raffle entries, 15 free texts** to Smart/Talk N’ Text valid for 1 day and 15 points to redeem content). The promo will start today, September 11, 2009 and run until December 9, 2009. That’s a lot opportunities for you to win P500,00! For more information, visit www.smart.com.ph/bigtym or send BIGINFO to 2332 (P2.50/info), or check out the jump for the complete contest mechanics.

PROMO MECHANICS

Joining is easy:

1. For you to qualify, you must:
* Be a SMART Buddy or SMART Gold subscriber.
* Be registered to SMART’s Bigtym Buddy Promo.
* Have successfully garnered points and raffle entries.
2. Unregistered subscribers and all employees of SMART Communications, Inc., its agencies and their relatives up to the second degree of affinity or consanguinity are disqualified from joining the promo.

Registration is simple:

1. To register, you must send and send to 2332. (Example: DON UY / 21 Maya St., QC.)
2. The registration also serves as an opt-in command to the promo alerts pushed to the subscriber at specific times in a day. These free announcements may include but not limited to winner information, registration reminder, profiling questions, promo tips as well as special messages. Special messages inform subscribers of instances to increase the number of raffle entries that they may receive by answering certain questions.
3. Registration is a one-time process per SIM card and is free of charge. However, you may register the same name using several SIM cards / mobile numbers.

Earn points and raffle entries right away:

1. You must text BIG to 2332 within the promo hours (12:01 AM to 11:59 PM) and will receive a confirmation message. Each text costs P15.
2. This entitles you to 15 raffle entries and 15 free texts* for the daily, monthly and grand draws. You will also earn 15 points that you can later use to download content.
* * 15 free texts to SMART/ Talk N’ Text, valid for 1 day and applicable to Smart Buddy subscribers only.
3. If you haven’t registered, you will be prompted to register. However, entries earned prior to registration will not be considered valid. Points earned prior to registration can however be used to redeem content.

Winning in the raffle:

1. You can only win once in the daily draw, but still remain eligible to win in the monthly and grand draws.
2. Entries earned only by registered subs are eligible to win in the daily, monthly & grand draws.
3. Purchases made prior to registration shall earn entries but will not be considered valid. Once a subscriber registers, previously earned entries since the promo started shall be considered valid.

One of the biggest frustrations of digital camera owners is the difficulty and effort involved in taking self-portraits. With the LCD located behind the lens, it’s hard to tell if you were able to fit your entire face in the frame. Taking your picture often eats up several minutes as you get up to check how the photo turned out and re-take the photo if you’re not satisfied with how you look. But who says taking self-portraits has to be this complicated? Thanks to the new ST550 and ST500 digital compact cameras from Samsung, consumers don’t have to spend a lot of effort to step out from behind the camera and be a part of the picture.

The new Samsung ST550 and ST500 are the first of their kind, not just for Samsung, but for compact digital cameras. Some digital cameras like the Canon G11 have a swivel LCD screen for easier camwhoring, but the Samsung ST550 and the ST500 have a 1.5″ LCD screen located right in front of the camera. As if that doesn’t make being part of the picture a piece of cake, Samsung’s Smart Gesture User Interface with built-in Gravity sensor makes camwhoring as easy as tapping and smiling. Lightly tap on the LCD, and it will automatically turn on with the camera set into self-portrait mode with smile detection. Your picture will then be taken automatically, without having to press the shutter!

But easy self-portraits are not the only reason why these cameras will soon be on everyone’s wishlist. At a resolution of 1,152K, the ST550′s LCD has four times the resolution than the average point-and-shoot, making it easy to choose which photos to delete and which ones to keep. It also has 12.2 megapixels and a 27mm wide-angle Schneider-Keruznach lens with 4.6x optical zoom for wider shooting range within short distances. Besides all these specs, the ST550 and ST500 also has a lot of intuitive technologies that make taking professional-grade photos a breeze. The Smart Gesture User Interface enables you to check out your saved images with just a flick of your hand. By tilting the camera at certain angles, you can either go to a different mode or view your saved images without pressing a button. Gone are the days of overexposed or grainy photos with the Smart Auto feature, which corrects the focus and the white balance according to 16 different potential scenes and subjects. Finally, the Smart Face Recognition technology memorizes over 20 faces and adjusts the exposure and focus to the most high-ranked faces on camera, enabling users to sort out images by face.

Finally, the ST550 and ST500 can also be used to record 720 BD video at 30 FPS in H.264 format, providing twice as much recording capacity as MPEG4 formats and for times more using the MJPEG format. With HDMI connectivity, all your homemade HD videos can easily be enjoyed in any HD monitor or HDTV.

The Samsung ST550 is expected to hit markets by September 2009 (two weeks from now) and the SRP is around 21,000 pesos while the Samsung ST500 will be selling byOctober 2009.

Finally, professional-grade photos

Here are sample shots of the Samsung 2 View

We were divided into 3 groups to check out the feature of the Samsung 2 View by taking shot around Intramuros. With me are Azrael, Lace, Sandro. It was fun even if the rains got in the way.

self-portrait. I normally don’t get self-portraits because I will need glasses to do so.

Group shot using a timer

Taking a shot of Sandro and Lace using shutter info

Taking a panoramic view of Manila Cathedral

Logitech has always been my go-to brand for speakers, keyboards, and mice because their products are known to very durable and reliable – a rare commodity in the age of cheaply-made, poorly-constructed Chinese electronics. If I’m not mistaken, the very Logitech keyboard and mouse I’m using now have been with me since college. The Logitech speakers and sub-woofers on my computer were purchased early this year and have blasted thousands of mp3s and endless hours of movies and TV shows since then. The sound quality is excellent and I’m confident that I won’t need to replace them until a year or two down the line.

I suppose I’m just one of the thousands of Filipino consumers satisfied with their computer peripherals because Logitech chose to open their first Southeast Asian brand store right here in the Philippines. Today, I attended the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Logitech brand store at the SM Megamall Cyberzone (fourth floor). It’s just a small kiosk, but in here you can find every single Logitech gadget available market, from computer mouses and webcams, to laptop accessories, to console gaming accessories, such as the official wheel of Gran Turismo.

Unlike other computer retailers, who will only let you test out the item when you’re sure to buy it, the Logitech brand store in Megamall allows you to play around with their array of products so you can make an informed decision about which model you’d like to get. I must admit, even I had to restrain myself from making an “unnecessary purchase” – the ultra-thin the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard enhanced with the PerfectStroke key system.

With the launch of the new Logitech store came the unveiling of their expanded line of laptop peripherals. The Logitech Comfort Ladesk is designed to make using a notebook more comfortable with its stable, elevated base. It even protects you from laptop heat when you’re working from the comfort of your couch or relaxing on your bed. A similar product is the Logitech Notebook Riser N110, which elevates your notebook while you’re working on your desk to give you an optimal viewing position of your screen.

These are just some of the exciting products available at the Logitech Brand Store. Check it out today at Megamall Cyberzone, 4th Floor Mega B.

William finally unveilled the N97 to the media who were eagerly waiting to try it out.

“The Nokia N97 is an important step towards our vision of delivering a highly personalized online experience,” said William Hamilton-Whyte, General Manager, Nokia Philippines. “Fuelled by a multitude of music, maps, games, media and applications via Ovi, the Nokia N97 transforms the Internet into YOUR internet, an experience that’s completely tailored to the tastes and interests of its owner.”

The N97 that I am familiar with is the black colored model but today I finally saw the white version and gasped “I want the white N97″. Look at it. I just find it so classy. My photos don’t do justice so I will show you stock photos after the entry. As Globe Telecoms bring this phone out to Loyal subscribers like myself, I am going to switch.

In the following days, I am going to do a more in-depth review of the Nokia N97 as soon as my review unit arrives. What I can show you now is a preview of the features that’s specific to the Philippines.

The Nokia N97 is Nokia’s first device to feature a fully customizable home screen, which can be personalized with a range of widgets which bring live information directly to the device. These widgets include key social networking destinations like Facebook and Hi5, news services like the Associated Press, Bloomberg and Reuters, local sites such as Clickthecity, and shopping and weather information. The Nokia N97 is the first device to ship with the Ovi Store, which offers easy access to applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services, and much more. With easy and quick access to Ovi, you can back up your contacts and calendar online. You can also download fun stuff through Ovi Store which has free content from a range of global and local content providers and developers, including Paramount Pictures, Facebook and Qik, as well as a selection of Twitter applications.

The Nokia N97 also has multiple high-speed connectivity options and 32GB of storage (up to 48GB using a microSD card) so it’s possible to directly download hot new tracks from Nokia Independent Artists Club and store tens of thousands of songs on the handset.

High-quality images and video clips at 30 frames per second (fps) can be captured using the 5 megapixel camera with integrated Carl Zeiss optics. Images can also be geo-tagged to specific locations and shared instantly with friends or uploaded online to Ovi Share, Twitter or Flickr. There’s more to write about the N97 and you will know more in the following days so stay tuned.

As usual, Nokia events are so much fun. I even got a Facebook pillow during their game portion and a pig to super-poke you in Facebook. (Add me at facebook.com/noemidado)

You can also review the background of Nseries.

Nokia Nseries Backgrounder

Suggested retail price is PhP34,000.

Asus, the producer of the world-renowed Eee PC released the Asus Eee PC box today. What an impressive desktop! When I first saw the Asus PC Eee PC Box, I thought it was a Nintendo Wii. I was about to exclaim “Oh a Wii!” thinking it was an ASUS substitute for Wii when I saw that it was the label “A Little Revolution in Desktop Computing”.

It is so sleek and elegant. Replacing the bulky and boring PCs, you can liven up your environment with a compact and elegant box. It is perfect for a Home-office set-up like mine because I want a minimalist workspace.

I am sure you will be impressed with the Asus Eee PC Box. Here are a few reasons:

1. Sleek and stylish

Merely just 1 Liter in size, the Eee Box is sleek. Imagine that it looks like slim paperback novel. You can easily reclaim the desk space previously lost to bulkier, intrusive desktop systems. You can even mount VESA LCD displays for the ultimate space-saving set-up.

2. Just 7 seconds* From Bootup to Internet

(*Actual Boot time subject to hardware configuration and product model)

With the exclusive Express Gate- ASUS’ innovative fast boot technology, you can easily access the internet , manage pictures or communicate over IM/Skype just 7 seconds after boot up. I tested this myself. It took 6 seconds to bootup but of course that would also depend on the configuration you need. I can just imagine the joy of your technophobe friends or relatives when they find out that the navigation is so much easier using the Express Gate.

3. Love your environment

The innovative ASUS thermal solution integrates a unique heat dissipation module with the AI fan- allowing quiet (26db) and comfortable computing. Compared to full-sized desktop solutions, the Eee Box’s energy-efficient performance reduces power consumption by up to 90%. The Eee Box utilizes Green Design and is made with only earth-friendly materials for reduced CO2 emissions . You can be socially responsible while working, learning and playing in style!

4. Work, Play and Watch.

Now this is the part which most of you love. The Eee box is the perfect choice for enjoying internet TV. With an IPTV player, thousands of programs are freely available–allowing users to personalize and watch lists of TV shows with ease.

5. Reliability and High Quality

I have been an ASUS user since I owned my first desktop, well at least for the motherboard. From then on, it’s been an ASUS motherboard for all my desktop computers at home. In fact, they say the Apple macbook uses an ASUS motherboard. I believe that the ASUS lives up to its name of reliablilty and high quality products.

The Eee Box, also known as the Asus B202 features a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB RAM, 80GB HD, Microsoft Windows XP Home, Card Readers, LAN, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi and some models with Bluetooth functionality.

Priced at 24,999 pesos, I believe it is a good deal. You get a compact CPU, a 16-inch LCD screen and a keyboard.

Contact

Jason Teh
Tel +632 631-4715 or 0922-83508500

My first printer in the early nineties was an Epson dot matrix printer. What a functional printer! It printed wordstar documents quite efficiently. When the inkjet printers came, I was disappointed to note that their speed got compromised.

Technology seemed to have improved because Epson printers are super-fast today. Not only that, I got introduced to a whole new concept that Epson is redefining.

Today, Epson Philippines launched its redefinition of its products. Epson redefines the Eco-responsible workplace with its new suite of efficient printers and projectors.

Don’t we all yearn for a “paperless office” to become a reality?

In the face of skyrocketing oil and commodity prices, companies look forward to a time when digital screens can replace paper and printing which currently represents 5% to 15% of all corporate expenditures exclusive of labor, according the statistics from the US Department of Commerce. What more in the Philippines? Companies are concerned with environmental responsibility, since the average office worker generates 2 lbs of paper waste a day.

For Epson Philippines the “paperless office” can be reimagined. Instead of making the paper obsolete, Epson aims for a more realistic goal of utilizing paper efficiently. Today Epson launched a suite of new business tools that are powerful, reliable and eco-responsible.

The Epson B500DN Business Inkjet Printer and Epson M2010DN Aculaser Printer are paper efficient printers that cut down office paper consumption by half through duplex technology, a back-to-back printing feature.

Then there is the Epson EMP-400W ultra-short focus projector, the ideal presentation aid in corporate boardrooms. This projector minimizes the need for thick boardroom handouts- another innovative way to save paper. Its ultra-short lens reduces distracting shadows and silhouettes experience commonly when using traditional long-throw projectors. Presenters are able to move freely without blocking the audience view of team members.

“Epson believes in creating the enlightened corporate workplace- the company’s unique take on the mythical ‘paperless office’,” says Senior General Manager Eduardo Bonoan. “Our new line of printers and projector help us achieve this vision— one that envisions every Philippine corporate office as an efficient and responsible place of business”