Internet Trends and IT Industry News and Development [Archive] - Page 4

tonight

March 13th, 2009, 03:43 AM

IT-BPO to grow 25% in ’09, says exec (http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view/20090313-193852/IT-BPO-to-grow-25-in-09-says-exec)
By Tonette Orejas

90,000 new jobs expected

CLARK FREEPORT, Philippines — The information technology and business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines is expected to grow 20-25 percent this year and can hire 80,000-90,000 employees, the chairman of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) said.

The forecast is based on the “very rapid growth” the sector showed in 2008, CICT Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III said.

“Hopefully, it’s attainable because the industry is growing,” Chua said of the projection. “The Philippines has made a name for itself.”

Last year, the industry posted growth of 35 percent. Revenue totaled $6 billion, and 372,000 jobs were created.

“We also expect [the industry] to grow despite the global financial crisis because of the many initiatives undertaken by the government, which include subsidies for training, career caravans, making of assessment tools to streamline the recruitment process and promotion of the 10 ‘Next Wave Cities,’” Chua told reporters.

Chua was among the officials who met President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Cyber City Teleservices here on Tuesday.

Cyber City president Jonathan Rosenberg said that in this quarter, the company needed 500 more call center agents.

CICT Commissioner Monchito Ibrahim said the commission’s key messages at a Cabinet meeting held here included the Philippines’ rise as second to India — not counting Canada — in the IT-BPO market.

“We have put the Philippines on the global IT-BPO map over the past 12 months,” Ibrahim said, referring to the inclusion of the southern cities of Iloilo and Davao on the list of top 31 IT cities of the global business consulting firm KPMG.

Tholons, a global IT-BPO research group, ranked Cebu City as number one.

At the Cabinet meeting, the CICT raised the need for policy changes in terms of legislating laws on data privacy and against cyber crimes.

Ibrahim also said university curricula should be reengineered to include service science and management.

Chua said operating in “Next Wave Cities” — Laguna, Cavite, Bacolod, Davao, Iloilo, Pampanga Central (Clark-Angeles City-Mabalacat), Bulacan Central and Bulacan South, Cagayan de Oro and Lipa — offered lower operations costs, which will enable the companies to bring the jobs where the people are.

Salaries of voice-based agents range from P12,000 to P15,000 a month, and salaries of software development, engineering and legal services are higher, Ibrahim said.

flymordecai

March 13th, 2009, 11:46 PM

Filipinos make their mark on Google Maps (http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20090312-193791/Filipinos-make-their-mark-on-Google-Maps)
By Janie Christine Octia

Manila, Philippines--Filipinos are now helping shape Google Map.

Thanks to Google Map Maker, an application introduced in October 2008, Filipinos are now creating virtual maps of the Philippines on this virtual world, a Google executive said Thursday.

Google Map Maker is a software application that lets users add, edit and moderate maps. This application encourages users to also provide comprehensive, high-quality and updated maps, as well as local content.

"I think we've seen a huge amount of interest from Filipino users and there has been a huge amount of progress already. With the Philippines’ cultural and geographic diversity--and over 7,000 islands, there is absolutely a long way to go," said Derek Callow, Google's Head of Marketing for Southeast Asia, told INQUIRER.net.

Callow said Google Map Maker edits have come from a diverse group of local users, reflecting the overwhelming response of Filipinos to collaborate online and share knowledge about their communities and neighborhoods.

A user-generated content platform, Google Map Maker still goes through verification. As Wikipedia is to generating user-generated online encyclopedia, Google Map Maker is to user-generated map-making. Users can edit street-level data, landmark tags and business establishments. Once all these information are added, users from around the globe can view them.

To date, Google said that updated and accurate maps of several provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao Region, including key tourism areas in the country, are available for viewing.

"Foreign tourists need information about places. Having local information from the Visayas and Mindanao, it is a big help for those unfamiliar with the area. Foreign tourists usually search on the Internet for information. They look for maps. With Google Maps Maker, tourists are able to find [information] from the locals themselves," said Bernard Arellano III, one of the top Filipino contributors in Google Map Maker.

Arellano, who traces roots back to Iloilo, said he has been collaborating with other Google Map Maker users to improve the streets and key landmarks in the province.

Updating the Philippine map on Google Maps is a continuous work as places continue to evolve, Callow said.

"There is no specific timeline on updating information from Google Map Maker to Google Maps. The core thing for us internally is to make it as quickly as possible and it really depends on the volume of edits. Our promise to users is that when they contribute, we want to make sure it gets rolled out to Google Maps so that in turn their expertise and knowledge is of benefit to as many users as possible," Callow said.

This is great news! Thanks to all the volunteers.

pi_malejana

March 14th, 2009, 09:04 AM

tonight

March 14th, 2009, 11:39 AM

Smart wants more homegrown Internet content (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090313-194038/Smart-wants-more-homegrown-Internet-content)
By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines--Even as Internet usage in the Philippines is growing, local users remain as consumers of content.

Mobile operator Smart Communications hopes to change this trend soon.

“We should have Filipinos creating more content to draw more audience not from the local loop but also from abroad. The cost of Internet traffic circulating locally is way cheaper than those traveling to an international loop,” Smart Public Affairs Group Head Ramon Isberto told reporters.

He observed that majority of Filipino Internet users still prefer content from international websites even as local websites are offering similar content.

Isberto also pointed out that while prices of Internet access in the country has dropped significantly, local Internet cost remained higher compared to other countries. This is partly due to the cost of terminating local Internet traffic to international connections.

Isberto cited the models of Japan and Korea, which have massive domestic Internet traffic.

He said both countries generate content that appeal to their own population.

Isberto said the Philippines should follow Korea and Japan’s model and focus on increasing homegrown content to boost domestic traffic.

More domestic traffic will eventually translate to lower cost of Internet, he said.

Isberto said Smart saw this trend in the “Doon Po Sa Amin,” a blog project that emerged from its Smart Schools program.

“You’d be surprised at the visits that the participants got when they started. There are Filipinos who are interested in finding out even the smallest stories from rural towns. This is the kind of traffic that should be increased,” Isberto said.

Isberto said Smart is hoping to grow the blog project.

Currently, the company is talking to some local institutions that can drive content development and traffic.

tonight

March 14th, 2009, 11:42 AM

MSI-ECS sees growth in distribution business (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090313-194020/MSI-ECS-sees-growth-in-distribution-business)
By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines--Amid the global recession that has dampened consumer spending, a local PC peripherals distributor is still optimistic that spending on technology would continue to grow this year.

MSI-ECS President Jimmy Go said that the relatively lower market penetration of technology products in the country has somehow brought better prospects for the country’s information technology industry.

The executive said there are niche segments that still have financial capacity to purchase new devices and computing peripherals.

“We didn’t grow as fast as the other countries so we’re still going to catch up,” Go said, as he compared the Philippines computing market to other countries.

Go, however, acknowledged that growth in the country’s technology sector would be slower than last year because of the effects of the global economic crisis.

“In any economic crisis, everyone is affected but it’s a matter of how [you] manage the business during these trying times,” Go said.

kiretoce

March 15th, 2009, 08:29 PM

Making IT games is the new BPO front (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2009/march/15/yehey/top_stories/20090315top4.html)

Local gaming development is getting second-mention next to Singapore, and Filipino talents are drawing in clients.

Who knew that tinkering with the computer and trying to make your own computer game as a hobby would lead to a full-fledged, legitimate business? The captains of the industry did.

Now these young gamers-turned-entrepreneurs are fueling the growing enterprise of developing games and outsourcing their services to produce video games.

Although game development has had a long history in more advanced countries, its genesis in the country harks back to hobbyists who decided to make a real business out of making games. People who were passionate about games became entrepreneurial, set up their own outfits one after another, until the industry grew by itself.

It is comparatively small vis-à-vis other business process outsourcing (BPO) industries like contact centers or software development. But the gaming industry is becoming a very promising commerce.

In fact, it is poised for the potential global revenue worth as much as $1 billion by 2010 that will be raked in from outsourcing games alone.

Moving from the game room to the boardroom cannot be too easy as changing players in a role-playing game. One has to be able to find the right niche, in this case overseas.

Gabby Dizon, one of the founders of Flipside Games, a local company specializing in full-scale development and outsourcing services for the game industry, confesses to encountering countless obstacles before his company got its foot in the door.

“Not too many people have done what we are doing so it’s really hard to explain what your company does,” he says. “When you’re trying to do business, this is a hard problem. Almost from the start, we were forced to do outsourcing abroad because the companies that could understand what we were doing are companies that needed our services abroad.”

"Anito" break for RP

The gaming industry broke ground in 2004 when Anito Entertainment, for which Dizon worked as a game designer before setting up his own outfit, developed the first Philippine-made, single-player, role-playing game.

“Anito: Defend A Land Enraged” bagged the Innovation in Audio Award and became a finalist for the Open Category at the Independent Games Festival in the US.

Showcasing Filipino talents and skills in regional and international conferences made the Philippines a viable outsourcing destination for developing games. Locally, Dizon credits the success of online games brought in from South Korea for paving the way for gaming to become more accessible to the public.

He and techie colleagues are educating the industry, spreading the message that it is indeed possible to make games locally.

At a steady pace, the Philippines’ game development capability is achieving a greater presence in Southeast Asia.

Dizon says that while many multinational companies are comfortable establishing headquarters in Singapore, they suffer from a deep shortage of talents. The talents come from other countries.

This, he believes, is where the Philippines often gets mentioned.

Fine arts and design

Today, graduates are schooled in classic courses like Computer Science for programmers and Fine Arts or multimedia design for artists.

Dizon believes that Filipinos have inherent skills in art, like drawing. Programmers are excellent in their field as well.

He thinks that schools and training institutions should come up with more specific curricula so students are trained in the skills that game development needs.

The game development sector is changing the landscape by partnering with institutions like the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, De La Salle University, College of St. Benilde and the Ateneo de Manila University.

They provide the proper game development-related skills to their graduates. Dizon also thinks that shortening the training time will make people more productive and faster, thereby helping the industry grow even more.

A lot of game development work was traditionally done in the United States. Games are very late in terms of outsourcing because of the long-held notion that creativity cannot be outsourced, Dizon says.

Clients do not typically look at the price first. Instead, they want to ensure various factors: that the company can get the job done, if the client can deal with and talk to their people easily, and if their English is good or if they will require a translator.

Fortunately, the Filipino’s mastery of the English language and his cultural familiarity with the United States, where more than half of the clients come from, are keys to inking the deal.

“In the outsourcing industry, we may sell different services but it’s a similar game where you offer a service and a client abroad pays for good quality at a good price,” Dizon says. “We’re usually not the cheapest option but we want to be very good value for money.”

RonnieR

March 16th, 2009, 08:12 AM

:cheers: Mapping RP through Google
By Eden Estopace Updated March 16, 2009 12:00 AM

| Zoom MANILA, Philippines - Making maps is fun.

Take it from Rally de Leon, a 38-year-old Electronics and Communications Engineering graduate who now calls himself a “social entrepreneur.”

Since discovering the Google Map Maker for the Philippines last November, he would spend days making edits, rest for a day, then go back to map editing again. On Google Map Maker, Rally’s “turf” is Rizal. His edits can now be seen in the towns of Angono and Taytay and portions of the poblacions of Binangonan, Cardona, Morong, Baras, Tanay, Pililla and Teresa.

He hopes to encourage more people and the government as well to help build accurate maps, especially in the provinces and the rural areas.

In a press conference recently, Google bared that since the launch of the Google Map Maker in the Philippines, there are now tens of thousands of edits made by Filipinos that can now be seen on Google Maps.

This, according to Derek Callow, marketing head of Google Southeast Asia, reflects the overwhelming enthusiasm of Filipinos to the Google Map Maker, an application that allows users to edit map data.

Callow admitted that the Philippines is one of the most challenging places to map because of the diverse topography of its more than 7,000 islands, which explains the dearth of available local map data for a number of years.

“Because of the collaborative efforts of local map enthusiasts, we are beginning to see the ‘physical face’ of the Philippines getting clearer over time for the global community to see,” Callow said.

Platform

The Google Map Maker provides a platform for local users to locate, draw, label and accurately render existing tourist destinations, and create maps of unchartered areas. According to Google, this provides new commercial opportunities for local residents and businesses in a locality.

“It is important that local users keep the edits coming in because having accurate map data helps promote the country’s viability to foreign investors and tourists,” said Dante Varias, a 56-year-old civil engineer who is among Google Map Maker’s top contributors.

Varias attested that the application is so user-friendly that it doesn’t need special training to start editing.

“When I discovered Google Map Maker, I immediately started enjoying the process of editing the tiles of Cavite so much that after only 37 days I had already added over several thousand edits on my own,” he said.

Wayne Manuel, a Filipino student in Singapore and another top contributor to Google Map Maker, started on the application adding streets and establishments in Tuguegarao, Cagayan where he was born and in Baguio City where he later lived and grew up. “It started out like a big jigsaw puzzle with many pieces missing. But when I saw the roads, street names and landmarks coming together, I felt very happy for my country and it encouraged me to contribute more,” he said.

The pride of helping build a map for one’s hometown is also the prime motivation of Bernard Arellano III, a call center agent who had contributed thousands of edits on Guimaras and Iloilo.

“The mission continues and I hope even more Filipinos will join us on the Google Map Maker to improve the online map of our beautiful country,” he said.

Callow said Google sees the application as continuing to evolve and the key thing for the Philippines is to get rural areas and the small cities on the virtual map.

Very much like Wikis, or the software that allows users to freely create and edit webpage content, the beef against collaborative map making is the capability of ordinary people to create accurate maps to be made available to the public to use.

‘Wisdom of the crowds’

Callow said that as in other social software, the Google Map Maker draws from the “wisdom of the crowds” for this endeavor.

“The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations” is a book written by James Surowiecki and first published in 2004.

Callow explained that the theory behind the so-called “wisdom of the crowds” is that based on certain studies the average or collective thoughts or work of people independently working or deciding on an issue or project is likely to make certain decisions or predictions better than individuals or even experts.

He added that the map is being used by everyone and if there are contentions to the current map available, users can make edits to enhance or improve on it. There is also a system of moderation among users within the local community in every locality, which serves as a check and balance if the map is indeed accurate or not.

The Google executive stressed that there is no business model for Google Map Maker. “As with any other Google product, we focus more on what users need rather than on making money. This is purely about giving value. If you notice, a lot of searches online have a geographic component in it,” he said.

Callow mentioned about searching for dry cleaners, for example, in the cities of Sydney or Singapore. Aside from getting the webpage or the physical address probably of dry cleaning services within the area, some searches now include the map showing where these dry cleaners are located.

“We just provided additional benefits,” he said.

Callow also pointed to CNN and other media organizations which now use Google maps to pinpoint locations of where major news events are happening. Through Google Maps API, he said users could embed maps in webpages and add content to them.

He admitted though that Google has partnered with many organizations all over the world for Google Maps and it is not just the contributions of individual map editors which power it now.

Copyright issues, he said, depend a lot on the geographic area or how the map will be used, which vary from case to case. The legal terms and provisions are always specified when users start to use or download the services within the Google Map and Google Earth APIs.

For Philippine map enthusiasts, Callow has only one message: Keep the edits coming to give the Philippines an accurate virtual map.

tonight

March 17th, 2009, 07:55 AM

APAC outsourced printing services to grow (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090316-194456/APAC-outsourced-printing-services-to-grow)
By Lawrence Casiraya

MANILA, Philippines--Asia Pacific is the most lucrative market for companies like HP to offset dwindling hardware sales with managed printing services, analyst Springboard Research said.

In its report, the New Delhi-based analyst also predicted the market would grow from $392 million in 2007 to a billion-dollar market by 2012.

Managed printing services (MPS) would include device support services, such as on-demand printing for digicams, to outsourced corporate printing requirements.

“These robust growth figures also reflect the emergence of MPS as the best growth bet for the print hardware vendors in the region, who have seen a decline of hardware sales amidst the economic slowdown,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Springboard senior research analyst.

He added enterprise end-users in the region were eager to test and adopt what he called “next-level” printing services. The analyst added Australia, China and India as the most lucrative markets.

According to Springboard, HP and Fuji-Xerox are leaders in this category because of their dominant presence in the Asia Pacific market.

Phil Hassey, Springboard services vice president, noted that the MPS model is still in its infancy stages in Asia Pacific and that companies need to be educated “that this is much more than an alternative print hardware purchase model”.

“The challenge for providers is to ensure they manage MPS offerings prices and offer solutions as a long-term strategy, providing immediate and successful results for enterprises,” Hassey said.

tonight

March 17th, 2009, 09:06 AM

HP offer cost-effective printing solution (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090317-194607/HP-offer-cost-effective-printing-solution)
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez

MANILA, Philippines--With the economic situation forcing companies to save on operating expenses, HP is hoping to encourage local companies to consider solutions that could lower printing cost.

Calling it “Make It Count,” HP’s solution involves upgrading an organizations’ fleet of printers with energy saving units.

HP Philippine Printing and Imaging Division General Manager Jenny Siquico said local firms can save up to 50 percent in printing costs with this new solution.

Siquico said that savings on in-house printing costs could help companies reduce use of consumables and paper.

Small-to-medium scale companies are among the best examples of companies that can benefit from this new solution.

“The Philippine market [for the print industry] is more resilient and we believe it will be able to survive the current economic crisis. It’s obvious they’re holding back on expenses so we’re here to help them manage their expenses,” Siquico said.

kiretoce

March 21st, 2009, 09:29 PM

Why Filipinos are born to Multiply (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/features/03/20/09/why-filipinos-are-born-multiply)

There's something uniquely Filipino about social network Multiply.

In an interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com, Multiply CEO Peter Pezaris and vice-president for business development David Hersh says the Florida-based Multiply continues to ride high on the success of the social networking movement in the Philippines. Two years after partnering up with ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., the company has seen its user base in the Philippines skyrocket from 600,000 Filipino users to 3.5 million, which is a third of its 12 million plus total user base.

Why the popularity? Pezaris says that while Filipinos are exposed to other social networking sites, Multiply taps into the Filipino culture of closely-knit families who love to share photos and videos of each other.

"While our competitors do support photos, I don't think any of them do it quite as easily as our service does. We've got lots of customer feedback, a lot of research that shows that the primary reason why people are using Multiply in the Philippines is because it's easier to use, faster to upload, and they find it's a better way to share photos with friends and family," he says.

Pezaris says the willingness of Filipinos to share their photos online has made Multiply the country's largest online photo repository. "There are more Filipino photos in Multiply than any other service. So we've created this opportunity to users to repurpose those photos and to really do as many things as possible with them and preserve them online," he says.

Paolo Pineda, head for business development of ABS-CBN, says ABS-CBN constantly promotes the social network by creating Multiply pages for almost every new ABS-CBN show being launched. ABS-CBN acquired a five percent stake in Multiply last November.

He says the ABS-CBN-Multiply partnership has allowed the network to tap into online communities that congregate around specific shows. Ironically, some of the Multiply sites have become even more popular than the official ABS-CBN site or even the site for reality shows like Pinoy Big Brother.

"Last year, we did a Multiply page for every show because we were testing the behavior, but now we're seeing that we can kind of group them. There are the Koreanovela fans, the reality show fans, the showbiz fans...For www.abs-cbn.com, there's a parallel site we called Team Kapamilya. The traffic in that Multiply site is equal or sometimes surpasses the ABS-CBN site because of the engagement," Pineda says.

"It's like getting together with your friends and talking about what's going on. It's giving them a choice," he adds.

Multiply 4.0 and beyond

Pezaris says the success of Multiply in the Philippine market has made it a top growth area for the social network. Plans are now underway for Multiply to open a local office in the country as well as launch a mobile service that will allow users to update their accounts via MMS and SMS.

"The Philippines is the first country where we are offering both MMS and SMS. We're now finalizing the MMS part and SMS will just follow," he says.

He also notes that, due in part to the economic downturn, some Filipino users have turned their Multiply accounts into online stores with an estimated 50,000 shops already active in Multiply.

Pezaris says the network will also be launching Multiply 4.0, which will update the site's inbox features as well as increase use of Ajax technology to make the pages load faster. More importantly, he says the new site will allow users to edit their photos using more sophisticated photo editing software.

"If you are familiar with desktop applications in your computer such as Picasa, ACDSee and IPhoto, we are going to give the power of those services on Multiply directly tied to your account. We will be the first company that's going to do that," he says.

He also predicts that Multiply may soon ride the next wave of the social networking phenomenon, which he says will target the 30-something demographic.

"The market is moving towards the service we've built. It's exciting for us because we see the arcs of activity in the United States where one social network becomes really popular for a while and then the next one will come, and then the next one. I think the next big arc is going to be Multiply because we had the teen fascination in the US, originally from Friendster, and then MySpace made themselves a teen-based music site. Facebook was more college-based. Now the next phase is going to be the 30 somethings, the soccer moms that want to share photos of their kids, and Multiply is perfect for that," he says.

tonight

March 23rd, 2009, 09:16 AM

PC makers to seek exemption for Wi-Fi clearance from NTC (http://mb.com.ph/articles/199883/pc-makers-seek-exemption-wifi-clearance-ntc)
By MELVIN G. CALIMAG

An organization of IT companies in the country will ask the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that laptops with Wi-Fi connectivity be exempted from securing a clearance from the regulatory agency.

Under current NTC rules, Wi-Fi is classified a wireless technology. Thus, laptops that carry it must be approved first by the agency before being sold in the local market.

But, Vicky Agorrilla, country manager of Lenovo Philippines and newly elected president of IT Association of the Philippines (ITAP), said that since Wi-Fi has become a standard feature in laptops, it may no longer be practical to obtain a clearance for every unit manufactured or shipped into the country.

Agorrilla said it has become tedious, if not overly difficult, to get permission for each of their laptop units. "Our group is seeking consideration from the NTC because mobile phones do not even go through that process," she said during ITAP’s recent membership meeting.

Unlike in laptops, the NTC has allowed the importation of mobile phones in bulk, meaning they do not have to be checked individually. The NTC usually just issues stickers to phone makers based on the declared number of units indicated in their importation documents.

Agorrilla said ITAP’s original plan was to have the restriction repealed. But since this has little chance of happening, she said the group is now seeking to have Wi-Fi-enabled laptops be approved in bulk, if not exempted altogether.

The Lenovo official said aside from the unnecessary delays in the shipments of the products, the current process makes access to technology more expensive to consumers. "The vendors would only pass on the cost to the public," she said.

Also at the ITAP meeting, Agorrilla said the group has reached a consensus to give employment priority to executives from member companies who are and will be affected by the current economic maelstrom.

dandelionne

March 25th, 2009, 04:04 PM

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Globe unveils commercial WiMAX service

By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 17:08:00 03/25/2009

Filed Under: Technology (general), Internet, Telecommunications Services

MANILA, Philippines--Months since it announced deployment of a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) service, Ayala-owned Globe Telecom finally announced the commercial availability of its own service this month.

Globe Telecom said WiMAX would complement existing DSL and 3G services being offered under its broadband services.

The enhanced wireless broadband service would be available in South Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, Globe said in a statement.

WiMAX uses the 802.16 standard developed by the WiMAX Forum. Currently, it has a maximum bandwidth speed of up to 70 megabits per second, providing bigger bandwidth for data-hungry applications like streaming video.

Globe said that subscribers would get a maximum bandwidth of up to 512 kilobits per second at P795 per month under its WiMAX-powered Globe Broadband service.

“We challenge anyone with a competitive wireless subscription to try out our WiMAX-backed plans. We are so confident with our service that we challenge you try out our connection, risk-free. Should you be unhappy with the connection within one month from installation, we’ll give you your money-back, no questions asked,” according to Globe Telecom Consumer Broadband Busines

dandelionne

March 25th, 2009, 04:09 PM

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Intel weighs WiMAX potential in RP

By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 17:31:00 03/25/2009

Filed Under: Internet, Telecommunications Services, Technology (general)

MANILA, Philippines—Technology giant Intel is pushing a global strategy to bring Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) services to the Philippines, a bold move as two of the country’s largest telecommunications companies expand their broadband wireless Internet services.

WiMAX is developed by the WiMAX Forum. It uses the technical standard 802.16. It is provides bandwidth of up to 70 megabits per second (Mbps) and soon up to 300 Mbps.

Current cellular-based HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) Internet services, can deliver only up to 5 Mbps bandwidth to users.

Intel has worked with Globe Telecom in 2005 to test an older version of WiMAX in Cavite, where the Intel manufacturing plant is located, Intel Philippines Country Manager Ricardo Banaag.

Banaag said the experiment focused on providing wireless broadband access to selected employees of the chip manufacturer.

Kevin Lim, Intel WiMAX Managing Director for Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, said the broadband demand has been increasing exponentially every year and that the Philippines is showing growth in the mobile sector.

He also cited a 2008 study by the Miniwatts Marketing Group that showed that the Philippines is ranked 10th in the overall top ten Internet-ready countries in Asia.

"While there are only 14 million Internet users in the country, it has 63 million mobile phone users. Some of the demand for wireless Internet is actually coming from the mobile space. Obviously there's pent up demand for wireless broadband," Lim said.

The deployment of WiMAX in the Philippines would largely be a business rather than a technology decision, Lim said.

Massive and costly deployment would not be necessary and telecommunications companies would only need to enhance broadband services in specific areas, he added.

He said underserved areas with few or no broadband deployments would largely benefit from WiMAX.

Lim dispelled notions that WiMAX would compete with existing broadband access services, cellular telecommunications, as well as wireless fidelity (WiFi) services.

WiMAX can offer greater flexibility but it is largely for data transmission. 3G cellular networks can do both data and voice. The only limitation will be on the bandwidth allocation for both data and voice in 3G, which can affect both services.

"This is where WiMAX can come in so that it can provide the needed bandwidth for data," Lim said.

In addition, 3G can be used on a geographically wider area allowing for voice communications anywhere. WiMAX would be deployed as a wide area network service.

He added that WiMAX would also not compete with WiFi. WiMAX could be the backhaul platform to deliver connectivity to one area while WiFi would be the last mile service to the consumer.

Lim showcased some of the components Intel is building, which would be integrated into future devices, including PCs, notebook computers and even mobile devices.

Intel is now promoting its WiMAX modules to hardware manufacturers, just as it did when it pushed its WiFi components to manufacturers.
Globe Telecoms, which has experience in WiMAX deployment through a joint trial project with Intel in Cavite, has announced the commercial deployment of WiMAX service in the country.

Meanwhile, Smart Communications Public Affairs Head Ramon Isberto told INQUIRER.NET the company is already planning trials of WiMAX, although he did not disclose its timetable.

Lim said that the country's telecommunications providers could create new markets with WiMAX. He suggested that WiMAX can be offered on a prepaid basis.

"It all depends on how the telecommunications company wants to position its services. But for sure, WiMAX will become necessary in the future," Lim said.

flymordecai

March 26th, 2009, 04:54 AM

RonnieR

March 26th, 2009, 11:59 AM

by DAVID DIZON, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 03/26/2009 12:20 PM

A total of 28 percent of Filipinos in national urban Philippines are regular Internet users with five percent of users saying they access the Internet everyday, a survey by the Nielsen Company and Yahoo Philippines revealed Thursday.

The survey, conducted from October to November 2008, said Internet usage in urban centers has grown from 20 percent in the first quarter of 2008 to 28 percent by the end of last year. He said there are an estimated 35 million Filipinos in urban centers nationwide.
Jay Bautista, Nielsen Company executive director for media, said Internet cafes have become an important access point for Filipino Internet users with 71 percent of the country’s estimated 20 million Internet population saying they have accessed the Internet through e-cafes in the past three months.

Great equalizer

He said affordability of access, either through Internet cafes, cheap netbooks and PCs, and cheap broadband is increasing the local Internet user base. He added, however, that Internet cafes are clearly favored by majority of the youth and people in the D and E socioeconomic classes.

“Internet cafes have become the great equalizer for all social classes in accessing the Internet. Forty-seven percent of all Internet time by Filipino Internet users are spent in Internet cafes. It’s the only medium that allows you to communicate, do research and even entertain you for 10 to 15 pesos an hour,” Bautista told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

kiretoce

March 28th, 2009, 04:16 AM

When Filipinos go forth and Multiply (http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view/20090327-196458/When-Filipinos-go-forth-and-Multiply)

Fact #1: Filipinos are social beings.

Fact #2: Despite the low Internet penetration rate in the country, Filipinos are generally Internet-savvy.

Fact #3: Tech-savvy Filipinos are looking for more ways to exploit technology so they can touch base with the people who matter to them and share other important digital content online.

These are just some of the reasons some tech whizzes from Boca Raton, Florida, thought it was a good idea to make the Philippines a key market for social networking and content sharing site Multiply.

Out of Multiply’s 12.5 million subscribers worldwide, 3.5 million are based in the Philippines, says founder and chief executive Peter Pezaris.

The Philippines, he says, is the second largest market for Multiply in the world, next to the United States.

For this reason, Multiply has decided to put up a Manila office, to further beef up its presence here and to complement its partnership with ABS-CBN Interactive.

“We’re working more closely with ABS-CBN and we’re setting up a Manila presence. We’re also ramping up promotions for Multiply Mobile, which will now feature an MMS posting capability,” Pezaris says.

The Filipino culture

Unlike in the US, where Internet use is heavy both in homes and offices, Multiply co-founder and vice president of business development David Hersh says Filipinos are more inclined to use their mobile devices to keep in touch.

Considering this, he says, the Philippines looks to be a good testing area for Multiply applications that ride on the mobile platform.

Multiply’s upcoming version, Multiply 4.0, should also “resonate more with the Philippine audience than with the US (market),” he says.

“Multiply 4.0 will highlight our focus on media. I can’t disclose details yet, but I can say it will allow you to do just about anything you want with your digital media,” he relates.

The new version is set to be released in two months.

When Multiply was founded in December 2003 and launched in March 2004, Pezaris says the idea was really to give people a venue to post digital content and share these with the people who matter to them.

He says the founders all contributed something to the effort via their own personal sites. For example, his own site has easy-to-use photo sharing functions, while that of Hersh allows people to comment on posted photos.

“We took the best features among all those sites to get the (Mutiply) service going. We then proceeded to add other stuff, to allow the posting of different content online,” he relates.

More than building a network of millions of subscribers, he says Multiply aims to create a social networking environment that is more personal and closer to a user’s heart.

“We were the first to allow media sharing, and the first to allow posting of different content types. We were also the first to post real-time updates via the Multiply inbox. That’s our key differentiation — we’re a site that allows personal sharing of digital media to the people who matter to our users,” he adds.

What’s in a name?

So the service was already in place, laden with features that would allow the sharing of anything and everything digital. But then it had to have a name.

“It was a toss-up between Multiply and Connect, and both names were still available for sale. The guy selling the Multiply name was selling it for $10,000. The guy selling Connect was selling it for $2 million. That made the decision for us. We went with Multiply,” Pezaris relates. “And Multiply made sense for us. Multi and ply — multiply plies or multiple tiers.”

And the name apparently clicked as Multiply now has 12.5 million users worldwide and the community is still growing.

Compared to other social networking sites, Hersh admits that Multiply may seem small in terms of subscriber numbers.

“But really, Multiply is much more focused on sharing media content, and not as focused on making hundreds of online friends. For us, it’s utility more than entertainment. We don’t want to be like other sites that offer purely entertainment and fleeting conversations,” he says.

Venue for business

And Filipinos, resourceful as they are, have found another use for Multiply — as a platform for business.

Multiply now plays host to thousands of online sellers who peddle anything from clothes to trinkets to pets to condominium units.

“But sellers comprise less than one percent of subscribers in the Philippines. Most still use the site for photo sharing — the reason the service exists in the first place,” Pezaris says.

Still, he says Multiply is now reviewing its terms of service to accommodate this new breed of businesspeople.

“When we first wrote the terms of service, we never thought people would use Multiply this way (for selling). We’re now evaluating how to best deal with it. There are things about (online selling via Multiply) that we really love and things we have to study,” he says.

Touching lives

Most of the Filipino Multiply users have made the site a platform for sharing their views and experiences to the rest of the Multiply community and the world.

Pezaris cites the experience of one particular woman blogger who started posting her thoughts on Multiply in 2004.

“From just a few contacts, her site now has 2,500 people in it. It has become an entire community. Now she’s organizing events via Multiply and working for children via Multiply.”

The story of this particular woman blogger, and many more like her, is what makes Pezaris, Hersh and their other co-founders strive to further enhance what Multiply has to offer.

“In Multiply, we put value behind personal content. People actually engage in conversations over content posted online. This type of activity only happens on Multiply,” Hersh says.

tonight

March 28th, 2009, 08:54 AM

Global power consumption to double by 2050 (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090327-196591/Global-power-consumption-to-double-by-2050)
By Anna Valmero

MANILA, Philippines—Global power consumption would increase two-fold by 2050, an executive said.

Energy demands of consumers who use numerous devices, such as personal digital assistant, mobile phones or laptops, are driving the steep rise in power use in the futre, said David Plumer, president of Asia-Pacific and Japan Region, critical power and cooling services business unit of Schneider Electric.

Also, the cost of power is increasing, thus cutting down on consumption would allow businesses and residential users to spend less on energy, he said.

“Asia, having the largest growing populations and workforce will be a center of gravity of future energy use by 2050 from manufacturing, business process outsourcing and logistics sectors,” said Plumer.

Plumer said the Asian technology sector’s demand for power is expected to grow with the co-location of data centers and anticipated take off of cloud computing in the region.

Given these trends, the executive said the company plans to tap the local workforce to service the energy market.

“The opportunity for energy management is enormous especially in data centers, semiconductor sectors and homes,” Plumer added.

APC of Schneider Electric has recommended four sustainability steps to save on energy: measure, fix the basics, automate, and monitor and improve energy management.

tonight

March 28th, 2009, 09:14 AM

Filipino startup offers web trust seal (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090327-196529/Filipino-startup-offers-web-trust-seal)
By Alexander Villafania

With the rise of Internet scams

MAKATI CITY, Philippines--A Filipino startup is offering a web accreditation system that helps ensure local corporate websites are legitimate, its founders said.

Claiming to be the first Philippine-based website verification system, Sureseal provides a stringent verification system for companies subscribing to its online trust seal.

Online trust seals, which appear as logos in a website, help boost the confidence of visitors who might be visiting phishing websites or websites that trick people into giving away personal information, such as usernames and passwords.

Gerel Roa, lead technology consultant of Sureseal, said the company aims to help prevent Internet scams done through the web.

Roa said having a web trust seal could increase the confidence of visitors to corporate websites and its online services.

While other trust seal providers only check on a website's secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption technology, Sureseal is going beyond web security by visiting companies applying for the web seal.

"Every website applying for a Sureseal trust seal is scrutinized and verified by visits to their offices. People can breathe easy when they're sure a website is secure and that services are delivered," Roa said, adding that the services of the startup would be cost-effective.

Sureseal is founded by Pinoydelikasi.com founder Jovel Cipriano, Lead.com.ph founder Erick Kalugdan, JobsDB Philippines country manager Jayjay Viray, Roa, Hermie de la Paz who will serve as president and Dustin Andaya as the startup’s chairman.

tonight

March 30th, 2009, 02:46 PM

RP needs cybersecurity program--CICT (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090330-197041/RP-needs-cybersecurity-program--CICT)
By Riza T. Olchondra

Gov’t websites vulnerable to attacks

MANILA, Philippines--Government websites in the Philippines are vulnerable to computer attacks and without a nationwide cybersecurity program, government cannot keep hackers at bay, an official of the National Computer Center (NCC), an agency under the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), said Monday.

Angelo Timoteo Diaz de Rivera, NCC director general and e-Government Development Group commissioner, said that the CICT has already won government approval to create a P20-million pilot program for cybersecurity but has not received any budget.

"Right now we are, admittedly, vulnerable," Diaz de Rivera said when asked to describe the current security situation of government websites.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer has reported that Canadian researchers found that computer network of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) were among those infiltrated by hackers allegedly based in China.

The Information Warfare Monitor (IWM), composed of researchers from Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and University of Toronto's Munk Center for International Studies, said that it detected compromised computer systems in the government and private organizations of about 103 countries.

Diaz de Rivera said that the CICT-NCC is in touch with the DFA to determine the extent of the alleged infiltration.

"We are looking into it," Diaz de Rivera said.

He added that he hopes the CICT-NCC can start the cybersecurity program soon and create partnerships between public and private organizations.

"It (program) starts with awareness campaigns especially among employees who may still be accessing suspicious Internet sites through their office computers. The danger there is that if their office computer becomes enslaved by a malicious network, it could be used to get sensitive information and even bring down entire systems,” he said.

“Our proposed program, meanwhile, has a component that initiates partnerships between CICT, the police, and the private sector to proactively defend our systems," Diaz de Rivera added.

tonight

March 31st, 2009, 01:22 PM

Group debuts ‘TelePresence’ in RP (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090331-197204/Group-debuts-TelePresence-in-RP)
By Anna Valmero

PLDT teams up with Cisco, Tata Comms

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Long Distance Co. (PLDT) partnered with Cisco and Tata Communications to bring the first commercial telepresence technology in the country, officials said.

Telepresence combines high-definition video conferencing technology with spatial audio conferencing. It offers life-like, face-to-face virtual meetings for users, according to Stephen Thomas Misa, country manager of Cisco Philippines.

Nerissa Ramos, first vice-president and head for PLDT's corporate business group, said the country's first public telepresence studio—and the ninth worldwide—would be opened in PLDT's Makati office, followed by two more rooms in Cebu and Davao by end of the year.

Christoffer Steffens, Tata Communications director for public telepresence, said the PLDT public telepresence studio would be connected to Tata Comms' global network of public rooms in Mumbai, Bangalor, Chennai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon in India; Boston in the United States and London in the United Kingdom.

Pioneer global provider of Cisco TelePresence Tata Communications plans to establish and connect up to 100 public telepresence rooms globally by end of 2009. This in addition to over 300 private studios, added Steffens.

Steffens revealed plans to connect the existing private telepresence networks in education, technology and government offices.

An area of growth for telepresence is telemedicine or remote diagnostics, Steffens added.

Misa added PLDT's public studio would be connected to the public Cisco Telepresence Suite in Santa Clara, California.

PLDT, which is the exclusive local provider of the service, said the telepresence offering comes in two flavors: Public Studio Telepresence and Private Managed Telepresence.

The PLDT Public Studio Telepresence is a 24-hour, pay-per-use service. The service would be tailored fit for organizations that hold meetings and for Overseas Filipino workers wanting to hold virtual reunions, said Ramos.

The Private Managed TelePresence is a fully managed service, which includes a high-speed bandwidth facility ideal for organizations that require always-on collaboration with counterparts abroad, said Ramos.

A screen for projecting life-like sizes of two persons requires at least 10 megabits per second of connection to enable the service, said Misa. A telepresence studio could handle six to 18 people, he added.

Instead of traveling abroad for business meetings, corporations now have an option to meet with clients in telepresence rooms. This could save them up to $260 million spent on annual travel costs.

3cr

April 1st, 2009, 05:40 AM

Catalyst for growth amidst economic turmoil
By JORGE OSIT
March 29, 2009
Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/200685/catalyst-growth-amidst-economic-turmoil

Despite the economic slowdown sweeping across the globe, it is laudable that the critical importance of technological readiness and innovation coupled with good education fundamentals remains constant and still acknowledged as essential to growth and development.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) released last March 26 the Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009 showing the rankings of the world’s most networked economies as well as stressing the importance of ICT as a catalyst for growth even in the midst of global economic turmoil.

A salient feature of the Report highlights the so-called Networked Readiness Index (NRI) which examines how prepared the various countries in using ICT effectively on three dimensions, namely: the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of three key stakeholder groups – individuals, businesses and governments in using IC; and their actual usage of the latest information and communication technologies available.

Included in the top ten most networked economies for the current year are Denmark, Sweden, United States, Singapore, Switzerland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Netherlands and Canada. They have all confirmed their preeminence in networked readiness in the current times of economic slowdown.

Denmark and Sweden have maintained their positions for the third consecutive year while the US moved one position up to third place. Singapore also showed improvement from last year’s fifth place but China scored most impressively when it moved eleven places to take the lead among the BRIC economies for the first time. BRIC, by the way, is an acronym referring to the rapidly growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The said Report, containing detailed profiles of 134 economies providing a snapshot of each economy’s level of ICT penetration and usage, is considered the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of ICT on the development and competitiveness of nations.

“The development story of the most networked countries in the world, including the Nordic countries, Singapore and the United States among others, has owed much to a consistent focus in the national agenda on education excellence, innovation and an extensive ICT access,” said Irene Mia, Senior Economist of the Global Competitiveness Network at the World Economic Forum and co-editor of the Report.

She added, “This success stands as a reminder for leaders in both the public and private sectors not to lose focus on ICT as an important enabler of growth and competitiveness in times of crisis.” Last Friday, like a ray of hope, a bit of encouraging news emanated from Washington saying that better-than-hope data pertaining to industrial orders breathed life into gasping markets. Posting first gain in six months, orders for durable goods grew 3.4 percent while the US new home sales gained headway by 4.7 percent in January, sparking cautious optimism that the world’s top economy finally may have hit bottom.

It is hoped, for the sake of the global economy, that such economic gains in the US are sustained to the point that it bounces back to good financial health. Anyway, if at this point you are wondering how we ranked in the Global Technology Report for the current year, here’s how we scored: The Philippines dropped to 85th place from last year’s 81st in terms of network-readiness.

___________________________________

RP slips in network-readiness index
GMANews.TV -
Friday, March 27
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/gma/20090327/tbs-rp-slips-in-network-readiness-index-1da90e5.html

MANILA, Philippines The Philippines slipped a few notches in a list of network-ready economies, lagging behind its neighbors, a Switzerland-based group said.

In the latest Global Information Technology Report 2008 to 2009 of the World Economic Forum, the Philippines dropped to 85th place out of 134 countries in terms of network-readiness. In the previous poll, the Philippines ranked 81st.

The report underlines that good education fundamentals and high levels of technological readiness and innovation are essential engines of growth needed to overcome the current economic crisis.

The Networked Readiness Index examines how prepared countries are to use ICT effectively on three dimensions: the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of the three key stakeholder groups individuals, businesses and governments - to use and benefit from ICT; and their actual usage of the latest information and communication technologies available.

Topping the list is Denmark, followed by Sweden and United States, respectively.

Singapore, the only Asian country which placed in the top 10 rankings, came in fourth, followed by Switzerland and Finland.

Also included in the top 10 were Iceland, Norway, Netherlands and Canada.

"The development story of the most networked countries in the world, including the Nordic countries, Singapore and the United States among others, has owed much to a consistent focus in the national agenda on education excellence, innovation and an extensice ICT access. This success stands as a reminder for leaders in both the public and private sectors not to lose on ICT as an important enabler of growth and competitiveness in times of crisis," said Irene Mia, senior economist of the Global Competitiveness Network at the WEF and co-editor of the report.

Other Asian countries which fared better than the Philippines' were South Korea, 11th; Hong Kong, 12th: Taiwan, 13th: Japan, 17th: Malaysia, 28th: China, 46th: Thailand, 47th; Brunei, 63rd; Vietnam, 70th: and Indonesia, 83rd.

3cr

April 1st, 2009, 05:42 AM

Building a case for WiMAX
By Eden Estopace
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=453335

MANILA, Philippines - WiMAX is in the news. Globe Telecom recently launched a WiMAX service, boasting of a 2.5Ghz WiMAX (802.16e) broadband network, which is said to be the biggest in Southeast Asia.

This came four years after Intel Corp. and Innove Communications led the testing of a WiMAX site at Intel Corp.’s General Trias, Cavite plant.

In August last year, the Taguig City government announced that it would adopt WiMAX technology to help facilitate the delivery of basic services in the city. In 2007, a Taiwanese operator was reported to be eyeing a $10-million investment for a wireless Internet network in Subic, and was then looking at WiMAX as the network platform.

WiMAX or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access is a telecommunications technology that provides broadband connectivity to wireless networks and makes possible the public’s aspiration for a fully mobile Internet access.

WiMAX is here. In a press forum hosted by Intel recently, Kevin Lim, Intel Corp.’s managing director of WiMAX for Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, announced that the WiMAX spectrum is indeed already available nationwide in the Philippines, beginning in the second half of 2008 on the 2.5Ghz band. This has allowed some operators to introduce the service.

Lim clarified that there is really no demand for WiMAX per se but what the computing public is clamoring for is Internet broadband capability, both fixed and mobile. WiMAX will simply enable users to access the Internet at true broadband speeds wirelessly. This means that the speed of current wired broadband Internet connection will now be available on mobile Internet devices (MIDs) such as smartphones and cellphones, netbooks and notebooks anytime, anywhere.

The wireless world has been greatly changed once by Wi-Fi. When it was launched in 2002, wireless LAN was a niche technology, said Lim. Today, almost all notebooks, netbooks and MIDs are Wi-Fi-capable.

“WiMAX aims to extend the open, full Internet experience of Wi-Fi with mobile devices capable of replicating the home or work Internet experience on the go,” explained Lim.

Why the need for WiMAX

It is a fact: the Internet is big and growing even bigger. Lim cited figures: 1.4 billion Internet users, 150 million websites, 1.5 billion Web searches every day. Moreover, there are approximately one billion users of Instant Messengers (IMs), while 10 hours of new video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Around 10,000 blogs are created daily.

This robust online activity is pushing the demand for broadband and the current network is quite unable to keep up with the demand. In the Philippines alone, the number of Internet users is 14 million, which makes it among Asia’s top 10 Internet countries.

However, in a country with approximately 14 million Internet users, only 1.3 million households are subscribed to broadband Internet. WiMAX could close the gap, as a fully mobile Internet is made available.

“Fixed broadband installations exhibit geographic limitations for countries with rural populations, and because of this, there is a growing demand toward mobile broadband services,” said Intel Technology Philippines Inc. country manager Ricky Banaag.

“Next-generation technology such as WiMAX can be the more cost-effective, back-haul solution to help build out this infrastructure to help drive growth,” he added.

Not a competitor of 3G

With the push for WiMAX gaining momentum not just in the Philippines but worldwide, Lim emphasized that it is not a competitor or an alternative to 3G.

“Its purpose is to create a new market category, which is mobile broadband Internet,” he said.

3G, he said, is a voice network and is really for voice but WiMAX is a 4G wireless broadband network suited well for data services.

Mobile WiMAX will continue to evolve, said Lim. At present, mobile broadband is available at 60+ Mbps through Mobile WiMAX 1.0 at 802.16e. However, in 2009 and beyond it will be available to achieve mobile broadband speed of 125+ Mbps (for Mobile WiMAX 1.5 on 802.16e Rev 2), and even 300+ Mbps (for Mobile WiMAX 2.0 on 802.16m).

Lim said even the basic Mobile WiMAX 802.16e could deliver fixed (at home or the office or any fixed location) or nomadic (outdoors or in non-fixed locations) access and full mobility (while on the move — in buses, trains, cars) to users depending on the packages to be rolled out by operators.

Spectrum policies are also aligning and efforts are underway to harmonize spectrum profiles in the region.

According to the WiMAX Forum, an industry-led, non-profit organization, WiMAX service providers now cover 430 million people in 135 countries. Locally, the push for WiMAX is being driven by collaboration among telecommunication service providers, policymakers and Intel.

Last year, Intel announced WiMAX-ready chipsets built on its Montevina platform, which means that devices running on these chipsets should be able to use WiMAX technology once it is deployed.

Lim bared that they are working with most PC manufacturers for the rollout of devices that are WiMAX-ready within the year.

carleen89

April 1st, 2009, 10:45 AM

Group debuts ‘TelePresence’ in RP (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090331-197204/Group-debuts-TelePresence-in-RP)

This concept isn't new. Data centers and telcos including PLDT have been offering this service since 1990's pa. It's called "Videoconferencing". What they need to do is just to enhance the service and increase the bandwidth for real-time/higher resolution.

tonight

April 1st, 2009, 12:09 PM

Intel eyes ‘refresh’ users for new chip (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090401-197429/Intel-eyes-refresh-users-for-new-chip)
By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines—Technology giant Intel is hoping that users of servers running on older generation Xeon processors would "refresh" their equipment and migrate to the newer Xeon 5500 processor, which is based on the Nehalem micro-architecture.

This is the same micro-architecture that built the newest Core i7 desktop processor, the replacement for Intel’s Core series.

Intel Technology Philippines Country Manager Ricky Banaag said a large number of servers using the previous generations of single and dual core Xeon 5400 processors are still out in the market.

The executive said the refresh period for servers is two to three years. After that time, companies need to replace older servers with newer ones.

Banaag said computer servers based on the Xeon 5500 are more energy efficient even as they deliver high performance computing.

"The processing power of twenty one Xeon 5500 servers will be equivalent to 184 previous generation single core Xeon processors. They also consume less power by going on idle mode especially when some of the cores in Xeon 5500 are not processing,” he said.

The Xeon 5500 is based on a 45 nanometer manufacturing process.

It integrates the reinstated Hyper-Threading process and is added with a new Turbo Boost Technology, giving it much faster performance for data-heavy workloads.

Turbo Boost also lessens power consumption when some of the cores in each processor are idle.

In addition, the Nehalem-based Xeon 5500 is capable of running up to 18 slots of DDR3 memory and 36 PCI Express 2.0 lanes for add-on peripherals.

Several brands are already supporting the Xeon 5500 processor, including IBM, HP, Dell, and new server entrant Cisco.

tonight

April 1st, 2009, 12:17 PM

HP banks on SMBs for printer biz (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090401-197390/HP-banks-on-SMBs-for-printer-biz)
By Alexander Villafania

QUEZON CITY, Philippines--The expanding small and medium businesses (SMB) are becoming the target for HP's new printing solutions as they market their services, an official said.

Jerome Nicdao, HP Imaging and Printing Group Commercial and Enterprise Sales Manager, said in an interview that their SMB business is the fastest growing segment, particularly the multifunction models.

The corporate segment, however, remains strong as organizations are still looking to manage their printing needs even if they are not buying new equipment, he said.

Nicdao attributed the difference in growth rate between the SMBs and large companies to diversifying business goals amid the economic crisis.

Large companies are significantly affected and are saving on cost, while SMBs are buying new equipment as they position themselves against other players.

"SMBs are starting to pick up the slack from corporate firms so they are expanding to serve existing and new markets. They use their printers for collaterals, in-house and commercial marketing materials. Large corporations will continue to be our biggest revenue generator. Just the same, the SMB market is also growing in revenues," Nicdao said.

Nicdao noted that SMB segment is a significant market for multifunction printers since they would need all-in-one machines to save on printing, scanning, and copying costs.

tonight

April 2nd, 2009, 05:22 AM

tonight

April 4th, 2009, 10:52 AM

RP slides to 85th place in IT readiness survey (http://mb.com.ph/articles/201369/rp-slides-85th-place-it-readiness-survey)
By MELVIN G. CALIMAG

A report measuring the readiness of IT infrastructure in countries all over the globe has revealed that the Philippines has fallen from 81st place in last year’s ranking to 85th this year.

The Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009, released on March 26 by the World Economic Forum (WEF), was once again topped by Denmark and Sweden, followed by the United States which is up one position.

Singapore, the only Asian included in the top ten, came in at fourth. Switzerland, at number 5, and the other Nordic countries together with the Netherlands and Canada completed the magic circle.

Asian economic powers South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan occupied the 11th, 12th, and 13th places, respectively. Malaysia was the next highest-ranked Asean country after Singapore at 28th place.

The report underlined that good education fundamentals and high levels of technological readiness and innovation are essential engines of growth needed to overcome the current economic crisis.

“The development story of the most networked countries in the world, including the Nordic countries, Singapore and the United States among others, has owed much to a consistent focus in the national agenda on education excellence, innovation and an extensive ICT access. This success stands as a reminder for leaders in both the public and private sectors not to lose focus on ICT as an important enabler of growth and competitiveness in times of crisis,” Irene Mia, senior economist of the Global Competitiveness Network at the World Economic Forum and co-editor of the report, said in a statement.

The report was produced by the WEF with business school INSEAD, and was sponsored again this year by Cisco Systems. Published for the eighth consecutive year with record coverage of 134 economies worldwide, the report assesses the impact of ICT on the development process and the competitiveness of nations.

The Networked Readiness Index (NRI), featured in the report, examined how prepared countries are to use ICT effectively on three dimensions: the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of the three key stakeholder groups individuals, businesses and governments to use and benefit from ICT; and their actual usage of the latest information and communication technologies available.

tonight

April 5th, 2009, 10:36 AM

RP slips in network readiness study (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090405-198031/RP-slips-in-network-readiness-study)
By Alexander Villafania

Gov’t agency hopes to see improvements soon

MANILA, Philippines--The Philippines slips lower in a network readiness study, which indicates the need to improve the country’s own information and communications technology infrastructure.

Results of the Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009, Philippines placed 85 out of 134 countries in the network readiness index that identifies points that allows for a country to establish and improve their own ICT infrastructure.

But the report from Global Competitiveness Report for 2008-2009 retained the Philippines' rank of 71 out of 134 countries.

In an interview, Commission on Information Technology and Communications (CICT) commissioner Timoteo Diaz de Rivera admitted that the report was saddening but said it did not mean that the Philippines was not showing progress.

Diaz de Rivera, who is also director general of the National Computer Center (NCC), said the study showed that the improvements in the country's Internet and telecommunications infrastructure were not moving as fast as other countries.

"The other countries in the list must have made improvements in their IT infrastructure faster than we did. The Philippines has already made some headway in terms of establishing reliable IT infrastructure and hopefully these could improve our status in the next study," Diaz de Rivera said.

He noted the recent transfer of the Telecommunications Office and the National Telecommunications Commission to the CICT is expected to speed up establishment of government IT infrastructures and projects.

"It could pave the way for better services from both the government and private service providers," he said.

The NCC has also been establishing community e-centers (CEC) nationwide, building around 1,000 centers. The CECs would be used for points-of-contact for users in remote areas, as well as training, Internet access and communications.

Diaz de Rivera said the e-Government fund has also been used to start various IT projects in government, including the computerization of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Customs, and the establishing of interactive websites for government offices from local government units to department-level agencies.

"Hopefully, that will further improve public services and show that the Philippines is already doing its part in making sure that IT is available to the masses," Diaz de Rivera said.

tonight

April 6th, 2009, 02:11 PM

Facility for tech startups opens in April (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090406-198195/Facility-for-tech-startups-opens-in-April)
By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines--An incubation facility would be opened in April at the University of the Philippines to provide cheap hosting services and research facilities for technology startup companies, the science department said.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) developed the Technology Business Incubation facility located beside the science agency’s Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI).

The DOST and PEZA spent about P10 million for the 600 square meter facility, with at least another P15 million for computer servers and network equipment.

Unlike most known incubation facilities, the TBI will use large container trailers--the same ones used by hauling trucks, as housing for the startup companies.

Each trailer will have at least 20 square meters of floor area or just about the size of a small office.

In an interview, DOST Undersecretary Fortunato de la Peña said the agency was still evaluating the monthly rental of the facility for technology startups.

The amount would not cover the use of utilities, such as electricity, water and communications.

However, he said the amount would be cheap for startup firms since it would also provide technical assistance, through the ASTI, as well as pool of researchers from UP Diliman.

“We already have inquiries about the facility but we still have to release the monthly rental soon. At least 20 startup firms would fit in that facility,” De la Peña said.

kiretoce

April 10th, 2009, 07:53 AM

The World Wide Web and your child (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/views-and-analysis/04/07/09/world-wide-web-and-your-child-katrina-legarda)

I wrote this for the celebrations of a fraternity at the U.P. College of Medicine. Your children will have little to do except to sit in front of a computer this Holy Week. I thought it time to again remind all of you of the dangers of cyberspace, the Internet, and cell-phones with Bluetooth capability.

We are beginning to see warnings about the Internet and how it can affect women and children.

Child Pornography is listed as one of the top ten Internet crimes in a recent survey. In 2006, worldwide pornography revenue was $97.06 billion. Can you imagine that?

The Philippines ranks 9th, in the top ten, as a producer and distributor of pornography.

More shocking figures: Twelve percent of all Web sites are pornographic websites. There are 4.2 million pornographic Web sites, 420 million pornographic Web pages, and 68 million daily pornographic search engine requests (or 25% of total search engine requests.). Approximately 20% of all Internet pornography involves children, and more than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the Internet every week, i.e., 1 million websites and 84 million web pages.

The largest group of viewers of Internet porn is children between ages 12 and 17.

In a study of arrested child pornography possessors: 40 percent had both sexually victimized children and were in possession of child pornography. In 2005, a Fil-Am, resident of Los Angeles, was arrested when he re-entered the USA when inspectors discovered digital child pornography images stored on a memory stick taped to the inside of a “fifth pocket” on a pair of jeans. The roughly 500 pictures displayed images of naked boys who appeared to be between 12 and 14 years old. One series of pictures portrayed this Fil-Am performing sex acts upon a minor child. He confessed that he had taken the pictures of the naked children and explained that they were part of a dance group of which he was a sponsor. The little boys in that pedophile’s memory stick were found in Davao City.

Cyberspace is a new social environment that is distinct and yet can encompass all the physical places in which people interact. The protection of children and young people in this environment is as essential as in any other location. Cyberspace comprises the Internet, the World-Wide Web, and other similar computer networks and systems. Mobile phones allow access to cyberspace when plugged into the Internet. Online games create a virtual reality.

The predominant sex crime scenario doesn't involve violence or stranger molesters posing online as children. Only 5 percent of offenders concealed the fact they were adults from their victims. Almost 80 percent of offenders were explicit about their intentions with youth. In 73 percent of crimes, youth go to meet the offender on multiple occasions for multiple sexual encounters.

A large majority of teens (71 percent) have established online profiles (including those on social networking sites such as MySpace, Friendster and Xanga), up from 61 percent in 2006. What is frightening is that 65 percent of high school students admit to unsafe, inappropriate, or illegal activities online.

So, what are the on-line crimes against children that must be addressed by the legislature?

Among others, the production, distribution and use of materials depicting child sexual abuse and online solicitation or ‘grooming’ (securing a child’s trust in order to draw them into a situation where they may be harmed).

Cyber bullying must also be addressed. It is becoming a huge problem. It is conducted by sending phone text messages, images and emails, as well as through online discussion groups and personal web pages. ECPAT warns that materials posted in cyberspace may be erased only with difficulty, if at all. This is a serious concern for victims made subjects of such materials (including abuse images or hate text). They do not know who may see evidence of their humiliation at any point in time. Thus, violence and harms against children and young people in cyberspace and in relation to new technologies include: Exposure to materials that can cause psychological harm, lead to physical harm, or facilitate other detriment to a child; harassment and intimidation, including bullying; and trafficking of women and children.

The figures vary, we will probably never know the true extent of Filipino women and children who are trafficked. We do know that there are at least 8 million Filipinos living and working overseas, 1.62 million of them are irregular migrants and are suspected to be victims of trafficking or smuggling. Yet, there are only 935 recorded cases of human trafficking filed in court. Worldwide figures also vary, depending on which agency’s statistics you look at: ILO - 1.2 million children worldwide; U.S Trafficking in Persons Report - South East Asia is the source of 225,000 trafficked women and children; Visayan Forum - 71,084 Filipino women who entered Japan in 2004 were trafficked into sex trade and 300-400,000 women, 60-100,000 children annually are trafficked.

A child in the Philippines refers to a person below eighteen (18) years of age or one over said age and who, upon evaluation of a qualified physician, psychologist or psychiatrist, is found to be incapable of taking care of herself fully because of a physical or mental disability or condition or of protecting himself from abuse. Consensual sex is set at 12 years old.

In the field of criminal law, there is no recognition of the fact that the beginning of puberty does not necessarily end a girl’s “childhood years” and that the beginning of puberty is not indicative of emotional and intellectual maturity. Thus, what a prosecutor seeks to establish and what the defense has tried to show – in most cases – are the same for full-grown female victims and girl-children.

As I earlier pointed out, teenagers are “stupid.” They actually agree to “eyeball” people they have met only online, through chat rooms and bulletin boards, and through their cell-phones. Any law passed must ensure that consent will not be a defense.

The law must also ensure that proving Internet pornography will not require authentication by the author of the post (right now, the E-Commerce Law requires such an authentication).

Any law passed must recognize that Internet child sexual predators are male (94%) and generally range in age from 13 to 65 years of age. If there is no recognition of the age of predators, many online pornographers will use children to produce and distribute, because under the Juvenile justice Law, children below 15 years old are exempt from criminal liability.

Any law passed must understand that children do not like monsters – so they will never agree to meet up with someone who looks like a “monster.” Pedophiles are not ugly, as a general rule. Any law passed must address the Internet service providers (profit-making websites); financial institutions (that allow their credit cards to be used to pay for live cyber sex shows); software developers; and online search engines.

When do we act?

tonight

April 13th, 2009, 11:37 AM

Next attraction: Bluetooth 3.0 (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090413-199037/Next-attraction-Bluetooth-30)
By Anna Valmero

MANILA, Philippines—Bluetooth-enabled devices would be able to use wireless fidelity-powered devices to transfer information soon.

Bluetooth refers to a wireless technology operating at a short-range, and uses the 2.4 GHz radio frequency band. It allows fixed and mobile devices to transfer data, voice or both at 3 megabits per second.

On April 21, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) said Bluetooth 3.0 would be unveiled.

“This is the wireless technology equivalent of a low hanging fruit,” Bluetooth SIG executive director Michael Foley said in a statement. “What we are doing is taking classic Bluetooth connections--using Bluetooth protocols, profiles, security and other architectural elements--and allowing it to jump on top of the already present 802.11 radio, when necessary, to send bulky entertainment data, faster.”

Simply put, the Bluetooth version would allow devices, such as phones to “borrow” wireless fidelity (WiFi) connections on the same device.

This paves way for wireless bulk synchronization of music libraries between PC and MP3 player, bulk download of photos to a printer or PC and video file transfer from camera or phone to computer or TV at a rate of 3 megabits per second, according to the Bluetooth SIG.

“When the speed of 802.11 is overkill, the connection returns to normal operation on a Bluetooth radio for optimal power management and performance,” he added.

In mid-2008, Foley disclosed the new Bluetooth specification would be able to ride on the WiFi and ultra-wideband (UWB) protocol.

In 2006, the Bluetooth SIG selected the WiMedia Alliance brand of UWB technology as a high speed channel for Bluetooth technology, said Bluetooth SIG.

Development work of the two bodies to co-locate UWB technology in Bluetooth devices is underway. However, the Bluetooth SIG would use 802.11, a wireless technology present in many devices today.

This two-phased road map would also allow for a steady evolution in Bluetooth devices using 802.11 today while readying for the presence of UWB in the near future, said Bluetooth SIG.

“We are committed to speedy wireless personal area network connections and we will always be looking for the best near term and long term way to accomplish that,” added Foley. “The greatness of a generic alternate radio architecture being developed is that it's adaptable.”

There are nearly 2 billion Bluetooth-equipped products in the market.

“The Bluetooth SIG is taking a logical step by applying Bluetooth protocols over an existing 802.11 radio to achieve efficient transfers of high data throughput applications," said Flint Pulskamp, wireless and mobile analyst at IDC, in a statement.

Flint added: "Since Bluetooth and 802.11 already have significant traction in mobile devices, this coupled solution could prove to be an efficient interim solution, as the Bluetooth SIG continues to develop UWB for the future."

Global sales of Bluetooth-enabled handset will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 7.68 percent rfrom 2011 to 2015, noted Global Industry Analysts Inc.

tonight

April 21st, 2009, 08:39 AM

IBM helps build RP a smarter country (http://mb.com.ph/articles/203046/ibm-helps-build-rp-a-smarter-country)
By EMMIE V. ABADILLA

IBM’s 2009 strategy focuses on helping businesses, government and people become more efficient and transforming them into leaders in the global economic crisis, declared IBM Country Manager Philippines James Velasquez.

The challenging business environment is also an opportunity for Philippine enterprises and SMEs, he stressed. “We have to compete on the basis of being smarter in the way we do business and manage our physical and social infrastructure.”

Smarter Planet is IBM’s point of view on how interconnected technologies can change the way physical goods are developed, manufactured, bought and sold, the way services are delivered, the way people work, govern themselves and live.

Almost anything can be digitally aware and interconnected, according to IBM. By 2010, each human will be using a billion transistors each from 60 million in 2001. The transistors, costing one tenth of a cent each, will be embedded into billions of devices from cars and roadways to cameras and appliances.

By 2011, 2 billion people will be connected on the web and 1 trillion devices will be included in the “internet of things”. Powerful computers will be able to process, model, forecast and analyze all data to be generated. With technology available at a low cost, men can build smart airports, banks, roadways and cities.

At present, people are already connected, economically, technically and socially. “But being connected is not sufficient,” according to Lope Doromal, IBM Philippines Chief Technologist. “We have to infuse intelligence into our systems and ways of working as well. The world has become flatter and smaller.

kiretoce

May 2nd, 2009, 01:54 AM

Connected in Coron (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=463296&publicationSubCategoryId=73)

More Filipinos are discovering Coron, a small town belonging to the Calamianes group of islands located in the northernmost part of Palawan.

The first-quarter report of the Department of Tourism (DOT) shows that domestic tourist arrivals to Coron and the capital city of Puerto Princesa, grew by a record-breaking 392 percent. The DOT attributes this to the increase in flights from Manila, Cebu, and Caticlan. Coron is an hour away from Manila by plane.

For Al and Mae Linsangan of Calamian Expeditions Travel & Tours, however, getting there and back is just one aspect of the experience. Equally important is communications, says Mae.

Coron enjoys mobile connectivity, dominantly from Smart Communications Inc., which has installed 12 3G/High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and GSM base stations to serve the Calamianes group of islands, with five dedicated to the town proper. Hence, the signal is strong not only in Coron but in the waters and islands surrounding the municipality.

It’s a big advantage to the Linsangans, who adopt a community approach to tourism, involving local tour guides, mountain guides, resort and lodge operators, boat operators, transport operators, indigenous cultural groups and adventure seekers. Often mobile, they are all reachable by cellphone, given Smart’s coverage.

Tourists, too, enjoy the convenience of being connected even in the remote islands. A must-do for travelers is sending wish-you-were-here messages — with MMS photos of themselves, say, swimming in the crystal-clear waters of Kayangan Lake, the cleanest lake in the Philippines. Kayangan is the only one of 15 lakes in Coron open to the public. There are many other attractions.

Coron is best known as the jump-off point to what is considered as one of the best dive sites in the world, with 12 sunken World War II Japanese shipwrecks found in its waters.

Snorkeling is best at Siete Pecados and other nearby sites, which boast of a thriving marine population and stunning coral reefs. Other options are swimming in the turquoise waters of Coron Island’s inland lakes and nearby beaches, rejuvenating at Maquinit hot springs and exploring the iconic limestone cliffs and ridges.

With so much to see and do, it’s almost a crime for tourists not to have a camera handy, especially in this photo-blog age. Smart’s HSPA service has boosted Web activity in the town, with the majority of Coron’s Internet cafés powered by Smart Bro, the wireless broadband service of Smart Broadband Inc.

With nightlife limited to a few bars and cafés, Internet connectivity is now being offered as an alternative in more resorts and lodging houses.

SeaDive Resort, which boasts of the biggest diving and accommodation facility on the waterfront, offers free Wi-Fi service via Smart Bro in its restaurant, enabling tourists to check their e-mails, post photos on their social networking sites, surf the Web, access YouTube, or do online gaming. Foreigners take the chance to chat with folks back home via video streaming.

The Linsangans themselves operate an Internet café, Calamian Planet Online, located just beside their office and art gallery. An enterprising businessman and a true resident of Coron, Al started off with a souvenir shop called Corong Galeri Lokals, which sells Calamianes’ traditional products, arts, and handicrafts made by locals, including Filipino tribal minorities from the island barangays and upland communities.

The couple has since expanded to related ventures, including Palawan Outdoors, an adventure products and equipment shop, and Al 3 Studio, which offers graphic design and conceptualization, layout, large format printing, digital photo and photography services. Al, a photographer who knows the Calamianes’ many picturesque spots, frequently goes island-hopping to take pictures for travel publications.

Like most entrepreneurs in Coron and in the nearby islands, the Linsangans publicize their services on their website (www.corongaleri.com.ph) and coordinate with clients via mobile phone.

“The communications provided by Smart is crucial to our business,” says Mae, who is rarely without her cellphone and booking sheet. Not a day goes by that she and Al don’t get phone or e-mail queries from foreign and domestic tourists who had accessed their website or had been referred by satisfied customers. When you come right down to it, all they really need to run their business — and tell more people about Coron — is their cellphone.

venntro

May 7th, 2009, 04:07 AM

Blackberry bets its new model will be popular in cellphone-crazy Philippines (http://http://www.gmanews.tv/story/160168/Blackberry-bets-its-new-model-will-be-popular-in-cellphone-crazy-Philippines)
05/06/2009 | 09:33 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian company that makes the popular Blackberry smart phone, is upbeat on the Philippine market despite the deepening global recession.

This was disclosed by Gregory Wade, RIM regional vice president for Asia-Pacific during a briefing in Makati, the company’s first in the Philippines.

Although he declined to give growth projections for the Philippines, Wade told GMANews.TV that the company has already said it expects subscribers to rise by 3.9 million worldwide come end-May 2010.

“We have strong guidance on the first quarter. We are happy with the fact that we have 25 million subscribers around the globe," he said. “We are positive and bullish about where we are going in the future."

This month, RIM will be selling the much-awaited BlackBerry Storm in the Philippines.

Besides being the first touch-screen Blackberry, the smart phone also features the world’s first “clickable" touch-screen and delivers communications and multimedia features.

The BlackBerry Storm will be available from Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc.

The BlackBerry Storm smart phone’s unique SurePress touchscreen was cited as GSMA’s Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough award at the Mobile World Congress 2009.

When touched, the screen depresses slightly, enhancing the interface for both typing and navigation.

The BlackBerry Storm has a sleek, stylish design with chromed frame, contoured corners and stainless steel back.

The clickable touchscreen has 480x360 resolution at 184 pixels per inch to deliver sharp and bright colors.

It has a full HTML browser working in either portrait or landscape orientation and support for mobile video streaming on sites such as YouTube and other entertainment portals.

It has purpose-built applications to easily access popular instant messaging and social networking services such as Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and Flickr.

It can synchronize with iTunes and Windows Media Player to enjoy music or through a home stereo using Bluetooth and BlackBerry Music Gateway.

venntro

May 8th, 2009, 02:40 AM

PLDT unit offers direct-to-home satellite TV (http://http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=465285&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
By Mary Ann LL. Reyes Updated May 08, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - MediaScape, a subsidiary of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has launched its direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service under the brand name Cignal with an initial investment of $10 million.

MediaScape head Orlando Vea said they have covered the whole country in terms of signal. The recent soft launch of Cignal covers several provinces in Luzon, focusing on areas that still do not have cable TV access. In the next few months, the company plans to offer high definition pay TV.

MediaScape is a unit of MediaQuest Holdings which, in turn, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund.

PLDT acquired MediaScape, formerly GV Broadcasting Systems, Inc. in July 2007. It is licensed to offer DTH service and is currently providing on a trial basis Europe’s handheld-mobile TV service in partnership with Smart Communications.

Vea said MediaScape will not be teaming up with any other entity for the offering of DTH service. An earlier plan to enter into a joint venture with EchoStar Communications Corp., the largest DTH satellite television provider in the US, fizzled out.

Earlier, PLDT officials revealed they have tapped SES New Skies of Netherlands as MediaScape’s transponder provider for its DTH service. Transponders are satellite receivers and transmitters that relay the signals received back to Earth.

MediaScape will utilize the NSS-11 satellite of SES for its impending DTH satellite TV service to provide optimal coverage directly to its target markets.

NSS-11 satellite is currently home to a number of Chinese, Indian and Korean language TV channels and pay TV platforms. The satellite provides high-powered coverage which enables a full range of media and data applications, from DTH service to government communications and very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks.

MediaScape’s DTH operation will initially offer 24 channels with content to be acquired from the content providers.

The PLDT Group’s foray into DTH service puts it in direct competition with Dream Broadcasting as well as with cable TV service providers. PLDT owns a minority stake in SkyCable, following the sale of the former’s Home Cable to the Lopez Group.

PLDT also announced that it is planning to roll out soon and implement the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), a high-end service that promises better Internet access, by the middle of the year.

Meanwhile, Vea, who is also Smart Communications’ chief wireless advisor, revealed that following the success of their mobile virtual network operations (MVNO) in Italy, the group is now looking at two other countries in Europe. “We are also pursuing Macau and looking into Taiwan. Plans for MVNO in Japan are on hold due to problems with current regulations while entering the Middle East appears difficult also because of their MVNO regulations,” he said. MVNO allows Smart Communications to offer its services in other countries without actually building a network

venntro

May 8th, 2009, 03:07 AM

Philippines seen as largest PC market in region (http://http://www.gmanews.tv/story/160309/Philippines-seen-as-largest-PC-market-in-region)
CHERYL M. ARCIBAL, GMANews.TV
05/07/2009 | 06:09 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Taiwanese PC maker Micro-Star Int'l Co. Ltd. (MSI) considers the Philippines its biggest and most important market in the Southeast Asian region.

This is because the company considers the Philippines as its largest source of its sales in the region, Joseph Chen, MSI Southeast Asia sales manager, said.

“Besides the big population, Filipinos are getting more hooked to their computers," he said, citing Filipinos’ purchasing power and their affinity to global technological trends.

On Thursday, the company launched the MSI X-Slim series, which it claims to be “irresistible, fashionable and affordable."

To be available anytime within the quarter, the company is targeting to sell 10,000 to 15,000 units this year in the Philippines, Chen said.

A unit will cost P49,999.

Despite the anticipated lower remittances from Filipinos working abroad this year, Chen believes that Filipinos will still fork out cash to buy PCs.

“You have good buying power here. I think students and executives will still buy our product. The Philippines is a very mature market," he said.

The Philippines, with about 89 million residents, is the second-largest country in the region in terms of population.

Although the country's export sector has been severely hit by the weakening global trade, the Philippines is one of the few countries expected to post growth as consumption is seen to drive the economy, unlike peers in the region which mainly rely on exports to push economic expansion.

For the entire Southeast Asian region, he added that MSI is seeking to sell between 60,000 to 70,000 units of the “world's lightest and slimmest 13-inch notebook."

MSI X340 is six millimeter at its thinnest and 20 millimeter at its widest, weighing 1.3 kilograms with battery.

With the improving global economic condition, the company said that this is the best time to launch the latest offering from MSI.

Worldwide sales for the X-Slim series are expected to reach a million units this year.

He added that last year, MSI's Wind Netbook has been very popular in the Philippines, with sales hitting between 30,000 units to 40,000 units while for all its products, MSI has sold between 60,000 units to 70,000 units.

“This is not a bad time [to launch our product]. Things are turning around. We expect modest growth this year," Chen said.

Besides its “affordability", MSI said that through is X-Slim series, it is making a fashion statement.

“The chic design of the X340 frees notebooks from the monotone. The X-Slim embraces a simple and modern design concept and meanwhile features the most advanced multimedia and power saving technologies," said Iris Chuang, MSI product manager. - GMANews.TV

tonight

May 13th, 2009, 12:26 PM

Coming soon: ‘Smarter’ smart phones--HTC (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090513-204783/Coming-soon-Smarter-smart-phones--HTC)
By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines—So there are “smarter” smart phones.

These devices target power users and multimedia fanatic consumers, according to Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC, as it introduced newer smart phones.

“There’s a growing segment of users who want to get more out of their mobile devices than just make calls, send SMS or browse the Internet. They also want their phones to become portals for information,” HTC Philippines Country Manager Mark Dewey Sergio said.

The company is expecting a strong market in the Philippines for both its new smart phones, dubbed Touch Pro2 and Touch Diamond2, as the growing segment of Internet-savvy users are also looking at having access on smaller devices.

Both new handsets are reiterations of the successful Touch Pro and Touch Diamond that were launched nearly a year ago.

Both phones feature Qualcomm MS7200A processors running at 528 megahertz. They have 288 megabyte memories and internal storage of 512 MB, although they have microSD slots that can accommodate up to 16 gigabytes.

The touch screen feature called Touch Flo 3D has also been enhanced. Both models have Bluetooth 2.0 and can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi or HSPA (high speed packet access) with speeds of up to 7.2 megabits per second.

For browsing the Internet, both use “push Internet” that allows users to select websites and have them load faster than those not identified.

The new smart phones also come with geo-tagging application, which is linked to a GPS system. This application allows users to embed recorded audio, pictures and notes to the phones’ Google Maps application.

The new smart phones use Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0, which features a more user-friendly interface.

Touch Diamond2 is fully touch screen unit, while the Touch Pro2 has a both touch screen capability and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for data entry. Thus the Touch Diamond2 comes with a slightly bigger 3.6-inch LCD screen, while the Touch Diamond Pro2 has a 3.2-inch screen.

The Touch Diamond2 also has a 5-megapixel digital camera, while the Touch Pro2 only uses a 3.2 megapixel camera.

tonight

May 13th, 2009, 12:28 PM

Virtual storage a growing trend in RP (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090513-204825/Virtual-storage-a-growing-trend-in-RP)
By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines—Storage giant EMC is expecting more organizations in the country shifting virtual storage environments.

Virtualization describes ways organizations are maximizing their IT without buying new equipment. Virtual machines are computer systems that come with software that can run multiple applications normally requiring more machines.

Virtualization can extend beyond a local area network. It could be done through multiple remote sites using separate data centers connected via the Internet.

Some Philippine companies have yet to shift to virtual IT environments,
Sal Fernando, EMC Asia Pacific chief technical architect, said. But the concept is now gaining ground among mid-size and large corporations, he said.

Fernando said Philippine companies would shift to virtualization to maximize use of existing IT infrastructure, to provide better service to customers, and reduce cost of managing equipment.

The executive expects Philippine companies to adapt virtual environment because it also automates management of various connected IT equipment.

kiretoce

May 15th, 2009, 05:26 AM

Friendster's RP office to help expansion in Asia (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/161297/Friendsters-RP-office-to-help-Asian-expansion)

Friendster, a social networking Web site which reportedly attracts 16 billion page views a month, plans to make the Philippines its global marketing hub as part of its expansion in Asia.

The decision is “a big milestone in our development as a company," Richard Kimber, CEO of the popular social networking website told GMANews.TV.

Kimber and other Friendster executives were in Manila to incorporate the company’s local unit Friendster Philippines, Inc. last May 11.

Friendster executives also held their board meeting in Manila, Kimber said.

The Philippine unit will be moving in to its new offices along Ayala Ave. in Makati, Kimber said, adding that the company intends to hire additional people to supplement the 61 employees they already have.

Friendster has a bigger user base in Asia and the Philippines than in the US. Given this unique situation, the company plans to make the country a global marketing hub. Kimber pointed out that their VP for the Philippines, Ben Dunn, is also head of their global brand experience.

Local content will be harmonized with Friendster's strength as a global platform.

"We want to make our content more relevant and fun," Kimber said, adding that the company is currently considering music and television as part of its main content areas.

Moreover, Friendster’s Philippine unit will also partner with local game developers.

"We believe there's a big future in this area," he said.

Friendster is popularly used for photo uploads and social shout outs, according to Kimber.

Besides the Philippines, Friendster is also popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Friendster competes with, among others, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter for in the field of online social networking.

The company claims it is the largest social networking site in Asia with about 62 million registered users.

demented_pigeon

May 16th, 2009, 01:03 PM

amigo32

May 16th, 2009, 01:34 PM

some of my friends have friendster and all other soc-net sites:D at the same time:D

90 percent of my customers have friendster account, only 10 use facebook, multiply etc....

demented_pigeon

May 16th, 2009, 01:35 PM

^^ dati ganun rin yung iba pero, nagiging boring na raw friendster e. Useless na.

le Reine

May 16th, 2009, 05:38 PM

Si Kimber pala may-ari ng friendster eh. :lol:

Waldenstrom

May 17th, 2009, 08:50 PM

No offense meant and not to generalize people but from my observation, Facebook users are mostly yuppies and middle-upper class people. Rarely would you see a 'kanto boy' using FB.

Kids, some relatives, less tech-savvy or those new to soc-net-sites, however, are sticking to Friendster. They find it more appealing as they can design their own profile, add music & graphics and, most likely, they still have more friends there than in FB.

However, it won't be too long before FB overtakes Friendster. I don't have the figures but I'm sure there are a lot of registered Pinoy FB users.

kyle@1008

May 17th, 2009, 08:58 PM

huh more friends on friendster? the reason I joined facebook in the firstplace is cause most of my batchmates in highschool, and my relatives are on FB, they don't have friendster accounts and those who do have abandoned it....

anyways FB is more user friendly.....friendster is so chaotic...

kiretoce

May 17th, 2009, 11:06 PM

Si Kimber pala may-ari ng friendster eh. :lol:

Yeah, didn't you know that? ;)

:rofl:

demented_pigeon

May 18th, 2009, 05:52 AM

sdblackshade

May 18th, 2009, 09:54 AM

i'm so hook with BL of FB! i love this applications.

tonight

May 19th, 2009, 12:26 PM

IPVG, Viva forge joint venture (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090519-205922/IPVG-Viva-forge-joint-venture)
By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines--Technology services firm Intellectual Property Ventures Group (IPVG) has entered into a joint venture agreement with entertainment distribution firm Viva Communications to create a global online entertainment distribution company called Squirt Media, Inc.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the joint-venture company will have a $2 million capitalization.

IPVG will provide $1 million worth of hosting and hardware, while Viva Communications will provide the remaining $1 million in the form of video, audio and stock photos of current and future productions.

Viva Communications will also provide contract talent services of artists. Viva Communications is a subsidiary of entertainment production firm Viva Entertainment.

The joint venture company would allow Viva Communications to distribute its content to a global audience by leveraging on IPVG’s offshore Internet communications network.

IPVG CEO Enrique Y. Gonzalez noted that Viva Communications has a large library of content and talent, from music, television, film and talent management.

“Combined with IPVG's online expertise, we will establish a leading portal catering to domestic and international markets,” Gonzales said.

Viva Communications Chairman Vicente del Rosario, Jr. said the company aims to take their business to an international market through this venture.

Waldenstrom

May 19th, 2009, 07:11 PM

i'm so hook with BL of FB! i love this applications.
what's BL?

manila_eye

May 19th, 2009, 11:55 PM

I have not totally abandoned friendster but I rarely use it. More on FB now. Anyway, I'm sure friendster will open new sites and philippines is very strategic since we are computer savvy.

kiretoce

May 26th, 2009, 04:24 AM

User generated pornography: A Philippine scandal (http://www.thenewstoday.info/2009/05/25/user.generated.pornography.html)

User-Generated Porn (UGP, I’d like to call it) is a product that beckons hordes to DVD stalls for copies of amateur, cell phone-shot sleaze starring the popular, the potentially popular and even the obscure. As long as there’s skin, never mind if the lighting is unflattering, or if the shot is not one’s best angle.

UGP is easy to make, so easy that many of them are produced unintentionally, unknowingly or often against will. And the sooner they get to the wrong hands, the faster they make virtual circulation and eventually, Quiapo.

Video sharing and social sites, YouTube and Facebook help advertise UGP. Shout outs and links spread in a matter of clicks, resulting in instant box office successes such as the latest (and what I'd call) “The Hayden Kho M.D. skin flick franchise”. News media reinforcement by broadsheets, TV and radio also leaves the public with nothing else to talk about, pushing demand for more “collectors’ copies”.

But Dr. Hayden Kho’s “expose” has one redeeming value. It made people angry. The palace and senate are now scenes of seething government officials taking turns condemning the video and its “executive producer”. Women’s groups and parents also joined calls for stiffer penalties against internet porn offenders, which is really what the country lacks.

All that exists in the Philippines is a generic (and largely, impotent) anti pornography legislation, which was crafted in the time when offenders were limited to a minority of film makers that show porn in dilapidated theaters, or the defunct Betamax. That’s why a feisty Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. took the cudgels for Hayden’s victims. He really wants to rally support for his fortified and broadened Anti Pornography Bill, and for good reason. Those who have published, broadcast or exhibited porn through media, internet and phones in the past, got away with mere slaps on the wrist and a bruised reputation. Hardly any of them did jail time. Lawmakers also mull outright internet content censorship, a subject of more debate.

The Philippines has been struggling with managing online liberties unlike its neighbors in the region. The National Information Technology Environments on Business Review by American University’s Bree Conally notes the Philippines once supported proposals for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to collectively regulate member nations’ internet communication, spurred by Singapore’s Internet Code of Practice of 1996. But this was met with heavy criticism back home citing content restrictions violate freedom of speech and expression.

I agree. Internet censorship to a certain degree encroaches on civil liberties already guaranteed by our constitution. Internet content is also subjective hence censorship will be both work and debate-intensive. We also lack enforcers who have the will (or credibility) to enforce.

If censorship is the only way, anything short of the iron hand resolve of countries like China and Saudi Arabia in regulating internet content will not stop the proliferation of User Generated Pornography in RP.

Next best thing? We become a nation of responsible internet users. Why not? It's simplistic, but I'd take that any day over censorship. It’s really a pity that many Filipinos do not appreciate the small privileges that come with a more liberal internet environment. Almost half of the countries the world whose censorship laws are stiffer, can only dream of the wealth of information (and resources) at the click of a mouse in the Philippines.

Wind Shear

May 28th, 2009, 02:38 PM

I have not totally abandoned friendster but I rarely use it. More on FB now. Anyway, I'm sure friendster will open new sites and philippines is very strategic since we are computer savvy.

Same here, I use Facebook more often than Friendster. And that's true, former is more user-friendly than the latter.

X.A.

May 29th, 2009, 06:48 AM

RonnieR

May 29th, 2009, 07:22 AM

User generated pornography: A Philippine scandal (http://www.thenewstoday.info/2009/05/25/user.generated.pornography.html)

Next best thing? We become a nation of responsible internet users. Why not? It's simplistic, but I'd take that any day over censorship. It’s really a pity that many Filipinos do not appreciate the small privileges that come with a more liberal internet environment. Almost half of the countries the world whose censorship laws are stiffer, can only dream of the wealth of information (and resources) at the click of a mouse in the Philippines.

Philippines is so liberal when it comes to internet use. I never heard of regulations esp. on pornography and political activism...depends on the person - could be advantageous or otherwise.

anyway, related to video proliferation of sex videos in the internet...

Sex scandal grips Manila Reuters/Manila
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=293597&version=1&template_id=45&parent_id=25

The Philippines is in danger of slipping into recession, it has just recorded its first few cases of the new flu virus, but you wouldn’t know it from reading the Manila newspapers or watching local television.
A scandal surrounding a celebrity doctor, known for providing cosmetic surgery to film stars and models, and his steamy affair with an upcoming actress has been all the rage, especially since a sex video of the two together surfaced on the Internet and on knock-off DVDs.
Yesterday, just hours after the government announced that an economic recession was looming, the two protagonists were summoned by the Senate and questioned in a public hearing, all covered live by television and radio.
“Everytime we saw each other, there was no conversation. It was all drugs and sex,” said the 29-year-old doctor, Hayden Kho, adding the actress, Katrina Halili, influenced him to start experimenting with Ecstasy pills.
He admitted he had video-taped their affair, but said he did not know how it ended up on the Net.
Proceedings in the house were disrupted when an onlooker emptied a bottle of water over Kho’s head. He was arrested and Kho continued his testimony after patting himself dry with a handkerchief.
Halili, 23, who sobbed repeatedly during the hearing, denied offering drugs to Kho, maintaining they had a doctor-patient relationship before getting intimate.
“I loved Hayden,” she said wiping away tears. “I was young, so I was easily blinded. I am the victim here while our video is being viewed on a daily basis. I was abused on the video and I am still being abused in public.”
Newspapers have been giving lurid details of the story on front pages for weeks, complete with bare-chested photographs of Kho. He was already a staple on the celebrity circuit because of his live-in relationship withicky Belo, the best known cosmetic surgeon in the Philippines.
Belo, said to be in her 50s, had a public break-up with Kho after reports of his affair with the actress surfaced earlier this year, but according to some reports they have reunited.

barrera_marquez

May 29th, 2009, 09:54 AM

Philippines is so liberal when it comes to internet use. I never heard of regulations esp. on pornography and political activism...depends on the person - could be advantageous or otherwise.

anyway, related to video proliferation of sex videos in the internet...

Sex scandal grips Manila Reuters/Manila
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=293597&version=1&template_id=45&parent_id=25

The Philippines is in danger of slipping into recession, it has just recorded its first few cases of the new flu virus, but you wouldn’t know it from reading the Manila newspapers or watching local television.
A scandal surrounding a celebrity doctor, known for providing cosmetic surgery to film stars and models, and his steamy affair with an upcoming actress has been all the rage, especially since a sex video of the two together surfaced on the Internet and on knock-off DVDs.
Yesterday, just hours after the government announced that an economic recession was looming, the two protagonists were summoned by the Senate and questioned in a public hearing, all covered live by television and radio.
“Everytime we saw each other, there was no conversation. It was all drugs and sex,” said the 29-year-old doctor, Hayden Kho, adding the actress, Katrina Halili, influenced him to start experimenting with Ecstasy pills.
He admitted he had video-taped their affair, but said he did not know how it ended up on the Net.
Proceedings in the house were disrupted when an onlooker emptied a bottle of water over Kho’s head. He was arrested and Kho continued his testimony after patting himself dry with a handkerchief.
Halili, 23, who sobbed repeatedly during the hearing, denied offering drugs to Kho, maintaining they had a doctor-patient relationship before getting intimate.
“I loved Hayden,” she said wiping away tears. “I was young, so I was easily blinded. I am the victim here while our video is being viewed on a daily basis. I was abused on the video and I am still being abused in public.”
Newspapers have been giving lurid details of the story on front pages for weeks, complete with bare-chested photographs of Kho. He was already a staple on the celebrity circuit because of his live-in relationship withicky Belo, the best known cosmetic surgeon in the Philippines.
Belo, said to be in her 50s, had a public break-up with Kho after reports of his affair with the actress surfaced earlier this year, but according to some reports they have reunited.

Although I am a supporter of free Internet... I can't sometimes stand if there are pornography and other lewd materials spewing around it. Sana lang instead of democracy and other topics ang i-censor ay ito ang i-censor... China is censoring both for your information people.

barrera_marquez

May 29th, 2009, 10:00 AM

http://images.inquirer.net/media/networkindex/images/pic-05290630350645.jpg

^^ Piyesta ba ng San Juan?

At saka mukhang lumiliit na talaga ang mundo niya, bawal na rin siya sa Bohol.

barrera_marquez

May 29th, 2009, 10:20 AM

'Hayden cam' case: Katrina Halili's grief is video traffickers' joy
ANNIE RUTH C. SABANGAN, GMANews.TV
05/21/2009 | 09:21 PM
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/162330/Hayden-cam-case-Katrina-Halilis-grief-is-video-traffickers-joy

http://www.gmanews.tv/webpics/infotech/katrinadvd.jpg

MANILA, Philippines - It was a usual Wednesday afternoon in Quiapo. Devotees flocked to church asking the Black Nazarene miracle solutions to their problems. At Plaza Miranda, activists, still looking grim and determined, waved red flags and chanted slogans – this time, commemorating the first death anniversary of labor leader Crispin Beltran.

But the vendors were wearing unusual smiles, while the crying face of actress Katrina Halili at the Senate was being flashed on TV sets at some stalls in Quiapo.

"Ang bilis maubos [It sells quickly]," a DVD vendor said as her eyes sparkled while squeezing her belt bag full of money.

The sex video of Halili with Dr. Hayden Kho might have raised a howl among those fighting the pornography and sexual exploitation menace. But for the poor merchants in Quiapo’s underground markets, the best-selling video was virtually a blessing from heaven.

“Malakas ang kita ko. Naka two-hundred na ko, isang oras pa lang [I've earned a lot. I've already sold 200 in just an hour]," said another female vendor who claimed that she was able to sell 200 pieces of the Katrina-Hayden DVDs at P70 each an hour after the hot goods were delivered to her stall at 2 p.m.

Covert sale

The sale was being done covertly, though there was still no police crackdown. Sellers and their suppliers appeared to be conscious of the fact that authorities would take action anytime soon as the issue got hotter, with politicians jumping into the fray and issuing quotable quotes to media against Kho and the spread of the video.

“Di pa nang-aaresto, baka hinihintay pang bumaba ang warrant [They haven’t conducted arrest, may be the warrant has not yet come out]," said a male vendor who showed a copy of the video on his cellphone, which could be sent to another cellphone for P50 through SMS or blue tooth.

Except for one stall near the Isetann Mall on Carriedo Street that was covertly selling the hot stuff for P100 each, DVD copies of the video were rarely sold on the streets near the Basilica of the Black Nazarene on Wednesday.

“Walang Katrina-Hayden dito, bukas pa [There’s no Katrina-Hayden video here yet, it will be available tomorrow]," read a message on a cardboard written by a vendor of pornographic DVDs along Raon who got tired of answering queries whether he was selling copies of the controversial video.

It’s really Katrina

But across the church, in the area commonly called "Musliman," DVD copies of the video abound. Mothers, teens, and even some children were selling it.

"Totoong si Katrina ‘yan…tingnan mo dito sa cellphone ko. Ibalik mo pag hindi [It’s really Katrina…you can check here on my cellphone. Just return it if I’m not saying the truth]," said a young male vendor on Hidalgo Street, who showed a copy of the video on his cellphone to buyers.

Next to Hidalgo Street is Elizondo Street where DVD stalls were huddled like fish stalls in a talipapa.

“O Katrina! Bili na! Bili na! Singkwenta lang! [You buy Katrina, it’s only P50)," shouted a vendor as he went near commuters of jeepneys plying the Punta-Quiapo route that pass through Elizondo.

Across the porn talipapa is a department-store-like establishment where all kinds of hardcore DVD porns were being sold. Every stall inside the store was filled with DVDs with covers that display the pictures of naked women in various positions and sizes.

Many female vendors were selling the DVDs of naked women to predominantly male consumers, seemingly unmindful of the issues sparked by the Hayden-Katrina scandal.

“Ano hanap mo? Katrina ba? Eto oh, bili na, mauubos na [What are you looking for? Is it Katrina? Here it is, buy it, we will soon run out of it]," a female vendor wearing a head cover told one buyer. - GMANews.TV

adverg

May 29th, 2009, 10:38 AM

Ganuon na ba tayo kababaw sa pananaw pagdating sa sex maturity. Sometimes despite how I depend our nationalistic pride to other race coz they always bombarded me about the image of our country, parang gusto ko ng pumanig sa kanila. With all this sensational dramas, does it only shows how our society desperately make 'fiestas' to non-sense issues.

le Reine

May 29th, 2009, 04:04 PM

I don't care about Hayden Kho and the stupid mongrels we call senators. This is the IT thread for heaven's sake and there's surely more to it than those pesky sex video tapes. It will never benefit us nor the Philippines, so quit discussing Hayden Kho because it's OT. And yes, this is a warning. Anyone caught disobeying this warning would be suspended (brigged) just like Hayden.

kiretoce

May 29th, 2009, 08:57 PM

From making friends to making money (http://www.bworldonline.com/BW052909/content.php?id=idea)

Friendster, Multiply, Facebook, and Twitter. These are just three of the several social networking sites that are taking the virtual world by storm and the business world to different heights.

Beginnings

It all started with classmates.com. Founded in 1995, the site allowed its members to locate long-lost classmates and to hold virtual reunions with each other. As of September 2007, the site reportedly had almost 50 million users, but only about 13 million were active, according to online traffic measuring service provider alexa.com. It did not, however, garner much popularity outside the United States with as percent of its registered users reside in the US.

It was not until the early 2000s when a social networking site reached out to a global audience. Friendster , which was launched in 2002, garnered some three million registered users worldwide within a year after its establishment.

As of April this year, Friendster boasts of having around 200 million active members worldwide with almost 28% of its traffic reportedly accounted for by subscribers in the Philippines. MySpace followed in 2003, Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006.

These social networking sites started as a tool to locate and reconnect with former friends and acquaintances as well as to establish new relationships with a broader set of people. As technology improved, so did the capabilities of these networks, enabling people to share multimedia content, play online games, and transact business and have become a platform for online advertising.

Networking for brand awareness

Their sheer popularity among a broad range of users has made social networking sites suitable for brand awareness campaigns, as these sites can easily deliver content that is targeted to specific demographics.

A majority of the users of such websites belong to the so-called Generations X and Y. In the US alone, an estimated 85 million people use social networking sites; reportedly, around 80 percent are 18 years old or older. An estimated 100 million users from all over the world log on to Facebook at least once a day.

In addition, unlike other forms of advertising such as television and print ads, and even among other forms of online marketing such as e-mails, the potential for customer involvement is greatest through social networking sites; that is, users can and often do comment on social networking content, including ads.

A study done by the Ad-ology Small Business Marketing Outlook revealed that among other forms of online advertising, businesses were most keen on increasing the money and time they spend on marketing through social networking sites.

Online social network advertising worldwide reportedly reached $2 billion in 2008, a 46-percent growth from the previous year’s level. Moreover, according to the 2009 Promo Interactive Marketing Survey, US marketers believe that interactive marketing, like social network marketing, is more profitable than traditional approaches. Social-network marketing has received greater favor from marketers, as the survey revealed 34.3% of the respondents used it among other interactive marketing tactics. (In the previous year’s survey, the proportion of uses was only 16.9%). MySpace and Facebook take the bulk of social network-based advertisements. In 2008, MySpace took in some $605 million worldwide in advertisements, while Facebook took in about $250 million.

One additional benefit of marketing via social networking sites is that it proves to be an effective tool in influencing consumption decisions. According to the iProspect Social Networking User Behavior Study conducted by iProspect and JupiterResearch in 2007, the purchase decision of one in three Internet users was influenced by social networking sites.

Among all networking sites, advertising via Amazon.com was found to have had the most influence on consumer decisions. (Amazon was considered a social networking site due to its feature of allowing user-generated contents like comments, feedback, and ratings.)

Hence, even amidst the global economic crisis, there still appears opportunity and growth in social-network advertising. The eMetrics Marketing Optimization summit, Measuring Success Today, held earlier this year showed that 41.9% of marketers all over the world plan to increase the marketing budget allotted to social media, 35.5% plan to maintain their spending levels, while only 22.6% plan to reduce it.

From advertising to new product offerings

Small and medium-sized businesses can also tap social networks such as MySpace, Multiply, and Facebook for free advertisement. Larger companies have also started to show interest in social network marketing. For example, Adidas has used MySpace to promote its new line of shoes.

Aside from revolutionizing the way businesses advertise and sell their products, social networking sites have also allowed companies to interact more closely with their clients.

For example, networking equipment provider Cisco has included Eos, a social networking service, among its product offerings in January this year. Eos was launched to help media and entertainment companies build virtual communities allowing for consumer-product interaction.

Warner Music Group, the first major media company to sign up for Eos, is said to use the social networking service to create websites to promote their artists such as Laura Izibor and Sean Paul. IBM also introduced its social networking service in early April this year. The LotusLive Engage is set to aid companies in employee collaboration wherever they may be.

Final remarks: Philippine prospects

Filipinos are known to be social networking site enthusiasts. According to alexa, Friendster is the second most visited website in the country after search engine Yahoo. The Philippines holds the biggest chunk of Friendster users with reportedly 98% of the 14 million Filipino Internet users visiting the website.

Other social networking sites, particularly Facebook and Twitter, are rapidly gaining popularity in the country. A study released by New York-based media agency Universal McCann revealed that Philippines actually has the highest percentage of social network users.

The popularity of these sites offers great potential for high returns to businesses that apply social-network-related marketing strategies. ABS-CBN Interactive, the multimedia unit of ABS-CBN, forged a partnership with Multiply in the second quarter of 2008 to stir the inflow of revenues from advertisements. (Multiply is said to hold some 2.2 million registered users.) At present, the TV network has set up various Multiply pages dedicated solely to their artists and programs to help drum up interest. Other Philippine companies have also signed on with Multiply as advertisers, including telecom giants Globe Telecom and Smart, BPO firm People Support, and Nokia and Sony.

For its part, Friendster has included Friendster Philippines, Inc. in its expansion plans in Asia. Friendster Philippines intends to expand its services in the local market. The Securities and Exchange Commission has authorized P9.96 million in capital stock to the firm.

Already, non-entrepreneurial applications of these sites have also emerged. Facebook and Friendster are now currently being used to promote certain advocacies, such as election-awareness campaigns. All these can only be expected, as social networking sites continue to evolve into a potent marketing engine.

kiretoce

May 30th, 2009, 07:32 AM

Why I quit Plurk (http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20090529-207841/Why-I-quit-Plurk)

I swore to myself I wouldn’t sign up. It was a promise I kept for months and months, even after one friend after another started joining Plurk.com. Plurk, a microblogging and social networking website that allows you to post short updates and links, had so many of my friends hooked.

Dancing bananas

But I still refused to sign up—even though they couldn’t stop talking about Plurk when I was around. There was so much talk about karma points and dancing bananas and I couldn’t relate at all.

I couldn’t lurk because all my friends had all set their timelines to private. And while I had friends who were nice enough to paste the most interesting posts on Plurk during YM conversations, it just wasn’t enough.

Still, I held my ground. I already had my hands full with my blogs, e-mails, Multiply, Flickr and Friendster (I wasn’t even on Facebook yet at that point.)

I wrote this in my Multiply blog in January: “Everyone is on Plurk. And I’m still not there. It looks fun and I’m still not there. I quit 365, I quit my newest blog without anyone even knowing it was up and I’m still not there. People continue to send Plurk invites to my inboxes and I’m still not there. I can’t relate to things my friends are talking about and I’m still not there. I want to shower people with dancing bananas and I’m still not there. I don’t know if what I’m doing is sticking to my principle or just being stubborn.”

Plurk plunge

Soon after I posted that blog entry, I finally caved. I signed up as Turbochicken and took the big Plurk plunge.

I started to get into it, really into it. Plurk was the first thing I checked when I woke up in the morning, Plurk was the last thing I checked before going to bed at night. When I wasn’t in front of the computer, I was on Mobile Plurk, draining my phone credits by posting Plurks (from the boring “Makati traffic sucks!” to the weird “Turbochicken is carrying an electric fan home”) and reading other people’s posts. Every time something happened—if someone said something funny or if I saw a road accident—my instinct was to immediately Plurk about it. It got so bad that people started calling me by my Plurk name. Turbochicken is tasty, sure, but I still like my real name more.

Because I was posting regularly and people kept responding to my posts, my karma points continued to rise. Plurk deducts points when you are inactive, when people don’t reply to you and when people remove you from their friends’ list. The higher your karma is, the more emoticons you are given access to. Higher karma allows you to modify your Plurk page more too.

Plurk had become the first page I open every time I go online—and that page stayed open all day.

Addiction

During the height of my Plurk addiction, some of my friends deleted their Plurk accounts only to come back. The thought of deleting my account didn’t even enter my mind then. I was having too much fun.

I refused to admit it but it soon started happening. My thoughts came in 140-character nuggets. Writing became a struggle. Plurk had become too big a distraction. I was constantly getting alerts to new posts and responses to my Plurks that it took me ages to finish a single article. I was also spending so much money on Mobile Plurk because I couldn’t stop checking it. I will never mention this again but yes, I was even taking Mobile Plurk to the bathroom.

I reached Plurk Nirvana about four months after I first signed up. It was also around that time that I realized I needed Plurk rehabilitation. Still, I continued Plurking nonstop. I even joined Twitter just to see what was going on there but soon realized I wouldn’t get addicted to it anytime soon—not when I have so many church people following me from around the world just because my last name was Pastor.

But after one weekend that made me realize that I was once again living so much of my life online, the very same reason that made me quit blogging for a time, I made the decision to quit Plurk.

That Sunday evening, in front of three people who were all Plurk addicts, I got ready to rid myself of my addiction. I signed in for the very last time, checked the “I confirm that my account will be deleted and this action cannot be undone” box and clicked on the delete button.

Just like that, Turbochicken was gone.

Bye bye Plurk

The strangest thing is I don’t miss it at all.

Sure, there were some great things about Plurk. It made doing surveys for articles a breeze, being aware of everything that was going on—from my friends’ lives to current affairs—was a snap and it was so easy to organize nights out.

I love all those things but I love my time and my privacy more.

I write articles so much quicker now. And I’ve been having all these beautiful, crazy and interesting moments without feeling the need to immediately start writing about them in 140-character sentences.

My partner in crime said to me the other day, “Since you quit Plurk, you no longer spend so much time online.”

“Yeah, because there’s nothing to do. I check my e-mails, check Facebook, post my Flickr 365 and that’s it.”

I like that. I like that I’ve had more time to work, hang out with people (without Mobile Plurking the whole time) and that I’ve been doing more things offline.

And for now, when I feel the need to give people short updates about myself, I always have my Facebook status. But most of the time, I just tell the person sitting next to me.

tonight

May 31st, 2009, 11:45 AM

Magazine abandons online plans in RP (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090529-207831/Magazine-abandons-online-plans-in-RP)
By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines—A technology magazine has finally abandoned plans to go online in the Philippines.

T3 Philippines has also junked plans to continue its print business starting this month.

Former T3 Philippines Team Publisher Neil Palabrica and Summit Media Publisher Aurora Mangubat-Suarez stressed that they were unable to come to an agreement with principals on the publication’s continuation, a statement obtained by INQUIRER.net said.

Instead, the local publisher said it would be launching a separate online entity.

The company’s official statement noted that “consumers needs and habits have changed.”

The technology magazine announced early this year that it would shut down its operations but later decided to pursue a quarterly release of its issue.

T3 Philippines Reviews Editor Elijah Mendoza told INQUIRER.NET that videos and other original materials gathered previously would be placed on its new online home.

tonight

May 31st, 2009, 11:46 AM

SAP says GSIS did not engage its services (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090529-207830/SAP-says-GSIS-did-not-engage-its-services)
By Alexander Villafania

MAKATI CITY, Philippines – SAP Philippines has finally broken its silence over accusations by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) that IBM’s DB2 database software was at fault for the agency’s massive system crashes.

In a statement sent to INQUIRER.NET, SAP Philippines said that it had no contractual relationship with the agency in the implementation of its IT infrastructure software or consultancy services.

Instead, the software company stressed that GSIS licensed SAP software from Team Synergia, a local value-added reseller.

SAP also insisted that it would not comment on any other product or organization involved in the issue.

“We understand from GSIS that an analysis of GSIS’ system problem has already been conducted and that the root cause of the data corruption has nothing to do with SAP software or its product support,” the company said in its statement.

Nevertheless, SAP said it is already providing technical assistance to all of the parties involved in the matter.

The GSIS, in a full-page open letter published in a local newspaper on May 26, accused IBM for failure to act on the system crashes it has been experiencing.

The agency quoted SAP as “repeatedly” pointing to IBM’s DB2 as the cause of its systems crash.

Also identified in the open letter is systems integrator Questronix, which GSIS quoted to have also blamed IBM’s alleged flawed software for the crashes.

Questronix has yet to issue a statement.

Earlier this week, GSIS Chief Legal Counsel Atty. Estrella Elamparo insisted that IBM, through its IBM Laboratories in Canada, must deliver a “special build,” a software patch intended to fix the agency’s frequent systems crash.

She also threatened to take legal action against IBM, adding that the frequent systems crashes are causing problems to the more than 1.5 million GSIS members.

IBM Philippines also reiterated to INQUIRER.NET late this week that it has no direct engagement with GSIS in the project.

IBM has said GSIS has no contractual agreement with them.

tonight

May 31st, 2009, 11:49 AM

Another player joins smart phone fray in RP (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090529-207811/Another-player-joins-smart-phone-fray-in-RP)
By Alexander Villafania

MAKATI CITY, Philippines--Despite the presence of several mobile brands in the smart phone business in the country, Taiwan device manufacturer Acer is joining the fray for local smart phone market.

The company is aiming at what it calls the “long-term” markets, referring to the large percent of text and voice call users in the Philippines, as opposed to the “short-term” markets or those who use smart phones for data and Internet-related services.

Acer Southeast Asia Head of Sales Glenn Ng said the company would be leveraging on the lower price points of their mobile phones to compete with more established smart phone brands.

He said the company was targeting consumers using the smart phones for Internet and data related services, not just SMS and voice calls.

“There’s growth potential in convergent technologies in Asia, including the Philippines because of the availability of high speed connectivity. As the high speed wireless infrastructure becomes more available and cheaper, so will the need for cheaper smartphones,” Ng said.

In the Philippines, the Acer smart phone business would be separate from its computer business.

Among the new smart phones that the company is offering this year is a device that uses the Android operating system developed by Google. Other units run on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system.

tonight

June 4th, 2009, 04:59 AM

IPVG bags 5-year outsourcing deal with Vietnamese firm (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=474180&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
By Zinnia B. Dela Peña

MANILA, Philippines – Information technology and gaming conglomerate IPVG Corp. has signed a five-year outsourcing contract with Prudential Vietnam Finance Co. Ltd. (PVFC), the company said in a statement.

Under the agreement, PVFC will outsource up to 400 seats to IP Contact Center Outsourcing, Inc. (IPCCO), a unit of IPVG for voice and non-voice services delivery service capabilities such as telemarketing services, and non-voice BPO services (email support, field support, document management and transaction processing).

PVFC is a consumer finance organization that provides personal loans, home loans and sale finance for convenient and flexible solutions to the financial needs of the Vietnamese people.

It was launched in late 2007 as one of the first fully foreign-owned finance companies and has achieved many significant milestones since then.

The deal was made possible in cooperation with Viet Thai International, IPVG’s partner in Vietnam.

Viewed as “The Next China,” the Vietnam market offers an attractive and dynamic business opportunity, IPVG said.

Kalidas Ghose, chief executive officer of PVFC, said: “This tie-up will allow us to add new facets to our ever expanding distribution capabilities and will further enable us to leverage the expertise of our partner, IPVG, in serving high-growth segments in the Vietnam market. We look forward to reaching more customers and offering them best-in-class products and services.”

The partnership marks IPVG’s growing presence in the BPO space in the region.

“Our people skills, domain expertise, plus our robust technology infrastructure will provide the synergy needed in handling BPO customers like Prudential’s Vietnam finance business. We are very excited with this partnership and we look forward to working with them in the years to come,” said IPCCO president and chief executive officer Mohan Kulkarni.

IPVG has established presence in the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, Panama, United Kingdom and USA.

bartstrife99

June 4th, 2009, 07:10 AM

Qualcomm plans RP office

MANILA, Philippines--US technology company Qualcomm Inc. is planning to open an office in the Philippines as it expects growth in the local market for the 3G mobile phone technology to double in the next four years, according to an official.

There are no firm details yet on the new office but Qualcomm has already assigned a country manager to oversee developments in Manila.

Qualcomm vice-president for South East Asia John Stefanac said on Wednesday that the company picked Mantosh Malhotra from the Australia office to serve as country manager for the Philippines.

"We had been serving the Philippines through our Hong Kong office and I felt that we had to have someone in charge of this market since it is an emerging market," Stefanac said.

The global 3G market would most likely double to 1.4 billion in 2012 from the current 720 million and the Philippines "will be an important part of that growth," Stefanac said.

He said the Philippines' 3G market might outpace the global growth rate, at least at first.

M-commerce could be an especially important growth driver for the Philippines, he said.

The company earlier said it was considering launching its Philippine office "in the coming month."

Qualcomm is a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services used in mobile handsets, laptops and other devices.

3G mobile phone services include voice and video calls and broadband wireless data.

tonight

June 8th, 2009, 03:54 AM

A fifth of Asian economies continue to invest in IT (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=475487&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
By Mary Ann Ll. Reyes

MANILA, Philippines - Although most Asia-based companies are either reducing or freezing investments in information technology amid the current economic downturn, there are still those who continue to invest in IT solutions that can help them increase earnings.

Research firm International Data Corp.’s Asia- Pacific Advanced Customer Care and Retention (ACCR) 2009 poll of Asia-based companies indicate that about 20 percent of the respondents, especially larger enterprises and those in China, said they will still invest in IT solutions.

The consumer survey was done via the web with 1,102 respondents across five markets – the Philippines, Australia, China, Korea and Singapore. The enterprise poll was also web-based with 656 IT managers and CIOs, and 548 sales and marketing respondents, covering nine Asian markets.

IDC noted that companies focusing on growth are significantly more likely to explore the more advanced areas of customer care. Nearly half of the respondents saw the main value of customer care as being a way to generate revenue, and many are ready to go beyond traditional customer relationship management.

“Companies with growth ambitions despite the current crisis are exploring more advanced options than companies that hope to get through the downturn by cutting costs,” according to Claus Mortensen, principal for IDC Asia/Pacific Emerging Technologies Research Group.

He pointed out that new advanced customer care tools such as customer analytics, customer database management and new web-based tools, are much more on the agenda for these types of companies.

“They tend to appreciate the value of customer targeting and engagement more than companies with a more reactive approach. These solutions can make a huge difference to how companies position themselves for the future and may be the most important IT investment a company can make in today’s economic climate,” he said.

Despite the impact of the economic downturn, IDC’s poll showed that the top business priority of more than half the companies surveyed was to increase earnings over cost control. In fact, less than 25 percent said that they were focusing more on cost reduction. At the same time, nine out of 10 companies said they had increased their focus on the customer because of the economic downturn.

In another ACCR survey focusing on what Asian Generation Y consumers expect from their customer care experiences, the respondents indicated that traditional customer care methods are inadequate. When it came to seeking technical support for IT gadgets, 62 percent said they had gone to someone they knew personally and more than half had sought help on online forums.

“The survey highlighted how important the web has become in how companies connect and engage with consumers,” Claus said. “It also revealed that as many as 20 percent of young Asians actually prefer to seek help in ways that circumvent the companies they bought their products from. This means that companies will need to be more imaginative in how they engage their customers if they want to maintain relationships with their customers”.

tonight

June 8th, 2009, 04:06 AM

LazerTech enters RP market through IP-Converge partnership (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=475389&publicationSubCategoryId=71)

MANILA, Philippines - IP Converge Data Center Inc., the information technology and telecommunications division of publicly listed IPVG Corp., recently signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Dubai-based global IT solutions developer Lazer Technology Solutions (LazerTech), sponsored by the Milcon Gulf Group, an international business conglomerate.

In this partnership, IP-Converge becomes the exclusive business partner and reseller of Convoy FMS, LazerTech’s fleet management system in the Philippines.

Convoy FMS is a Web-based, user-friendly GPS fleet management solution that gives business managers the capability to track and monitor their fleet’s activities in real time.

Its advanced technology uses the Internet to transmit high-quality graphics and detailed views of the vehicle route to the user’s PC, laptop or other mobile devices — as it occurs.

Since the maps reside in the computer, high-speed Internet is not required, start-up is faster and no time is consumed for download.

Combined with other communications media such as telephone, e-mail and text messaging, the system allows utmost mobility and 24/7 access to up-to-date information regardless of location.

It has several thousand installations in the United States, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania.

“The Convoy system is an ideal management tool that ensures efficient utilization and complete protection of company assets deployed in field operations, specifically company provided vehicles,” Reynaldo Huergas, president of IP-Converge, said.

“Fleet managers can leverage on the leading technology offered by LazerTech to better manage the deployment of company vehicles, monitor real time its location eliminating time-consuming travel between points, and protect the company from revenue losses due to low productivity,” he said.

“Convoy FMS ensures fleet overhead reductions by improving driver performance. It also helps in the proper utilization of vehicle that results in extra trips and eliminates vehicle usage for personal errands,” he added.

IP-Converge is a regional data center whose core competency is managed data services, particularly server co-location, connectivity solutions, and network security with Internet data center facilities in Makati, Singapore and Hong Kong.

IPC is also one of the Philippines’ leading business solutions and services providers, promoting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

IPC will begin rolling out LazerTech’s fleet management system in the third quarter and joins IPC’s wide array of product offerings that includes customer relationship management, financial software and contact center solutions acquired through strategic partnerships with world leading developers.

“LazerTech is pleased to have forged a partnership with IP-Converge. IP-Converge has a proven track record as a go-to-market partner for IT solutions and services in the Philippines,” said Sadik Elouahabi, president of LazerTech.

“The Philippines and the Southeast Asian region have a robust and resilient economy, making (them) an ideal area for expansion which is in line with our growth strategy for the coming years,” Elouahabi added.

Lazer Technology Solutions is engaged in the development of state-of-the-art IT solutions and application software and has development centers in the US, India and UAE.

LazerTech develops systems for application management, legacy management, e-business, enterprise resource planning, enterprise application integration, infrastructure management, as well as data warehousing and business intelligence with worldwide implementations cutting across several industries.

Wind Shear

June 8th, 2009, 02:20 PM

Why don't they use open source technology instead? :laugh:

SAP says GSIS did not engage its services (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090529-207830/SAP-says-GSIS-did-not-engage-its-services)
By Alexander Villafania

FlashCollider

June 8th, 2009, 09:09 PM

^^

Maybe it is more expensive than having another company customize their enterprise system for GSIS. It is very expensive to create something from scratch even if the software is free.

amigo32

June 9th, 2009, 02:24 AM

And it's more expensive to maintain it:D:D:D
with bugs popping up everywhere:D toink:D

at ang lagay, overpricing andun na, kaya ala na magagawa

kiretoce

June 9th, 2009, 09:34 AM

Muslims unite in social networking site (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/06/08/09/muslims-unite-social-networking-site)

Although Friendster, Facebook, and Multiply have virtually everything people need for an active cyber-social life, some Muslim users still don't find what they need for a truly "halal" social networking experience.

This was an issue 42-year-old Salim Yusop tried to address when he launched Tausug Network (TN), a social networking site catering mainly to Tausugs in Sulu province.

Born in Jolo, and later resided in Metro Manila in the 1980s, Yusop said he had always dreamed of creating a website custom-fit for Muslim users—one that would reflect Islamic culture and beliefs, especially those of his ethnic group.

"I have an account on Friendster, but I wasn't that active. Personally, maybe it's because it didn't have what I was looking for. I wanted a site that would be used correctly, not [one that is] just full of pictures and posts. I wanted a link, a communication, among Tausug tribes. It was hard because there was no site for Tausugs," he said in Filipino.

Yusop launched TN 6 months ago, striving to create a virtual space where Tausugs—and all Muslims of various ages, locations, and genders—can feel at home.

"I think what makes the site different is that first, users can use their native dialect so they know they are understood and they can express themselves best. Also, most of the members already have a bond. Their relationships were just recharged virtually on TN. There is already a sense of identity, of a common place where you came from," he said.

Islamic content

The website's home page carries Islamic music and albums containing pictures of Muslim food and Mindanao scenery, a favorite among Filipinos overseas who miss home. Discussion forums and chats are rich sources of religious information, straight from members who are "imams" or Islamic religious leaders and Muslim scholars.

There is always healthy political and religious debate on the site's forums, blogs, chatrooms, and profile pages. Muslim youth can share jokes or ask for advice on love and family problems, trusting that they have a sympathetic audience. More than once, users have found distant relatives they did not know existed.

Romance blooms here and there, too. But unlike other relationships borne or nurtured in cyberspace, TN was simply a tool that started a relationship, which progressed in an old-fashioned Muslim way.

"I heard one of the users are getting married in September. I think they met on Tausug Network, but the set-up and their arrangement was done in the proper manner. Their parents coordinated in the province. Because you know how some Muslims are conservative about things like that," Yusop said.

The site even has a "Countdown to Ramadan" digital clock widget that reminds users how much time they have left before the month-long religious observance. Yusop is also thinking of adding other functions on the website, including live streaming of radio broadcasts from Sulu and live video feeds of mosques and municipal halls.

"On the upside, social networking has had a huge impact on our lives because now we have [alternative] means of saying what we feel about issues or events. We used to do this on the ground, among ourselves. Although there will always be differences in opinion, we stick to our goal of unity."

But there is a downside, too. "It's very addicting," Yusop said sheepishly.

Invite a friend

A freelance web designer, Yusop said he toyed with TN's basic concepts. But these stayed as mere ideas for several years. The push finally came when his elder brother, who was then about to request for their alumni homecoming website, nudged him to make good of his dream: a fully-functional and relevant Tausug website.

Yusop searched the Net, then signed up for a premium account on Ning, a California-based online platform that allows users to create social networks.

In his little Internet shop in Dasmarinas, Cavite, he started building the site from scratch. The premium service was expensive, but it allowed Yusop full control of what features to put on the site, blocked out unwanted advertisements, and ensured him large bandwidth and file storage space for pictures, videos, and more.

In time for a Muslim celebration after the "Haj" or religious pilgrimage to Mecca in modern day Saudi Arabia, Yusop formally launched TN. The social networking site was born on December 9, 2008.

Yusop and his brother then sent out text messages and made good use of the site's "Invite a Friend" feature to build the site's network of users.

"I was surprised by the response. I though that my target audience would be teenagers, because I think they are more active in social networking. I didn't count on those in their 40s or 50s and above would join. In fact, older users had the most inflow in the beginning. Those with Friendster accounts advertise TN on the site, so people learned about TN very fast. In a few days, I would see entire families signing up on the website. It was really unexpected," he gushed.

Lively members

Now, TN has 2,000 active members from all over the world (especially Saudi Arabia), and consistently garners an average of 71,000 hits and 100,000 individual page views monthly. Although this is much less than Facebook or Friendster's site traffic statistics, Yusop said that, considering the population of Tausugs, the numbers are pretty good.

About 100 errant users have been kicked out of the site for profanity, harrassing other members, or putting in bogus information on their profiles.

Yusop keeps a strict eye on the website's goings-on, along with a deputy and 4 self-appointed moderators, all of whom are in charge of approving uploaded content. As if guided by an unspoken rule, however, members police their own ranks in perenially active chatrooms and dutifully report users who post vulgar content.

Much as they try to keep things according to Islamic teachings, some issues have proved to be thorny. "There is a debate now on whether we should allow Muslim females to post pictures of themselves without their 'hijab' (or veil). We also don't allow pictures of users wearing sleeveless shirts. But there is really a question of how to implement that," he said.

Apart from their face, hands, and feet, Muslim women consider all other body parts sacred. Though some women choose not to wear their hijab, since Muslim scholars and feminists have pointed out that the Koran does not explicitly state that Muslim women should wear a veil, some Muslims encourage veil-wearing as an act of modesty.

Exclusive?

Although it was originally meant for Tausugs, few non-Muslims who were invited by their Muslim friends or who were simply curious about the website are in the loop, too.

The non-Muslim's "presence" in the network initially raised objections, with some insisting that the site should be exclusive to Tausugs. But Yusop said he hopes there will be more non-Muslim users joining TN so it could evolve as a venue for understanding among cultures and religions.

Yusop said the site has so far been very productive, owing to the exuberance and helpfulness of its members. "Parang gumawa lang ako ng maliit na bubong para sa [kanila], tapos pag wala na [silang] magawa, may tambayan dito. Pero ang nagpapatibay niyan, maski gaano ko gusto pagandahin ang site, kung hindi nila ingatan, mawawala sa objectives ng site," he said.

Some users had organized themselves into geographic clusters, with each group coming up with its own projects. TN Jolo, for example, has an ongoing fund-raising drive to help an Islamic school in the area that was damaged by a typhoon. Users from Saudi Arabia provide constant updates on employment opportunities for unemployed Muslims. Users in need of blood donations can expect immediate answers from other members.

Grand assembly

Tausug Network even held a Grand Assembly last May 9 in Zamboanga, where about 60 website members met each other for the first time. The event was broadcast live on the website via webcam.

Yusop said the gathering was such as smashing success, that other users who failed to attend the assembly are clamoring for a repeat of the event, hopefully on the site's anniversary in December. He hopes that other ethnic communities follow suit and take advantage of existing technology and make meaningful relationships.

"Maybe it's a good idea if, someday, there's a larger social networking site where all the ethnic tribes can unite," he said.

There have been many websites prior to TN that sought to cater to Tausugs, but most folded for lack of funds or site maintenance capabilities. Although TN has the same problems, Yusop said he will try to keep it going for as long as he can, even if it means paying for the site's monthly hosting charges on his own.

"Someone asked me, why doesn't TN make a business to sustain the site for a long time? I answered, TN was not made for business and it will stay that way. As long as TN has use for the Tausug community, it will always be there," he said.

Other websites aimed to create a virtual space for Muslims around the world are Muxlim.com, a highly acclaimed social media and lifestyle website; Muslimsocial.com, which allows users to keep updated with friends; and Muslim Social Network, which provides Islamic videos and other content.

Wind Shear

June 10th, 2009, 06:35 AM

And it's more expensive to maintain it:D:D:D
with bugs popping up everywhere:D toink:D

at ang lagay, overpricing andun na, kaya ala na magagawa

IMO, it depends on the company they agree with when it comes to maintenance.

Regarding the bugs, I set an example. PostgreSQL's (an open-source database engine waaaaaaaay better than MySQL) performance is same as Oracle, which costs millions of pesos. One more thing, I heard my colleague that NEC uses PostgreSQL as database engine for mission-critical systems.

And for the lagay thing, :laugh: :lol:

amigo32

June 10th, 2009, 08:48 AM

Mura nga ang open source, pero kailangan mo ng dedicated na mag maintain doon. example na lang sa linux OS. Konti lang may alam nyan mag install, trouble shoot.

Gamit ko nga pfsense and ipcop para sa firewall at proxy server. Muntik na nga akong masiraan ng ulo dyan sa pag reresearch paano mapagana:D (joke):D:D:D hanggang ngayon misteryo pa rin para sa akin ang ibang function/features, pero dahil gumagana na, bahala na sya, basta ang primary function nya, napakinabangan ko na:D

Wind Shear

June 11th, 2009, 05:18 AM

Mura nga ang open source, pero kailangan mo ng dedicated na mag maintain doon. example na lang sa linux OS. Konti lang may alam nyan mag install, trouble shoot.

Yes. Only very very few schools that will offer subjects using Linux and Linux-based systems. The rest are Windows-based. My perfect example is Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (pardon my bias since I studied there). :)

Gamit ko nga pfsense and ipcop para sa firewall at proxy server. Muntik na nga akong masiraan ng ulo dyan sa pag reresearch paano mapagana:D (joke):D:D:D hanggang ngayon misteryo pa rin para sa akin ang ibang function/features, pero dahil gumagana na, bahala na sya, basta ang primary function nya, napakinabangan ko na:D

pfsense and IPCop, hmmm you need an expertise on network administration for that (I use IPCop as firewall in companies I worked before). :D :D

Anyway, the point is not all open-source technologies provide a comprehensive tutorial and manual. You have to be very technical to study the said technologies.

mhek

June 11th, 2009, 12:34 PM

^ we also use linux at UE.

kiretoce

June 12th, 2009, 06:15 PM

Google creates 1st doodle for RP (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=477224&publicationSubCategoryId=207)

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii8/bloodyred_21/philind09.gif

Web search engine Google has created the first doodle for the Philippines in line with the country’s celebration of its 111th Independence Day yesterday.

A doodle is a decoration Google makes for its logo to celebrate world events and holidays as well as human achievements. The unique doodle was displayed yesterday on Google’s Philippine website, www.google.com.ph.

Jay Trinidad, Google Asia Pacific regional product marketing manager for consumer products, said they wanted to make the first Google doodle for the Philippines “very classic and meaningful” to Filipinos.

“We created a special doodle on the Google Philippines homepage for June 12, 2009 to commemorate the Philippines’ Independence Day,” said Trinidad, who is based in Singapore.

“We’ve taken the sun with its eight rays, which represent the eight Philippine provinces that pledged their support for the revolution, and used it as the first ‘O’ in our logo,” Trinidad said.

“We also used red, white, and blue, the Philippines’ national colors, which stand for patriotism, equality, and justice, respectively,” he said.

“We also incorporated the flag’s three stars in the design, symbolizing the three major geographic regions of the country,” Trinidad added.

Trinidad said the doodle is the company’s “Googley” way of celebrating with Filipinos more than a century of national freedom and achievement.

Doodles that have been displayed on Google’s website are international holidays like New Year and Christmas.

Doodles paying tribute to physicist Albert Einstein, naturalist Charles Darwin, and Norwegian artist Edvard Munch have also come out.

Google is based in Silicon Valley in California.

kiretoce

June 12th, 2009, 06:57 PM

Social networking, chatting replace email as main reasons for going online (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=476343&publicationSubCategoryId=207)

Social networking and instant messaging (IM) or chat have overtaken email as the top reasons for going online, a nationwide survey showed.

Chikka.com, creators of the popular Internet gateway to texting mobile phones, provided some insights on online habits of users nationwide gathered from the Nielsen Media Index third quarter 2008 survey. The rankings of top online activities was rated by a total of 8,000 survey respondents in 22 key urban cities across the country.

Conducted in partnership with Chikka, the study revealed that Internet users in Metro Manila ranked chatting second only to visiting social networking sites as a more frequent online activity. Sending email ranked lowest among other online activities which included downloading content and playing online games. Not surprisingly, chat was the top reason Chikka users surveyed said they were online.

“When Chikka started in 2001, email was the primary reason folks accessed the Net and Internet penetration was top only two percent. On the other hand, due to Filipinos’ propensity to send text messages, mobile use was growing very rapidly. Our vision at the time was to enable mobile users to enjoy chat with folks who were online, essentially provide a convergence of web and mobile that the largely mobile population can find very useful,” Chikka chief executive officer Chito Bustamante said.

Currently, Internet penetration in the Philippines is estimated at 28 percent.

The survey also indicated that Filipinos are becoming more at ease with relations via social networks and push the growing use of other popular web applications.

“By no small measure, Chikka has promoted the benefits of IM use to mobile folk, giving them IM accounts from where they too could send free text messages. Internet penetration continues to grow, thanks to cheaper and more accessible broadband, and especially wireless broadband that’s enabling more youth to go online,” Bustamante added.

In the survey, 47 percent of respondents in Metro Manila reported that they have used the Internet in the past year, while the remaining 53 percent said that they have never used the Internet.

Social networking ranked first as a top online activity for Metro Manila-based Internet users. Meanwhile, the most frequently online are Filipinos within the 15 to 19 age group, who go online daily for at least five hours.

The most common place for Internet access as identified by 50 percent of the respondents are Internet cafes, closely followed by homes at 32 percent, with work and school having the lowest percentage of Internet users.

“And just like mobile did, we see the growth of Internet even as we speak, vastly impacting and altering our culture. This inspires us to ensure that we’re constantly able to provide the global Filipino and the rest of the world services that make being online highly engaging, interesting and very valuable and worthwhile,” Bustamante noted.

Providing various wireless applications to over 30 mobile operators in 17 countries including the US, UK, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and India, Chikka has also diversified by developing applications for mobile content, commerce and corporate solutions.

According to the company, Chikka Messenger is probably the most widely-used and viewed Internet and mobile-based communications tool by Filipinos worldwide.

tonight

June 19th, 2009, 04:57 AM

Fujitsu to make RP its regional hub (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=478821&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio

MANILA, Philippines - Fujitsu, a leading provider of business, information technology, and communications solutions announced it is making the Philippines its regional hub.

In a briefing, Ian Hodge, group executive director said that they are planning to increase their local revenues by 50 percent this year. Fujitsu revenue has been increasing even with the financial crisis.

In 2007, revenues grew by 50 percent and then 25 percent the following year.

Likewise, he said they will be hiring from 70 to 100 employees this year.

In April, Fujitsu announced that they have acquired Australia and South East Asia operations of Supply Chain Consulting Pty. Ltd., a market leader of SAP and Oracle Enterprises.

The acquisition will result in expanded service offerings for local clients.

The move is expected to generate additional SAP income for both companies.

“Supply Chain Consulting is a leading global provider of enterprise and software solutions and this acquisition will further improve the services we are currently offering to our clients, especially in Manila,” Raymond Licdao, director of Supply Chain Consulting said.

“We are pleased with this development because it does not only tie us up with a global IT giant and now we also have more resources dedicated to support our board range of solutions and services,” he added.

venntro

June 29th, 2009, 02:00 AM

4G e-commerce system set for launch (http://http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=481951&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
Updated June 29, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Platform2U.com Berhard, a rising star in Malaysia’s IT industry, is set to launch Smilds.com, the latest 4th generation e-commerce system that makes it easy for anyone to start a e-commerce business within just 10 minutes.

Smilds.com is a complete e-commerce software system that offers web tools, customer relations management system, complete inventory management system, payment processing and more. Smilds.com is developed and operated by Platform2U.com Berhard, awarded MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor) status by the Malaysian government for its innovation and development of this new e-commerce solution.

Platform2U.com Berhard processes all transactions of Smilds.com from payment, shipping, currency conversion, customer relations and after sales service. Platform2U.com Philippnes will launch Smilds.com in the Philippines on July 4 at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel.

For inquiries, call Edgar Canlas, COO of Platform2U.com Philippines, tel. 875-8558; 886-6190; cel: 0920-9601711 Email: edgar@platform2u.com

RonnieR

July 1st, 2009, 04:02 AM

Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Philippines lags in IT performance in Asia

THE Philippines lags behind its Asian counterparts in terms of global information and technology performance due to higher tariffs and poor access, the World Bank said.

In its Information and Communications for Development 2009: Extending Reachand Increasing Impacts, the Washington-based lender said the Philippines scored 5 in three indicators such as access to information and communication technology (ICT), affordability of ICT and adoption of ICT application in government.

The World Bank said 150 developing and developed economies with a population greater than one million are included in the calculation of the country ICT performance measures, based on internationally recognized indicators for measuring ICT.

Economies are scored on a scale from 1 to 10 based on the aggregate percentile values, with 10 given to the highest performance decile and 1 to the lowest decile.

The Philippines’ score was lower compared with Thailand, with a score of seven in three indicators while Vietnam, scored 6 for access to ICT, 4 in affordability of ICT and 5 for adoption of ICT application in government.

Malaysia, garnered a score of 8, 8, and 9 in terms of access, affordability and adoption while Singapore garnered 10, 10 and 9, respectively.

The Philippines’ score, however, was better compared with Indonesia, which got a score of 4 in access to ICT, 5 in affordability of ICT and 4 in adoption of ICT application in government.

The country’s telecom revenue per gross domestic product rose to 4.4 percent in 2007 from 2.9 percent in 2000.

The Philippines’ telephone lines per 100 people in 2007 went up to 4.5 from 4 in 2000, while mobile phone per 100 people rose significantly to 58.9 from 8.5.

In addition, Internet subscribers per 100 people improved to 2.8 from 0.5, personal computers from 1.9 to 7.3 and households with a television set, 53 to 63.

The World Bank said the challenge for developing countries is to strike a balance between affordability of ICT services to the users and sustainability of sector growth.

“It is important to note that the affordability measure takes into account both the prices of ICT services and the income levels to reflect the financial ability to pay on the demand side,” the bank said.

The World Bank added that countries with relatively less low per capita income and relatively high tariffs—and therefore lower affordability—tend to have a bigger access gap beyond what a competitive market can deliver, which might require more public interventions.

“Governments and businesses are increasingly exploring the potential of high-speed networks to improve internal communications, increase the efficiency of transactions and deliver better services to customers,” the lender said.

“Although most economies have established some basic level of e-government, in many developing economies, this is still often limited to a Web site displaying information. A growing number of countries also have some form of e-commerce, but a rudimentary stage,” it added.

The World Bank report found that for every 10 percentage-point increase in high speed Internet connections, there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points.

“It also identifies the mobile platform as the single most powerful way to reach and deliver public and private services to hundreds of millions of people in remote and rural areas across the developing world,” the World Bank said.

Mohsen Khalil, World Bank Group Director for Global Information and Communication Technologies, said Internet users in developing countries increased tenfold from 2000 to 2007 and there are now over four billion mobile phone subscribers in developing countries.

“These technologies offer tremendous opportunities. Governments can work with the private sector to accelerate rollout of broadband networks, and to extend access to low-income consumers,” Khalil said.
--Darwin G. Amojelar
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2009/july/01/yehey/business/20090701bus3.html

jpdm

July 1st, 2009, 05:37 AM

^^^^^^

Im very sure makakahabol tayo.:cheers:

RonnieR

July 3rd, 2009, 09:02 AM

[July 03, 2009]

WB cites RP impressive growth in IT services

(Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- MANILA, June 30 (PNA) - The Philippines has redefined its international competitiveness with standout performance in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector over the last eight years.

In its 2009 Information and Communications for Development report, the World Bank (WB) Group cited the country?s leading role in the provision of both IT and IT-enabled services (ITES).

The WB said the Philippines was among the few developing countries to have done particularly well in this sector, with ICT service exports accounting for seven percent of the country?s total service exports. This is better than the average for the East Asia and Pacific region at 5.2 percent.

Growth of the sector in the Philippines has been impressive: total IT services and ITES reached US$ 6 billion in 2008, up from US$ 100 million in 2001,? the report noted. It added that as of mid-2008, some 345,000 people were employed in the sector, from only 100,000 in 2004. These jobs also typically pay more than others in services.

The WB defines trade in ICT services to include telecommunications, business network services, teleconferencing, support services, and postal services among communications services; as well as databases, data processing, software design and development, maintenance and repair, and news agency services among computer and information services.

Citing projections from the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), the WB report said revenues in the sector could hit us$ 13 billion by 2010, with direct employment for some 600,000 people.

Since each new job created in this sector translates to two to three new jobs in other sectors, employment generation could hit as much as 1.2 to 1.8 million. By next year, IT and ITES could account for 8.5 percent of the country?s GDP, it said.

By the WB?s reckoning based on various independent studies, the Philippines accounts for one percent of the global market for offshore IT services and 15 percent of ITES.

In both sectors, India is the global leader and Canada , the second largest. In ITES, the Philippines occupies the top three slot.

?In countries that have succeeded in the IT services and ITES industries, governments have adopted a proactive role in promoting the sector,? the WB report said.

?Most of the public interventions to promote the industries?improving education, providing broadband infrastructure, or streamlining government interfaces with business?are essentially ?no-regret? moves that carry little risk,? it said.

Despite fears of a temporary setback due to the global financial crisis, the WB said the global market for IT services and ITES would continue to be robust.

Market size estimates range from US$ 475 billion a year for IT services with less than 15 percent being exploited, according to a McKinsey study.

Based on Gartner Research, the market size for ITES was projected to reach US$ 239 billion. The National association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) even estimated it to soar to US$ 700 to US$ 800 billion by 2012.

Investments in ICT were transformational because they served as a catalyst for fiscal, regulatory, and legal reforms, the WB report said. ?Success in IT services and ITES presents opportunities for repositioning the image of a country, a ?branding? effect that can have profound implications,? according to the study.

The sector?s impact is also evident in women empowerment. In the Philippines , about 65 percent of workers in the sector are women. The same is true for other countries like India and Ireland , the WB report noted.

Among the standout items in the WB?s ICT profile for the Philippines include 58.9 mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people, where the averages are only 38.9 among low middle income countries and 43.7 in East Asia and the Pacific; 7.3 personal computers per 100 people, with only 4.6 and 5.6 for low middle income countries and the East Asia and Pacific region, respectively; 99 percent of the population covered by mobile cellular network, as against only 80 percent and 93 percent among its low middle income country and regional peers.

But Internet indicators in the country remain sub-par, with only 2.8 per 100 people subscribed to Internet access, while the low middle income country average stands at 6 and in the East Asia and Pacific region, 9.3.

In terms of Internet usage in the country, there are 6 per 100 people. Among low middle income countries, this is at 12.4; and for the region, 14.6. Only 19.8 percent of total Internet subscribers have fixed broadband, while the numbers are at around 40 percent among country income and regional peers.

The country also scored higher than average in the e-government web measure index and the number of secure Internet servers per one million people, both indicators of sector performance.

Close to 50 countries around the world are classified by the WB as low middle income economies.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-wb-cites-rp-impressive-growth-it-services-/2009/07/03/4256311.htm?p=news

le Reine

July 3rd, 2009, 02:41 PM

^^weird. The previous article says the opposite. So which entity tells the truth?!

amigo32

July 3rd, 2009, 02:48 PM

^^weird. The previous article says the opposite. So which entity tells the truth?!

depende:lol:
at saka nauna ng 2 days yung unang article:D ganun kabilis magbago ang isip ng WB:D

Wind Shear

July 4th, 2009, 10:46 AM

depende:lol:
at saka nauna ng 2 days yung unang article:D ganun kabilis magbago ang isip ng WB:D

I remember the quote that there are three kinds of statements: truths, lies, and statistics.

kiretoce

July 18th, 2009, 10:27 PM

Starting a revolt in 140 characters? Tweet it! (http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/talkofthetown/view/20090718-216110/Starting-a-revolt-in-140-characters)

When the Iranian government clamped down on communications following the controversial presidential election on June 12, citizens gravitated toward Twitter, a growing Internet service created in 2006.

Yes, Twitter. Sounds like a bird chirping by your window, right? Well, the name was partly inspired by birds. But this Internet service has no relation to our feathered friends.

Twitter (originally codenamed twttr, as in Flickr) was founded by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. As part of existing Internet companies, one of the cofounders, Dorsey, had an epiphany. He thought of an Internet service that would let friends stay in touch via the Internet or mobile phone and by answering a simple question: “What are you doing?”

Followers

So in 140 characters or less, you should be able to tell friends (known as followers in Twitter lingo) what you’re doing. Incidentally, the length of a message (called a tweet –OK it does sound like a bird) is the same length as a text message sent using a mobile phone. That concept alone will ring a bell among mobile-phone-toting Filipinos.

While Twitter is a Web-based service, it works with mobile phones (yes, just like texting), an instant messenger, and of course, the Web.

It’s free but if you’re sending or receiving a “tweet” through the mobile phone, one needs to pay the regular fees for sending text messages. (So be succinct when sending tweets, and make sure they’re not going to waste space – just like when you send the reply “K” for OK).

Like SMS

So how does Twitter work?

Let’s use an example that is closest to our hearts or pockets. Sending a tweet is just like sending a text message. But unlike a text message, which is usually a one-on-one communication tool, Twitter allows you to broadcast message to all followers, or people subscribed to your Twitter account.

So imagine sending a single blast of SMS or text message to 100 followers. (You can actually do this using SMS, but you might be accused of spamming.) In an instant, your followers will know what’s on your mind. Now, you might not like the idea of letting people know what you’re doing via this medium. However, you might be surprised to find that people actually tweet what they ate for breakfast, their rants about work [quick, the boss is looking!], and their recent finds, including news, links to photos, videos, websites, etc.

What makes this service fun is that it allows interaction. Your followers can talk back (usually you use @cyberbaguioboy then, your message). They can also forward your tweets to their own followers (especially if they find it interesting, but hopefully not annoying).

You can either open a browser using your mobile phone or iPhone (which is more expensive or whatever works for you) or use a designated mobile number where you can text your tweet.

Geeks, celebrities

In the beginning, Twitter was the realm of techno geeks and the Internet-savvy crowd. (No surprise there since this is a creation of geeks who still rule the Net.) But in recent years, it has caught on, and is, in fact, getting more attention from media, celebrities and recently the US State Department.

Fastforward to June 12. The Iranian government decided to literally cut off people from the rest of the world. This was after supporters of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi took to the streets to protest cheating in the presidential election.

Blow-by-blow accounts

For obvious reasons, the citizens’ frustrations and discontent found their way into Twitter. Considering that there was no media coverage, the Iranians who tweeted also became the reporters, delivering blow-by-blow accounts of what was happening in Iran.

In a post-protest article titled, “Iran Protests: Twitter, the Medium of the Movement,” posted on its website, Time celebrated the role of Twitter in promoting democracy.

“After the election in Iran, cries of protest from supporters of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi arose in all possible media, but the loudest cries were heard in a medium that didn’t even exist the last time Iran had an election.”

Built to spread fast

“So what exactly makes Twitter the medium of the moment? It’s free, highly mobile, very personal and very quick. It’s also built to spread, and fast,” the Time article read.

The article has encapsulated the lure of Twitter. It’s free, highly mobile (good for breaking news), very personal (what’s for breakfast?) and very quick (which is self-explanatory). It is also built for speed – a feature that is attracting more news services.

But how do people perceive Twitter in our shrinking, almost flat world? Or, to be more specific, how do people see Twitter’s role in shaping democracy? Well, in the spirit of tweeting, I posed this question on Twitter and Facebook (a social networking service).

In a matter of minutes, I got several answers from a former university professor now living in Australia and a journalist based in Malaysia (that’s instantaneous feedback you don’t get on blogs, unless you’re Ashton Kutcher who has 2.7 million followers to date or Britney Spears!).

“Twitter and other Web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook and YouTube have opened the transnational public sphere for dialogue and information generation,” says Gino Orticio who has migrated to Australia.

Orticio says Twitter “opened up spaces for dialogue and dissent [that] transcended local and traditional [...] real time (i.e. meetings, fora, etc.) barriers.”

First Twitter revolt

The former UP professor says the Iranian protest is “arguably the first Twitter revolt” launched by citizens themselves who took up the cudgels [for the opposition] in placing the issue on a global public sphere.”

“Can we Filipinos take the challenge of placing genuine reforms [on the global public sphere] using this medium?” Orticio says.

Twitter user Chay Mondejar-Saputil points out that people feel “closer” to the person they are following on Twitter. “Ergo if the politicians want some semblance of connection, then they should be tweeting otherwise ... they’re just strangers :),” she adds.

Indeed, Twitter has gone beyond letting followers know what you had for breakfast. In Malaysia, journalist David Gibson shares the story of members of Parliament tweeting about opposing views.

“Two Malaysian MPs from opposite sides of the House […] twittered [during] the opening session of Parliament […] their different opinions [on] the House’s handling of a constitutional issue concerning the legitimacy of a state government whose electoral legitimacy is still highly contested and has changed sides several times since the last general election due to political party defections. Live TV broadcast is not allowed from Parliament in Malaysia,” Gibson writes in reply to the question I posted on Facebook.

Global multicast

Former government executive Damian Mapa also replied to my question.

“Since a key premise of democracy is that the elected representatives are winners of a clean, transparent and honest electoral process, I therefore posit the use of Twitter and other Web 2.0 technologies in creating a crowd-sourced global multicast that follows the entire sweep of election activities over the next 11 months.

“[It should begin] with the deployment and field tests of the counting machines, to voter registration and education events in various towns and barangay [villages], to election-day incidents at polling stations nationwide, to the capture of early returns and protests from the canvassing centers, and to the eventual proclamation and concession announcements from the various candidates,” he says.

“After the elections, the continued use of these technologies to track the performance of these elected representatives [should serve] as input in the next electoral cycle,” he adds.

Another Facebook reply to my question from Diosa Labiste provided the exclamation mark to what everyone has said: “A tweet is a democratic shout.”

Philippine setting

Who are tweeting in the Philippines? Filipino blogger and journalist Ederic Eder (@ederic) provided me this link to the top (or perhaps the most popular) Twitter profiles in the Philippines. Point your browser to: http://twitterholic.com/top100/followers/bylocation/Philippines/.

By the looks of this list (which does not really provide us an accurate picture of the number of Twitter users in the country), a majority are bloggers, or at least they are tech-savvy users who blog, tweet, or Plurk (another microblogging service like Twitter that is also popular).

But just to give you an idea how huge Twitter is outside of the United States, it says about 60 percent of the web traffic on the service is coming from international users.

About 40 percent of that international traffic comes from Japan, while Spain and the United Kingdom account for 11 and 10 percent, respectively. (Note: these figures are based on 2008 statistics: http://blog.twitter.com/search/label/stats). It didn’t have anything on the Philippines.

Compete.com says Twitter is the third most-used social network service, with about six million unique monthly visitors, according to statistics released on February 2009.

It’s clear, however, that Twitter is becoming a way of life, especially for Filipinos who are increasingly spending countless hours online.

As one unofficial Wikipedia entry on Twitter declares: “Twitter is a way of life. It’s living with a publicity policy. It’s friends, Romans and country people the world over [who are] engaged in timely snippet conversations that fit into 140-character chunks.”

JulZ

August 23rd, 2009, 03:39 AM

sino po ang may alam ng history ng cd-r king?:)

c6josh

August 23rd, 2009, 07:05 AM

Local IT school opens P300-M high tech campus

By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:49:00 08/21/2009

Filed Under: Technology (general), Education

MANILA, Philippines – IT school STI has opened its biggest and what it claims to be its most advanced campus at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

The P300 million STI Academic Center is an eight-floor building sitting on a 2,632 square meter lot. It is also the main headquarters for all academic and administrative operations of the entire STI network.

It also houses the institution’s first center for arts covering several courses including photography, music, theater arts and culinary arts. It also serves as training facility for the school’s nursing students.

Other facilities include a multi-purpose gymnasium, function rooms for special events, IT laboratories, audio-visual rooms, and a mini ampitheater.

In an interview, STI President and CEO Monico Jacob said the facility would be the first among standalone learning institutions the company intends to establish. Many of STI’s campuses are rented in building spaces.

“We are moving out from just renting buildings to having our own so that students are given better learning environments and have more space for the things they need,” Jacob said.

Some of the schools will also be renovated and upgraded depending on their respective conditions and needs.

Jacob added STI has addressed geographical reach by putting up over 100 campuses particularly in areas with high industrial concentrations. “This time, we’re focusing on qualitative needs. We’ll give students the right tools to improve them,” he said.

While the new STI Academic Center includes facilities for the arts, Jacob said STI remains prominent in providing IT education, which is its core target since it started in 1983.

Jacob noted tat IT skilled workers are still in demand, both locally and abroad. “The challenge really is to make our people more competitive.”

c6josh

August 23rd, 2009, 07:08 AM

STI is really investing heavily in IT, pioneering every possible way to use IT technology in the classrooms, hope they can also developed a program that can also cater to the public schools as what Bill gates was trying to pursue.

c6josh

August 27th, 2009, 07:04 AM

Vietnam’s IT sector said to be closing gap with RP

HANOI — Vietnam is now far ahead of Indonesia in terms of IT development and is closing the gap with the Philippines, a senior official from the UN’s communications technology agency said Wednesday.
Southeast Asia’s ICT race is heating up.
Southeast Asia’s ICT race is heating up. — Photo By Jonathan L. Cellona

"Five years ago, the Philippines was much, much more advanced, in front of Vietnam," Zhao Houlin, deputy secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, told AFP at a conference in Hanoi.

But Vietnam has narrowed the gap and, in some IT areas, including [Internet] usage and access, is "even more advanced than the Philippines," Mr. Zhao said, speaking on the sidelines of the World Information Technology Forum.

He told the conference that Vietnam’s development of information and communication technologies (ICT) — including mobile and fixed-line telephones as well as Internet and broadband — was outpacing other Asian countries.

"The ICT development in Vietnam over the last five years has advanced more rapidly, compared with some of its neighbors," he said.

Vietnam’s Minister of Information and Communications, Le Doan Hop, told the conference that 25% of his country’s population were Internet users.

"Today, the population of Vietnam even in the most remote areas, has good access to the Internet," the minister claimed.

Mr. Zhao told AFP that Vietnam is "almost number one in the region" in terms of the speed of its IT development, but that Thailand and Malaysia were still some distance ahead.

He said Indonesia lagged behind and, in comparison. "I think that now Vietnam is much, much more advanced."

Vietnam is still a largely rural-based society whose per capita income is about $1,000. It is rapidly modernizing and aims to become an industrialised nation by 2020. — AFP

c6josh

September 2nd, 2009, 04:41 PM

SPi buys Laguna Medical Systems, boosts healthcare platform
09/02/2009 | 08:21 PM
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A wholly-owned subsidiary of ePLDT Inc. bought Laguna Medical Systems Inc. (LMS) for $8.25 million to expand its healthcare platform.

In a statement, SPi president and chief executive Peter Maquera said the inclusion of LMS' service offerings in its healthcare portfolio allows the business process outsourcing (BPO) company to strengthen relationships with more than 400 hospitals, multi-specialty clinics and physician practices it currently serves and increases its healthcare-specific employee base to more than 2,000 worldwide.

"LMS capabilities nicely complement our existing medical transcription, billing and revenue cycle management services and provide an excellent, new entry point for us into this rapidly growing $25 billion industry," he said.

SPi has offices and facilities across North America, Europe and Asia with over 7,000 employees providing content outsourcing services to diversified markets.

As healthcare industry is the largest segment in the US economy, ePLDT president and CEO Ray S. Espinosa said the information and communications technology company is committed to expand platform in this area and looking to add another annuity-based business to their overall BPO portfolio. - Ruby Anne M. Rubio, GMANews.TV

narthuril

September 2nd, 2009, 06:11 PM

result of the failed NBN-ZTE deal. The telecoms cartel are reaping the profits.

RP lags behind in global broadband speed test
By Eden Estopace (The Philippine Star) Updated August 31, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines ranks 72nd in the world in Internet connection speed, according to recent test results from speedtest.net.

Speedtest.net offers a broadband speed analysis tool that allows anyone anywhere in the world to test their Internet connection. It started broadband speed tests in August 2006 and now averages over 20 million tests a month.

According to the speedtest.net website, the test measures three factors to determine the overall quality of the Internet connection — download speed (or the speed at which data are sent from the Internet to the computer), upload speed (or the speed at which data are sent from the computer to the Internet), and Ping or latency (the time it takes in milliseconds for a small piece of data to be sent from the computer to the Internet and back.)

The most recent worldwide test results show that the average download speed in the Philippines is only 2.34 Mbps, while the average upload speed is 0.65 Mbps. This makes the Philippines 72nd in the worldwide rankings for download speed, and 65th for upload speed.

Clearly, the Philippines lags behind its Asian neighbors South Korea and Japan, which topped the worldwide ranking in download speed. Hong Kong, on the other hand, was in 11th place.

Average download speed in South Korea is 20.94 Mbps, and in Japan and Hong Kong, 15.77 Mbps and 9.56 Mbps, respectively.

South Korea, however, is not the top country in the world for upload speed, but Japan is still the world’s second best, trailing behind Lithuania, which topped the worldwide ranking for upload speed.

Japan has an average upload speed of 7.06 Mbps, while South Korea only has a speed of 2.93 Mbps, lower than Hong Kong’s 4.89 Mbps. Top country Lithuania has an average upload speed of 8.83 Mbps.

Asian countries actually dominated the rest of the world in upload speed with an overall speed of 1.70 Mbps, but European countries have faster download speeds averaging 6.43 Mbps.

A report released by the Com-munications Workers of America and speedmatters.org cited a study made by the California Broadband Task Force, which shows various capabilities of different Internet speed ranges.

According to the study, a speed of 500 Kbps to 1 Mbps can give users the capability to do basic e-mail, browse simple websites, and stream music and low-quality videos.

A speed of between 1 Mbps and 5 Mbps, on the other hand, will already enable users to browse more complex sites, send and receive e-mails with larger attachments, share small and medium files, stream music, and watch digital broadcast video on one channel.

The Philippines’ average download and upload speed of 2.34 Mbps and 0.65 Mbps, respectively, can more or less do these functions.

In countries, however, like South Korea and Japan where Internet connection speeds average between 15 Mbps and 20 Mbps, applications like telemedicine, educational services, standard and high-definition video, high-quality telepresence, high-definition surveillance, and smart or intelligent building control are possible.

FlashCollider

September 2nd, 2009, 09:59 PM

ePLDT unit acquires Laguna Medical Systems
(http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=501663&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
(The Philippine Star) Updated September 03, 2009 12:00 AM

Excerpt:

MANILA, Philippines - SPi, a leading global business process outsourcing (BPO) company, has acquired Laguna Medical Systems Inc. (LMS) for an aggregate purchase price of $8.25 million.

LMS has over 50 regionally-based consultants who assist more than 200 hospitals to achieve coding and billing compliance and to optimize entitled reimbursements for patient services. The 22-year-old company also offers Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) defense and recovery services to help healthcare providers manage and defend RAC audits.

c6josh

September 4th, 2009, 07:01 AM

IT firms seek strong ties with RP partners

By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 21:51:00 09/03/2009

Filed Under: Technology (general), Hardware

MANILA, Philippines – With the global recession loosening its grip on the local economy, IT firms are seeing a break in the gloom and are now looking for recovery in all sectors.

IT firms, especially those in the hardware business, are preparing for this recovery, targeting key markets such as small-to-medium scale businesses (SMBs), consumer and large enterprises.

Dell, in particular, is focusing on improving its relationship with its local channel sales partners.

Its recently introduced Dell Partner Direct program is aimed at constantly communicating directly with channel partners, which are Dell’s primary distribution units.

The program, which covers several South Asian countries, including the Philippines, also led to the creation of an advisory council co-chaired by Allyxon Cua of Philippine-based distribution firm Accent Micro.

Cua is joined by Dell South Asia General Manager Ng Tian Beng.

During a press conference, Ng said the new partner program also provides channel partners with opportunities for training, rebates and an online geo-registration process.

“What we’re doing here is to make channel partners serve customer better, especially with budgets remaining small. Demand from SMBs is also growing but they have little experience in implementing IT infrastructures so our channel partners should be there to accommodate those needs,” Ng said.

Meanwhile, Dell Philippines Country Manager Barry Bunyi said the US firm has been increasing its business in the country on the mobile and server space, primarily due to stronger market awareness of their brand.

Citing studies from research group International Data Corporation (IDC), Bunyi said Dell’s business in the Philippines has been growing steadily during the previous months particularly in the notebook and server space.

Bunyi said the number of notebook units sold during the last quarter has been at 25 percent while server units sold increased by about 40 percent.

He clarified that desktop computers are still the bulk of their sales in the Philippines, by about 60 percent as large enterprises, especially in the business process outsourcing (BPO) space, still Dell's biggest local market.

Twenty-five percent are servers, also for larger enterprises, while the rest are mobile.

SMBs were among the fastest growth areas for the Dell, according to Bunyi.

c6josh

September 9th, 2009, 10:47 AM

Local IT firm banks on online gaming

By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:01:00 09/08/2009

Filed Under: Technology (general), Internet

MAKATI, Philippines - Technology firm IPVG is investing in its online gaming division anticipating a renewed surge brought about by growing Internet use.

There are over 20 million Internet users in the Philippines, according to research firm Nielsen. But of this figure, only around 7 million play online games.

The number is expected to grow when Internet becomes available to more people and only in the presence of a number of games that target specific genres of gameplay. .

The potential for online gaming is the premise for technology firm IPVG to invest on its content division, particularly its online gaming division e-Games.

In a press briefing, IPVG chief executive Enrique Gonzalez said their content division is poised to be the fastest growing segment for the company.

e-Games is set to release two new games in the second half of the year, after last year's ZX Online. Gonzalez said they are focusing on launching casual games, which contribute the bulk of their business.

In a disclosure, IPVG reported consolidated net revenues for the first half of the year at at P762 million, or 3.2 percent higher than revenues from the same period in 2008.

About 70 percent or P557 million in revenues came from its communications division. This is followed by P121 million from e-Games.

While the bulk of its revenues are from its communications business, Gonzalez said their online gaming division will have the fastest growth rate.

He also noted that the company had sold off some of its less profitable businesses, including the sale of its call center division to PCCW, as well as the sale of its Singapore data center to Elington Pte. Ltd.

IPVG also announced Tueday it secured a $10 million (P500 million) equity line from UK funding management firm GEM Group for shares of e-Games. The sale of some of its operations and the equity line from GEM props IPVG’s investment plans for its content division.

Gonzalez added that IPVG is expecting better financial performance in the second half of the year, citing stronger economic performance.

soundwonder8580

October 28th, 2009, 09:28 AM

As the most popular and powerful programme, AVI Converter for Mac (http://www.aviconverterformac.net) can convert avi files to all sorts of video formats including mp4, 3gp, flv, mov, m4v, m2ts, vob, dat, mpeg. Included with powerful functions, avi converter for mac allows you to trim, crop and merge videos. Preview avi videos you want to convert on mac and take snapshot are supported as well. No matter you are using PSP, iPod, Zune, Apple TV, iPhone, ect, you can easily convert avi files to your video devices.
http://www.aviconverterformac.net/images/avi-converter-for-mac.gif

juniordiscovery

October 29th, 2009, 03:01 AM

NetSuite Inc. doubles its Philippine operations

When NetSuite established their office in January 2007 here in Manila, it was already the company’s largest office location outside the United States. Yesterday, NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson just announced that they will be doubling their Philippine operations at RCBC Tower in Makati which already house 300 employees.

NetSuite is a leading vendor of cloud computing business software suites which enables mid-market companies to manage core business operations in a single system. This includes Accounting, ERP, CRM and E-commerce.

The Manila office serves as a key center for the company’s global technical support, services and back-office operations is now expanding to include product development and quality assurance capabilities.

The company also announced NetSuite Version 2009.2 which is their latest localized product designed to meet the requirements of our BIR with key tax compliance, reporting and data export requirements.

If you’re unsure whether you want to go with NetSuite, their key customers include Jollibee Foods Corporation, ABS-CBN Global and MOTECH Automative Education Center Inc.

source: pinoytechblog.com

national guard

November 11th, 2009, 06:20 AM

SAP targets outsourcing firms in RP
By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net (http://www.inquirer.net/)
First Posted 21:02:00 11/10/2009

Filed Under: Technology (general), Software

MANILA, Philippines – German software firm SAP is aiming its business communications software at outsourcing companies that rely heavily on transmitting data from across the world.

Contrary to the practice of companies that are diverting IT budgets to other projects because of the global financial meltdown, now is the right time for businesses to invest on business communications management to tackle the current crisis and to better prepare for next year, said Kay Kretschmer, director for SAP business development in Asia-Pacific and Japan.

In the Philippines, Kretschmer noted one sector that can benefit from this type of software outsourcing firms that heavily rely on data to serve customers both here and abroad.
READ MORE... (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20091110-235435/SAP-targets-outsourcing-firms-in-RP)

x12y12

November 15th, 2009, 10:39 AM

There’s money in the retail sector, asserts software firm
By MELVIN. G. CALIMAG
November 15, 2009, 2:36pm
While big software vendors such as SAP and Oracle have focused mostly their attention on large enterprises, a US-based software firm has quietly made its mark and continues to expand its presence in the country’s retail industry.

JDA Software, which actually has an office in the Philippines, counts the biggest malls and supermarkets in the country as part of its clientele. Rustan’s, which was signed up by JDA as its first local customer years ago, remains as a client to this day.

According to Stephen McNulty, regional vice president for Asia Pacific at JDA Software, said the company currently has about 50 to 60 clients, which are mostly in the retail sector.

Cherokee Chamorro, country manager of JDA Software Philippines, the retail sector in the country is worth somewhere between $5 billion to $10 billion. “The opportunity is big,” said Chamorro.

As a way of boosting its portfolio, JDA recently held a forum and exhibit in Makati City that gave local companies the chance to examine and evaluate the company’s solutions.

At the event, executives demonstrated the capabilities of JDA products to “accurately plan for consumer demand to deliver business transformation and achieve profitable results.”

The software firm said an example of how the right technology can successfully mitigate supply chain issues and turn challenges into a competitive advantage is 2GO, the country’s largest inter-island mover of passengers.

The transport and logistics provider, JDA said, has increased its gross profit from 18 to 25 percent, improved average utilization from 66 percent to 85 percent, and reduced the number of trucks used from 48 to 25 for one of its largest commercial customers.

“The Philippine economy is expected to grow at least 3.7 percent this year, and as one of the newly industrialized emerging market economies of the world, we are excited by the tremendous opportunity in one of Asia Pacific’s fastest growing regions,” said McNulty, a former Oracle executive.

x12y12

November 15th, 2009, 10:41 AM

As it expands into virtualization, open source vendor upbeat on RP prospects
By MELVIN G. CALIMAG
November 15, 2009, 2:31pm
Red Hat, renowned for its open source solutions, is going head-long into the virtualization space and is hopeful that local companies would adopt what arguably is a double-barreled offering – open source-based virtualization.

The tech firm said the new product offering, to be distributed and supported locally by MSI-ECS Philippines starting in late 2009, has the potential to benefit local enterprises who need a robust but inexpensive solution for their IT systems.

Gery Messer, president for Asia Pacific and Japan at Red Hat, said in a recent press briefing that there’s still a lot of room for growth since only 25 percent of servers worldwide are virtualized.

The low rate of adoption for virtualization, according to Messer, can be attributed to many factors, chief among them is the high cost, which can run up to $10,000 per server.

“Buying these licenses is simply not affordable to many businesses,” said Messer, stressing that the subscription model that Red Hat espouses for its virtualization offerings is a better alternative.

With the subscription model, the Red Hat executive said firms can just pay for the service they use.

This, he said, allows IT expense to be treated as an opex (operating expense) rather than capex (capital expenditure).

The US-based tech firm first entered the virtualization market with the debut of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 with virtualization technology integrated into the operating system. In 2008, the company acquired Qumramnet which provided the foundation with which it built its next set of virtualization offerings.

As part of its strategy to offer a complete set of virtualization solutions that allows the entire spectrum of enterprise workloads to run on one common infrastructure, Red Hat announced a portfolio of products composed of four components: Enterprise Linux, Enterprise Virtualization Manager for Servers, Enterprise Virtualization Manager for Desktops, and Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor.

Earlier this year, Red Hat also signed reciprocal agreements with Microsoft to allow interoperability between their virtualization platforms.

MSI-ECS, which is also the local distributor of commercial virtualization software leader VMware, said it has assigned a separate marketing team to handle the Red Hat solutions.

x12y12

November 15th, 2009, 10:42 AM

More RP firms looking for business data sol'ns says IBM
By JOEL D. PINAROC
November 15, 2009, 2:30pm
More Philippine companies across more business segments are looking to invest in software solutions for their ever-growing data infrastructures, technology giant IBM said.

IBM said the pace of data growth is fueling the need for organizations to boost the speed at which they generate insights from their data and confidence that their decisions will yield the best outcomes.

Companies across industries, such as manufacturing, automotive and real estate, understand that operating without full knowledge of the information available to them means operating with blind spots.

Industry leaders are looking to quickly gain access to greater depths of data -- and more cost-effective ways to synthesize that information -- more than ever before, the vendor also said.

In a related note, IBM said hundreds of SAP clients are now reaping quantifiable benefits from moving to IBM's DB2 database software to support their SAP business applications.

IBM said with higher transactional performance, advanced analytics and lower cost, DB2 is becoming the preferred database software for business applications across all industries.

IBM said Norkis Group of the Philippines, US-based Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and Rossi Residencial of Brazil recently upgraded to SAP applications on IBM DB2.

These companies have been able to reduce their IT costs and improve efficiency while shifting their focus to delivering the business analytics capabilities needed to make smarter business decisions.

The Norkis Group, a leading conglomerate in the Philippines, best-known for motorcycles, multipurpose cabs, light van and small car production and distribution recently replaced its diverse, decentralized systems with SAP ERP and SAP Customer Relationship Management applications, supported by IBM DB2.

To capitalize on economies of scale, and to develop and share efficient business processes for their manual data collection from across their 300 branches locally which used different sales and accounts systems , a standardized processes for all of its financing and sales outlets was needed to also help them grow.

In addition, the integration of all business functions into a single, centralized system would enhance group-wide productivity and flexibility, generating higher levels of business performance visibility at senior executive level, with the ability to forecast demand, increase on-time delivery, reduce credit investigation lead-times and make realistic and achievable commitments.

"Norkis Group selected the IBM DB2 database, based on its advanced integration with SAP applications. DB2 offers excellent performance alongside enterprise-strength backup and recovery solutions. It is able to handle the very large data sets that we expect to generate, and gives us room to grow as the business itself expands," Ronald Alfeche, IT head of Norkis, said.

The second-largest bottler of Coca Cola products in the US, Coca Cola Bottling Co. recently moved its implementation of the SAP ERP application to IBM DB2 in order to derive greater performance and lower software and hardware costs.

By choosing DB2, it reduced its storage needs by approximately 40 percent. In addition, the client drastically reduced the time of batch runs by more than 65 percent and in turn, improved its supply chain efficiency overall. The company expects significant savings over the next five years because of the value realized with IBM DB2.

IBM also noted positive feedback for its ongoing partnership with SAP. "Several clients here and around the world running SAP applications on DB2 software have benefited from our collaborative relationship," said James Velasquez, Country General Manager, IBM Philippines. "Many of the DB2 features that were jointly developed by IBM and SAP specifically for SAP environments have resulted in outstanding performance and lower costs for companies of all sizes."

lgseccionph

November 16th, 2009, 08:41 AM

Convergys Aims to Attract Top Employees

MANILA, Philippines - Convergys seeks to expand its employee pool
as it formally opens its largest contact center facility in the country.

The global leader in relationship management began local operations six years ago with 200 employees in its first Makati site. Today, it counts over 17,500 employees in sites across Metro Manila, Cebu, Bacolod and Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Globally, Convergys employs more than 70,000 people across its facilities.

The new center is located in Glorietta 5, marking the first time a Convergys site is conveniently attached to a shopping complex.

The company aims to gain top new recruits for its many sites and has demonstrated a keen understanding of its workforce.

“When Convergys is looking to expand its brick-and-mortar contact center facilities, we make site selections based on the needs of both our clients and our company in order to maintain flexibility. Primary selection factors include client requirements, availability of trained labor, infrastructure, competition in the area, government support, and operating costs,” said Marife Zamora, Convergys vice president and country manager.

“Of course, the safety of our employees is also very important — the proximity of the site to where the agents live is paramount, as it ensures ease of access and security. This selection strategy has helped Convergys in the Philippines post low attrition figures,” added Zamora.

Aside from regular employee benefits, Convergys offers a number of development and training programs.

“We believe in ‘building from within’ and that beyond pay, our competitive advantage lies in the career and earning growth opportunity provided to our people,” said Clark Handy, Convergys senior vice president for human resources.

Management and personal development are among the various programs Convergys employees can access to chart career growth.

The company also has employee engagement programs that recognize and show appreciation for Convergys’ culture of high performance.

Most recently, the company hosted a rock concert for employees and their families featuring popular bands Parokya ni Edgar and Kamikazee. The concert capped a weeklong celebration of employee appreciation.

To celebrate the Glorietta 5 opening, Convergys is staging a fashion show in cooperation with popular fashion retailer Bench.

Selected Convergys employees from all 12 sites across the country will be walking the runway with professional models.

“We see only continued growth for Convergys in the Philippines. This is fueled by the support of all our employees here. We are therefore fully committed to attracting the best and the brightest, and focusing on their development and personal growth in Convergys,” said Handy.

Philstar.com (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=523651&publicationSubCategoryId=71)

ruralvillage

November 21st, 2009, 03:51 AM

Spending on IT seen to create more jobs (http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business/6363-spending-on-it-seen-to-create-more-jobs)
Saturday, 21 November 2009 00:00
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter
Manila Times (http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/business/6363-spending-on-it-seen-to-create-more-jobs)

THE projected increase in information technology (IT) spending in the next four years would create more jobs in the Philippines, according to Information Data Corp. (IDC).
In a study, IDC said IT spending would grow at an annual rate of 8.5 percent from 2008 to 2013. For this year, IT spending is estimated to hit P126 billion.

IDC said the IT spending growth rates means that employment in the industry and of IT professionals in IT-using organizations will rise by 34,000 jobs in the four years starting 2009 when the workforce is expected to hit 103,000.

The research firm said 29 percent of IT employment will be software-related, which contributes about 8 percent of total IT spending this year.

The study cited companies in the Microsoft ecosystem, which employs 20,000 people.

The Microsoft ecosystem in Philippines includes those companies that sell personal
computers, servers, storage and smart handheld devices running Microsoft software; software vendors that write applications that run on Microsoft platforms; resellers that sell and distribute these products; and service firms that install and manage Microsoft-based solutions, train consumers and businesses on Microsoft products and service customers for their applications.

As a group, IDC said companies in the Microsoft ecosystem in the Philippines will generate more than P56 billion in revenues this year.

For every peso Microsoft will make in Philippines this year, companies in the local system will make P12.11, IDC said, adding that IT-related activities will generate P13 billion in taxes.

Igsuonnimo

December 2nd, 2009, 11:18 PM

IBM commits more investments in RP (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=528814&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
By Mary Ann LL. Reyes (The Philippine Star) Updated December 03, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - IBM Corp., a global information technology leader, said it sees enormous growth potential for its business in the Philippines as it commits to continue investing here.

“We want to send a strong signal to the local economy that we have been in this country for 73 years and we are here for another 70 years,” said Jim Corgel, IBM’s general manager for independent software vendors (ISVs) and developer relations.

Corgel is in the country with other international IBM executives to inaugurate today IBM’s Innovation Center at the Ayala Technohub in Quezon City. The third in Southeast Asia after Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and the 40th worldwide, the Philippine center aims to help local businesses grow locally and globally. It also offers trainings and one-to-one technical assistance to build and test solutions, links to IBM’s sales support for sales opportunity assistance, and provides collaboration opportunities with IBM, other business partners, IT professionals, and the academe.

Worldwide, IBM has invested about $2.5 billion for the development of these innovation centers. As in other countries, IBM will be working with universities for the Philippine innovation center, which would develop new technologies to support demand of local business, particularly small and medium enterprises.

Corgel, in an interview with the STAR, said with this IBM Innovation Center and new university collaborations, they will be able to make IBM’s technical resources and expertise more accessible to fuel innovation and help local businesses and academics compete on a global scale.

Corgel said the Philippines has enormous growth potentials, which can be seen by the local people’s fearlessness at adopting new technology. “In some cultures, the market dynamics is hard to decipher. But here, there is a lot going on. The sense of confidence, warmth and spirit of the people, the daily routine of dependency on the Internet, the creativity and fearlessness makes the texting capital of the world a good place to invest in. Just look at the numbers on Internet usage. They are growing,” he said.

His group’s investment in the innovation center in Quezon City, he pointed out, is part of IBM’s commitment to have a physical place to learn. While the company has websites or virtual innovation centers which provide easy access to technical development, technical training and sales support from IBM as well as online fora for developers, the physical centers, on the other hand offers a permanent location for new knowledge.

“In putting a brick and mortar physical investment, we are sending a strong signal to the local economy that we are here to stay and that market dynamics in the Philippines are good,” Corgel added.

Corgel also noted that nobody in the Philippines is chasing the cheapest way of doing things, but rather, is looking at the value advantage.

From being largely a hardware company, IBM which is almost 100 years old, has reinvented its business. Now, about 80 percent of its revenues are derived from software and other services (business process outsourcing, customer relations management) while only 20 percent is from hardware. IBM has divested businesses like personal computers (sold to Lenovo) and hard disk drives and invested instead in higher-value segments like business intelligence and analytics, virtualization and green solutions. Majority of the company’s sales and distribution are now done through business partners.

IBM has been rebalancing its spending to areas of greatest opportunity. As it continues to drive significant productivity in major markets, the company said it is increasing investment in growth markets which includes ASEAN.

Corgel is responsible for IBM’s worldwide relationship with ISVs, which contribute to one third of IBM’s revenues from its software business. He also manages the key partnerships with the development, academic, and venture capital communities which comprise IBM’s industry-leading ecosystem of influencers.

One of the reasons for IBM’s continued success, he pointed out, is the fact that the company has never reduced its investment in science. “In fact, in the IT community, we are known for our scientists and salespeople,” he said. About $7 billion is being spent annually for science-related research.

kiretoce

December 5th, 2009, 06:58 AM

A Filipino Networking Site (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0912/S00057.htm)

Filipinos in New Zealand have had the privilege to be among the first to join mooplace.com, a networking site for Filipinos across the globe.

This comes as no surprise because mooplace.com is the project of retired Kiwi businessman Bob Carpenter.

Bob is the spouse of Edith Carpenter, who owns the company planettravel.co.nz, and the couple is very active in Filipino community events across New Zealand.

Bob says the website, which he developed with the help of Filipino IT professionals based in New Zealand, provides the tools to allow members to build an online global community. Membership to mooplace is 100% no cost to join or to use the website.

“It is our very own networking site. It is a place to have fun, meet and celebrate with fellow kababayans,” says Bob who considers himself a ‘Kiwinoy’.

He and Edith have been married for more than 20 years and their two children , Peter 17 and Jacqueline 13 were born in New Zealand, but join their parents in their annual visits to the Philippines.

Bob retired four years ago as an auctioneer, and was one of the first to develop a site for online auctions in New Zealand. He had initially wanted to develop a business website but Edith had encouraged him to do work on something that will help the Filipino community. “So this is what I have been doing instead of Boating and watching basket ball,” he says in jest.

The website is unmistakably Filipino, with a carabao as a motif, against a backdrop of the red, white, blue and yellow colours of the Filipino flag.

Bob says it took him a year to develop the website.

He wanted it to be different from other networking websites for Filipinos, which he says were mainly ‘dating websites’.

He noted that Filipinos in New Zealand, for instance, congregate at certain events like the Sinulog events, church gatherings and the annual Labour Day Weekend event. From talking to his Filipino friends, he learned they want a site where they can upload photos of their families, and their communities and places they have been to. They also want to have links to YouTube where they can upload songs, sketches and videos of events.

Bob explains the most popular postings in the site are videos and photos of Manny Pacquaio, and OPM (Original Pilipino songs). “It is Filipino everything,” he says.

Bob says he and the Filipino IT specialists ensured that the site is secure and robust.

Other current features at Mooplace include:

* A directory where members can share their business details - address, phone numbers and websites - to encourage members to use their services.

* An Events section where members can list their events. Bob says the calendar is easy to use, categorised into countries, with search functions and a calendar.

* A Photo section where members can upload up to 20 photos, five videos and five songs at a time. Every month, Mooplace will hold a monthly photo event. Members can post entries and vote for other members' photos. The first event will be held in December, with the theme 'Family Vacation Photos'. Entries will be accepted until 31 December 2009, 12 noon NZDT.

He is also encouraging Filipinos to contribute to the blogs section, post comments and participate in forums.

Bob expects the section where people can create their own greeting cards will be very popular during this Christmas priod. Members can choose from several Christmas card designs and add their photos and email the finished card.

“It is a work in progress,” says Bob of mooplace, as he will continue to add new features regularly, and listen to suggestions from members across the world.

ruralvillage

December 5th, 2009, 11:30 PM

RP more upbeat over IT outlook (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=529699&publicationSubCategoryId=66)
By Mary Ann LL. Reyes (The Philippine Star (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=529699&publicationSubCategoryId=66)) Updated December 06, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Businesses in the Philippines are taking a more optimistic and proactive view of information technology (IT) investments despite the current weak economic condition
, a regional survey among IT executives showed.

EMC, a global information infrastructure company, said findings from an International Data Corp. (IDC) report revealed that compared with the global trend which projects a more cautious business overview, Philippine businesses show a more upbeat outlook.

“Businesses in the Philippines see these challenging times as an opportunity to focus their priorities on improving customer service levels and employing technology to deliver value to the bottom line,” EMC Philippines country manager Ronnie Latinazo said.

He added that by leveraging and investing in technologies, companies will gain a competitive edge once the economy is on the upswing as they will be ready to manage the surge in customers and better equipped to meet more stringent customer demands.

The findings culled from IDC’s survey of 405 IT executives across the Philippines, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, also revealed that improving customer service levels continues to be the key challenge among businesses in the last six months and over the next two years. Companies place emphasis on customer service as a critical component that could provide enterprises with a competitive advantage and differentiator.

Of the total respondents, 92 were from the Philippines’ financial services
, manufacturing, government, telecommunications and energy industries.

“Within the Philippines telecoms industry, the challenge is now about which telco can offer the most value-added and creative content in order to expand consumer offerings that provide end-to-end solutions on the go. As such, telcos require highly available, high performance and secure information infrastructures that are both manageable and efficient,” Latinazo said.

The IDC paper also revealed that minimizing costs, a perennial concern for businesses, is even more important in these challenging times as companies prepare for the economic upturn, and the public sector is no more immune to this than private enterprises.

“In the Philippines, the government is curbing spending by establishing an electronic procurement system which provides more transparency and stricter controls on the purchasing process,” Latinazo said.

The Philippines is one of 10 countries proposed for the piloting of the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) program by the World Bank in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank.

“Additionally, electronic procurement strengthens procurement efficiency by facilitating public access to the procurement information, and expediting public services in a cost-effective manner,” Latinazo added.

The challenge of expanding into new markets and gaining new market share from competitors is particularly evident in the Philippines’ business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

Latinazo said the local BPO sector is seen as one of the most aggressive frontiers in technology spending in its bid to attract more foreign direct investments. BPO companies are rushing in to merge, set up additional seats, consolidate their information infrastructure to streamline their operations and provide better customer service levels.

This trend, he pointed out, is true for both voice and non-voice BPO services, as the country prepares to emerge as the next big BPO service provider after India.

“In order to succeed, BPO firms need the right information infrastructure to ensure that they have a robust and high performing system in place to meet the stringent demands of foreign investors in this space. The Philippines has formidable competitors in other Asian economies all vying for the same piece of the pie,” he said.

Latinazo also noted that technology is no longer meant for such basic operations as streamlining processes or facilitating information management as it has now been elevated to play a critical role in enhancing customer service levels to boost business growth.

The common challenges among the five Asian countries surveyed over the next two years are enhancing customer service, keeping IT costs in check and expanding into other markets.

“Companies are under tremendous pressures to achieve higher levels of efficiency with the existing technology they have now because IT budgets are oftentimes reduced or unchanged despite an increase in demand for constant upgrades. IT departments are often mandated to do more with less and companies that do implement new technologies must justify the business value and ROI of the IT budget,” Latinazo noted.

While companies see customer service as a key challenge, it is also seen as a competitive advantage and product differentiator. As a result, companies from the five countries indicated that they intend to deploy technology products and services in more innovative and strategic ways.

Latinazo noted that deployment of technology products and services in more strategic and creative ways will also enable enterprises to derive more value from the investment. Companies that make improvements to the robustness of its IT infrastructures will be able to maximize data protection and storage applications as well as consolidate and streamline storage hardware and applications to better optimize its existing information infrastructure.

The study aimed to discover how companies were coping with the rise in information created in the enterprise, the strategic objectives that companies were undertaking in the near term, the business challenges they were facing, and how these impact information creation and information use in the enterprise.

The study also examines how IT departments were coping with the information explosion, and specifically how IT budgets were being allocated to manage all the corporate data. It aimed to better define strategies for information management and infrastructure.

mrboy

December 6th, 2009, 06:10 PM

Friendster gets a facelift

MANILA, Philippines – Friendster, the social networking site that started the buzz, now carries a new look and a few new tweaks aimed at letting users do more for their accounts.

The new look targets primarily Asian youths, a market that has revenue and traffic potential as most Internet users are in this segment.

Friendster CEO Richard Kimber said in a statement that Friendster knows Asian youths more than any other company in the same field. He also noted that aside from the new look, the site will have more products and services coming up.

The new Friendster has several additions from the previous design, most notable of which are casual games and online photo editing tools. Applications include a chat system, online pet games, RSS aggregators, video players, among others.

Another notable addition to Friendster is the “Friendster Wallet,” which is a micro-payments platform that allows users to purchase Friendster products and other services that are partnered with Friendster.

Friendster is one of the oldest social networking sites, predating MySpace, Facebook, and Multiply.

The Philippines has among the heaviest users of Friendster.

inquirer.net

epik ll ian

December 8th, 2009, 09:41 PM

I wish I could think of more examples but ....

The U.S. has www.yahoo.com
South Korea has www.naver.com
China has www.tudou.com

What do we have in the Philippines?

manila_eye

December 8th, 2009, 10:00 PM

^^We have yehey and pinoyexchange :lol:

i don't even know those chinese and korean sites you mentioned.

red_jasper

January 13th, 2010, 02:22 AM

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lgseccionph

January 13th, 2010, 06:18 PM

Multinational firm to make RP a center of excellence for IT solutions
By Leslie D. Venzon

MANILA, Jan. 13 (PNA) -- Singapore-based multinational conglomerate Thakral Group plans to hire more people as it gears up to make the Philippines its center of excellence for some of its information technology (IT) solutions which could support its growing business in other emerging Asian markets as well.

Bikram Singh Thakral, Thakral Group Director for Global Business and Technology Services, said they will employ around 100 people this year, in addition to its current less than 200 workforce.

Thakral said his $ 1.5-billion company recognizes the world-class talents of Filipinos and the advantages of making them part of the organization not only in the Philippines but also in its operations overseas.

“It is a good market because language and the people’s approach to work are really good. People here understand cultures very easily thus, supporting other markets is very easy. Some people are very fixed to a culture but Filipinos tend to be bit more flexible,” he noted.

He said Thakral Group, through its local subsidiaries, is focusing this year on hardware and distribution, consulting and implementation services, enterprise resource planning (ERP) for retail and distribution industry; and core infrastructure, business intelligence and sharepoint.

These IT products and services are geared towards aiding Philippine-based market players achieve their business goals, he said.

In line with their expansion plan in the Philippine market, Thakral said, they will increase their offerings from the retail and distribution segment to the services industry as well.

“We want to focus on the dynamic SME market to help them be more competitive and efficient with our best-of-breed products and value-added services offerings,” he explained.

The company is optimistic its Philippine market will achieve a 10 to 15-percent growth in 2010 from $ 20 million revenues it generated last year.

Thakral said the global economy is steadily getting back on the road to recovery and “we see the same for the Philippines, if not a quicker pace.”

“The multinationals companies around the world are continuing to invest in the Philippines. So if they invest in the Philippines, the medium-sized businesses also benefit because they are supporting industries to the big ones. And when they grow to catch up, then they will need more IT thus, they will use our IT products and services,” Thakral reasoned.

Apart from the Philippines, Thakral Group also serves other emerging Asian countries including Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The company has operations spanning 35 countries and employing more than 10,000 people. (PNA)

lgseccionph

January 14th, 2010, 02:37 PM

PGMA inaugurates ICT firm, attains 500,000 worker goal

MANILA, Jan. 14 (PNA) -- There are now more than 500,000 ICT (information communications technology) workers in the country.

On Thursday, WNS First Global Delivery Center in the Philippines inaugurated its facility at the Eastwood Cyber City in Libis, Quezon City, and announced it had increased the number of its workforce to 1,100 employees.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who cut the ceremonial ribbon, had set the 500,000 mark and proceeded to attain the goal by creating the cyber corridor super region that cuts across Baguio to Clark to Metro Manila, to Cebu to Davao.

The firm’s expansion has enabled the current administration to reach that milestone.

"Half a million of nine million new jobs is certainly a substantial result," the President remarked during the ceremony.

Prabhakar Bisen, president and CEO of WNS Philippines, said the country is "one of the most exciting destinations" for BPOs and call centers. He added that all this was the result of the foresight and hard work of the current administration.

In early 2008, WNS formed WNS Philippines as a joint venture with Advanced Contact Solutions Inc., a pioneer and leader in BPO services and customer care in the Philippines.

The BPO Association of the Philippines had projected the expansion of the BPO industry to a million jobs this year, with the physical infrastructure in place. (PNA)

Retro

January 21st, 2010, 04:54 AM

Google attack puts spotlight on China's "red" hackers
"Honker Union" denies involvement
by Melanie Lee and Lucy Hornby, Reuters

Wed. January 20, 2010

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - They are cloaked by pseudonyms and multiple addresses, but China's legions of hackers were thrust into the spotlight last week after Google said it suffered a sophisticated cyber-attack emanating from China.

There are tens of thousands of Hong Ke, or red visitors, as they are known in China. Many are motivated by patriotism, although it is more difficult to establish their relationship with the Chinese government or military, which some experts suspect as being behind the attacks.

The Honker Union, China's most famous group of Hong Ke, shows the grey area between patriotic hackers and the state. The group has denied involvement in the Google attack.

"The Honker Union ... has no interest in getting involved in politics. We work only for the security of Chinese websites," one of its core members, Lyon, said in a telephone interview. Lyon, his hacker handle, is the head of a department in a major state-owned telecommunications firm and declined to disclose his real name.

Founded in 2001, it was involved in cyber-warfare with U.S. hackers over the Hainan spy plane incident in 2001 and last week attacked Iranian websites in retaliation for the Iranian Cyber Army's temporary takeover of Chinese search engine Baidu.

"It is pretty clear that many Chinese hackers are motivated by patriotism," said Trevor T, the pseudonym of an American who helps run Dark Visitor, a U.S.-based blog about Chinese hackers.

"China may not be where the U.S. is militarily, but it clearly has invested a lot of brainpower in developing capabilities that can offset the U.S. advantage in force-on-force conflict," he said.

Google announced last week that a "sophisticated" attack coming from China resulted in the theft of its intellectual property. It cited the hacking episode, as well as censorship, as reasons it may leave China.

Google did not specify how it knew the attacks came from China, or why it and an estimated 34 other companies were targeted. Cyber experts say source codes may have been the prize.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A HACKER?

The popularity of hacking in China, and hackers' use of multiple addresses and servers, in Taiwan and elsewhere, makes it hard to prove how or by whom they are coordinated. Would-be hackers in China don't have to look far to figure out how to do it, thanks to a healthy hacking industry.

For $150, a keen student can buy all the modules online, from programing Trojans to evading anti-virus programs. Tutors are available via instant-messaging and interactive tutorials.

The market for malware in China includes a software known as Grey Pigeon, originally designed to remotely control users' own computers, that turned out to be an ideal tool for hacking.

Grey Pigeon's homepage says it was discontinued in 2007, because of rampant misuse for illegal activities, but the 2010 version of Grey Pigeon is easily found for sale online in China.

That market helps hackers quickly exploit any opening.

"Malware groups out of China have been very quick to adopt zero-day exploits," software flaws for which there is no patch, said Nart Villeneuve, chief research officer at SecDev.cyber.

"They may be operating independently but there may be some sort of market for selling the information that they get."

Some Chinese hackers train at schools like the Communication Command Academy in Wuhan to get sensitive information, cyber expert James Mulvenon told a congressional commission in 2008.

China now may have up to 50,000 military hackers trained or in training, he said. This could not be independently confirmed.

"Who is most likely to become the leading protagonist ... of the next war? The first challenger who has appeared and is the most well known is the computer 'hacker'," two People's Liberation Army (PLA) colonels, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, wrote in a 1999 book, "Unrestricted Warfare."

Developing countries can beat more developed countries with war tactics that transcend boundaries, they argued.

"We urgently need to expand our field of vision regarding forces which can be mobilized, in particular non-military forces," they wrote.

One of the best documented, and coordinated, hacking attacks out of China was reported last year. It took place against exiled Tibetans, an attack that seemed motivated by politics, not profit.

"It's the political connection that many use to provide the link to the Chinese government," Villeneuve said.

Similar attacks have targeted foreign reporters in China, and individuals and groups pushing for greater human rights.

Retro

January 28th, 2010, 01:00 AM

‘Technological lock-in’ near for Facebook?
BusinessWorld Online - January 27, 2010

LOS ANGELES -- College senior Alyssa Ravasio gave up MySpace on the day she got a Facebook account and never looked back. She has already lost interest in Twitter. But how does Facebook know it can keep her loyalty?
Alyssa Ravasio displays her page on the social networking site Facebook, while attending school in Los Angeles, in this photo taken January 26, 2010. She has never looked back after opening an account at the social networking site but how does Facebook know it can keep her loyalty?

The brief history of the Internet is littered with the ghosts of websites that people have abandoned in their relentless pursuit of something newer, faster, better and cooler.

Tech-savvy Ms. Ravasio, a 21-year-old UCLA student designing her undergraduate degree around the Internet’s impact on society and communication, is irked by changes privately owned Facebook has made.

But for now, she says, Facebook is keeping her allegiance because of a concept called "technological lock-in". In other words, the site has become an essential part of her life.

"I think Facebook is the most valuable Internet commodity in existence, more so than Google, because they are positioning themselves to be our online identity via Facebook connect," Ms. Ravasio said.

"It’s your real name, it’s your real friends, and assuming they manage to navigate the privacy quagmire, they’re poised to become your universal login," she said. "I would almost argue that Facebook is the new mobile phone. It’s the new thing you need to keep in touch, almost a requirement of modern social life."

Technological lock-in is the idea that the more a society adopts a certain technology, the more unlikely users are to switch. Its the reason why the QWERTY keyboard layout, devised for typewriters in the 1870s, is still the standard despite the development of several more logical configurations.

And Facebook, which has more than 100 million users in the United States and 350 million worldwide, appears to have nearly achieved technological lock-in, according to web marketing research firm Comscore.com.

In December, for example, Facebook recorded nearly 112 million unique visitors in the United States, compared to 57 million for MySpace and 20 million for Twitter, according to Comscore.

Users also spent much longer on Facebook, averaging 246.9 minutes in December, compared to 112.7 minutes on MySpace and 24.3 minutes on Twitter.

"It’s something that feeds on itself," Comscore director Andrew Lipsman said. "The more people who come into the network, the more connected they become to each other and there actually becomes a greater cost to leaving the network."

"At some point it becomes a critical mass," he said. "It becomes so strong that its difficult to unlock and I think Facebook has reached that point."

Skeptics might say that the same argument could have been made for MySpace just a few years ago, when it reigned supreme among social networking sites to the extent that few American teens would be caught dead without an account.

But those who study web trends say that MySpace, while wildly popular, never quite reached the worldwide domination of Facebook, which then-Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg started in his dorm room in 2004.

Facebook initially limited membership to Harvard, then universities, a move that heightened the draw for teens. And once Facebook opened registration to anyone in 2006, it was flooded with members between the ages of 25 to 45.

Tim Groeling, a professor of communication studies at UCLA, said that because it was possible to sign up for Facebook without dumping MySpace, many young people had accounts on both sites until the center of gravity slowly shifted to Facebook.

"MySpace wasn’t focused as much on the social networking aspect, which they seem to enjoy. It wasn’t quite the tightknit social machine that Facebook seems to be," he said.

"Facebook has a certain amount of lock-in that’s going to be hard for people to get past," Groeling said. "It’s possible it could happen, but it has to overcome a high threshold of user cost. It’s their game to lose at this point."

Ms. Ravasio says that, technological lock-in aside, Facebook could potentially lose her if it keeps annoying her, as it did when it abruptly changed a default privacy setting so that members’ pictures were public.

"All these [Internet] companies saying they’ll figure out how to monetize later seem to be forgetting that ’monetizing’ has historically always meant a degradation of user experience quality," she said. -- Reuters

red_jasper

February 6th, 2010, 11:43 AM

With broadband exploding in RP, Globe builds up Internet muscle
By MELVIN G. CALIMAG
February 6, 2010, 5:06pm

With the giant PLDT-Smart group as its only real competitor in the huge Internet broadband market in the country, Globe Telecom is now busy beefing up its infrastructure as it anticipates a bigger demand from businesses and consumers in the next few years.

The Ayala-owned carrier recently announced two developments that clearly firmed up its Internet infrastructure strategy: Its participation in the Southeast Asia Japan Cable System (SJC) and the certification by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) that its “Carrier Ethernet” services conform to the MEF 9 specifications for service providers.

Gil Genio, head of Globe Business group, said the company’s business is now almost evenly split between its traditional telecom services and its booming Internet offerings.

According to the Globe executive, the firm is investing heavily in its infrastructure because demand for Internet capacity among local users is expected to surge with outsourcing and various kinds of gadgets all requiring connectivity to the Internet.

“If you look at the price of netbooks, they’re now even cheaper than mobile phones. This is one of the factors now driving the demand for Internet connectivity,” said Genio.

The official said one of five households in the Philippines is now connected to the Internet. This figure, he said, is projected to improve significantly in the next couple of years.

In anticipation of the rise in demand, Globe said it has invested a total of $60 million so far in the SJC, which will initially link Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan.

The cable system reputedly has the highest capacity system in the world with a wavelength transmission technology of 17 Terabits per second (Tbps), upgradeable to 23 Tbps. About 1.2 Tbps to 2 Tbps will be going through the Philippine branch, according to Globe.

Its participation in SJC is the fifth major investment of Globe in submarine cable systems. The company is the exclusive SJC landing party in the Philippines.

The innovative design of the SJC, the company said, allows for lowest latency paths out of Philippines to Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore, with onward connectivity to the US.

The pioneering members signed the agreement in Manila on December 10, 2009. The SJC is targeted to be operational by the second quarter of 2012.

The MEF certification, meanwhile, gave Globe the distinction of being the first Philippine telecommunications company to have managed such a feat.

The MEF certification, attained by passing rigorous compliance tests conducted by the MEF-approved certification test laboratory Iometrix, is considered a quality assurance symbol the world over.

The MEF is a non-profit global industry alliance that aims to accelerate the worldwide adoption of carrier-class Ethernet services and networks.

Carrier Ethernet is a ubiquitous and standardized carrier-class service and network.

Globe’s Ethernet Line, Ethernet Virtual Private Line and Ethernet LAN services were tested against the MEF 9 specification.

Source (http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/242228/with-broadband-exploding-rp-globe-builds-internet-muscle)

c6josh

February 9th, 2010, 01:10 PM

Australian BPO company expands presence in RP

By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:12:00 02/08/2010

MANILA, Philippines--AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS PROcess outsourcing
firm Salmat has put up an 800-seat facility at McKinley Hill in Taguig City, the company’s first major investment outside of its home country.

In a briefing yesterday, Salmat general manager of strategy Philip Hadcroft said the company had been in the country since 1996, but it was doing mostly transactional services that served only the Philippine market.

Salmat’s new McKinley Hill facility, he said, marked the company’s expansion into higher-value services, as well as its foray into international markets for its Philippine operations.

“We have moved from transactional services to true IT-driven services, which are also higher value,” he said at the 10th e-Services Outsourcing Conference and Exhibition. “For the past five months, our new facility in McKinley Hill have been operating with 100 employees. We plan to grow to 800 over the next three years.”

In a separate interview, Salmat country manager Meg Ramoso said the McKinley Hill site would mainly serve accounts from Australia and New Zealand over the next three years, split evenly between voice and non-voice services.

The McKinley Hill center will extend existing statement processing services to call center, computer programming, Web content management, data entry and a range of IT-enabled services.

“The new facility represents a strong commitment by Salmat to the BPO industry, and to the Philippines in particular, as a central hub for BPO operations in the Asia-Pacific region,” Hadcroft said.

Salmat employs over 7,000 individuals across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. The company is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

c6josh

February 9th, 2010, 01:11 PM

bacolodchamp

February 17th, 2010, 11:51 AM

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Top 10 Philippine Call Centers

Here are our 2010 rankings for the top ten call centers in the Philippines.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8eHjE2G9gYI/S3hFH-vNURI/AAAAAAAAAg0/ItKK1no30_g/s320/teletech.jpg

1. Teletech - TeleTech's strength has been in their ability to provide services and integrated solutions that give intelligence to companies throughout their customer service cycle. TeleTech offers software and people who can look deeper into customer interactions.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8eHjE2G9gYI/S3hE-7uej-I/AAAAAAAAAgs/xu8tKgrJUCI/s320/convergys.jpg

2. Convergys - Convergys provides comprehensive outsourced B2B and B2C customer support functions, as well as services for internal call center operations. Convergys has excelled at providing customer service to mobile phone users.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8eHjE2G9gYI/S3lQfPearCI/AAAAAAAAAi0/iARFcUjoJ6k/s320/Sitel_logo.png

3. Sitel - Sitel offers a variety of outsourced customer interaction solutions covering each stage of the customer lifecycle - customer selection, customer acquisition, customer retention and customer extension

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8eHjE2G9gYI/S3lPw444aLI/AAAAAAAAAis/C9aBAqK5CBw/s320/Teleperformance.png

4. Teleperformance - Teleperformance began operations in the Philippines in 1996 and has grown to become a preferred offshore contact center outsourcing option to the Philippines, North America (U.S. and Canada), Australia and New Zealand.

Teleperformance operates more than 7,000+ workstations from 6 contact centers located in and around Manila and Bacolod City.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8eHjE2G9gYI/S3hFNoDtimI/AAAAAAAAAg8/-_GwGJUsUAk/s320/hrslogo.gif

5. Hit Rate Solutions - Hit Rate Solutions provides superior telemarketing center services including inbound order taking and outbound lead generation. HRS also provides non-voice services such as data entry and live chat support.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8eHjE2G9gYI/S3mFFL_-5DI/AAAAAAAAAjc/WPt0v75YQC4/s320/transcomlogo.gif

6. Transcom - Transcom is a leading global Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) provider, delivering cost-effective solutions while optimising efficiency and quality for their clients. Along with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Credit Management Services (CMS) solutions, Transcom also provides CRM consulting, translation and interpretation, and legal services.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8eHjE2G9gYI/S3ppWltx7sI/AAAAAAAAAjs/3bopwL87YTQ/s320/epacificglobal-logo.gif

7. E Pacific Global - ePacific Global Through operational excellence, technology innovation, and global skill set sourcing; ePacific Global provides end-customer satisfaction and incremental client revenue at a reduced cost.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8eHjE2G9gYI/S3pl4mRXgAI/AAAAAAAAAjk/zZS4OvVutqI/s320/Aegislogo.png

8. Aegis People Support - This is not a pre-recorded message. Aegis Communications Group (which does business as Aegis BPO) provides outsourced telemarketing and customer care services through more than 30 facilities in the US and India. It handles both inbound and outbound calling services, order provisioning, and multilingual communications programs. Besides teleservices, Aegis offers online customer services such as e-mail responses, real-time chat, and data collection. Major clients have included AT&T, American Express, Qwest Communications, and Western Union. India-based investment firm Essar Group owns Aegis, which expanded in late 2008 when it acquired rival customer service provider PeopleSupport. Aegis was established in 1985.

An Essar Group enterprise, Aegis offers the benefits of the global delivery model, strong financial strength, deep domain expertise, comprehensive and flexible solutions offerings, and a rich international talent pool.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8eHjE2G9gYI/S3lPJ7fq3_I/AAAAAAAAAik/FrMYTlawXHY/s320/supportsave.png

9. Support Save - Support Save provides a variety of Business Process Outsourcing, Consulting and Technology solutions to help their clients to successfully manage important programs and mission critical projects that transform their business processes and accelerate their financial performance.

10. Next Level IT Teleservices - NLIT Teleservices provides friendly and affordable call center services including telemarketing, customer support, and data entry services.

http://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.b-p-o.org%2F&rct=j&q=b-p-o.org&ei=_7Z7S6eiAY_GrAeInPDpBQ&usg=AFQjCNG0lgQ89g6FWzu1NwsAZ9Wec8Xmjw

Retro

February 23rd, 2010, 05:28 PM

FTC warns firms of widespread data breach
From: Inquirer.net

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 21:11:00 02/23/2010

WASHINGTON—The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Monday it has notified nearly 100 companies and organizations of data breaches involving personal information about customers or employees.

The FTC declined to identify the companies or organizations involved, but said they were both "private and public entities, including schools and local governments."

The companies and organizations ranged in size from "businesses with as few as eight employees to publicly held corporations employing tens of thousands," the FTC said in a statement.

It said sensitive data about customers and employees had been shared from the computer networks of the companies and organizations and made available on Internet peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks.

The information was accessible to "any users of those networks, who could use it to commit identity theft or fraud," the FTC said.

"Unfortunately, companies and institutions of all sizes are vulnerable to serious P2P-related breaches, placing consumers' sensitive information at risk," FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said.

"For example, we found health-related information, financial records, and drivers' license and social security numbers—the kind of information that could lead to identity theft," Leibowitz said.

"Companies should take a hard look at their systems to ensure that there are no unauthorized P2P file-sharing programs and that authorized programs are properly configured and secure," he said.

"Just as important, companies that distribute P2P programs, for their part, should ensure that their software design does not contribute to inadvertent file sharing," he added.

P2P file-sharing software is used in a variety of ways including for playing games, making online telephone calls or sharing music, video and documents.

The FTC, in the notification letters to the companies and organizations, urged them to review their security practices "to ensure that they are reasonable, appropriate, and in compliance with the law.

"It is your responsibility to protect such information from unauthorized access, including taking steps to control the use of P2P software on your own networks and those of your service providers," the letters stated.

hakz2007

March 6th, 2010, 02:15 AM

Noynoy rejects proposed creation of infotech dept. (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/184670/noynoy-rejects-proposed-creation-of-infotech-dept)

Presidential survey frontrunner Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III on Wednesday rejected a proposal to establish a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) despite some business groups’ support for its creation.

In an ambush interview with reporters before a Makati City presidential forum, Aquino said he thinks a government agency focused on information and communication technology only plays a "supportive" role.

"Not [as] a department," Aquino said, when asked about his opinions regarding proposals to establish the DICT.

“I think it's a support mechanism, as opposed to...line agencies like DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), like DepEd (Department of Education)," Aquino said minutes before the People's Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) presidential forum began in Makati City.

Aquino said he has reservations about creating a new department if gets elected president, saying the importance of many existing agencies have yet to be affirmed.

"I'm still studying the need to create a new department. Ang problema lang, ang paniwala namin napakarami na tayong mga offices [and] officers who are not actually doing something useful (We think the government already has too many offices [and] officers who are not actually doing something useful)," he said, noting that there is currently an abundance of presidential consultants or advisers and department undersecretaries and assistant secretaries.

The 14th Congress has not passed legislation proposing to make the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), which is currently under the Office of the President, a department.

The PMAP, composed of several companies focused on human resources management, is pushing for the creation of a DICT.

Last January, the Joint Foreign Chambers said it wants Congress to prioritize the creation of a DICT before the 14th Congress ends. [See: Foreign chambers trim wishlist of priority bills]

While the House passed House Bill 4300 as early as August 2008 — the consolidated proposal to create a DICT — the Senate has yet to approve its counterpart measure, Senate Bill 2546.

Congress adjourned session February 5 to allow legislators to focus on their election bids.

After the election period, the Senate and the House of Representatives will return to work one last time from May 31 to June 4 but mainly for the canvassing of votes. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

Retro

March 8th, 2010, 04:16 AM

johnmizer

March 8th, 2010, 01:13 PM

thats why noynoy is a....

bitoy

March 27th, 2010, 09:19 AM

RP stuck at 85th place in IT infra readiness survey (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/187081/rp-stuck-at-85th-place-in-it-infra-readiness-survey)

The Philippines failed to improve on its IT infrastructure readiness according to a global report that showed the country still at the 85th position for the second straight year.

The Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010 measures the readiness of IT infrastructure in 133 countries all over the world. The report, released on March 25, by the World Economic Forum (WEF), was topped by Sweden, followed by Singapore and Denmark, which was in the number one position for the last three years.

Switzerland was fourth, the United States fifth, and the other Nordic countries together with the Canada, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands completed the top ten.

Asian economic powers Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan occupied the 11th, 15th, and 21st places, respectively. Malaysia was the next highest-ranked Asean country after Singapore at 27th place.

“Sweden, Singapore and Denmark’s superior capacity to leverage ICT as an enabler of sustainable, long-term economic growth is built on similar premises, relating with a long-standing focus placed by governments and private sectors alike on education, innovation and ICT access and diffusion," Irene Mia, senior economist of the Global Competitiveness Network at WEF and co-editor of the report, said in a statement.

“The success of these countries underlines the importance of a joint ICT vision, an implementation, by all the different stakeholders in a society for a country to take full advantage of ICT advances in its daily life and overall competitiveness strategy."

The report was produced by the WEF in cooperation with business school INSEAD as part of the WEF’s Global Competitiveness Network and the Industry Partnership Program for Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries.

Published for the ninth consecutive year, the report provides a comprehensive international assessment of the impact of ICT on the development process and the competitiveness of nations.

The Networked Readiness Index (NRI), featured in the report, examined how prepared countries are to use ICT effectively on three dimensions: the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of the three key stakeholder groups in a society -- individuals, businesses and governments -- to use and benefit from ICT; and the actual usage of the latest information and communication technologies available.

The NRI uses a combination of data from publicly available sources, as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, an annual survey conducted by the WEF with its network of partner institutes. -- Melvin G. Calimag/OMG, GMANews.TV

Nanflexal

April 8th, 2010, 06:03 PM

without government support. Philippines will become number 100 in a few years.

Thanks to our Philippines Senator who prioritize their personal interest, nasa pending ba yon reading the bill para sa subsidize kung may isang tao na mag invest to become WISP. (wireless internet service provider.

alam mo naman mga senator natin. pera muna bago trabaho

fengrun

April 9th, 2010, 02:01 PM

^^ Its unfortunate that the establishment of a dedicated DICT won't be push through by Noynoy if ever he will succeed PGMA. In other countries such as Singapore, UK, Australia and even USA their gov't. give priority in developing their ICT. ICT is consider one of the key ingredients in establishing a knowledge based economy :ohno:

and that's why most technology people here (scientists, IT people) are treated like shit by employers. These people are protected by salary brackets in other countries, while in the Philippines some of them are given a salary similar to an office clerk at 9k a month.

Why would you work for the government earning measly salary when its 10x than your present salary when you move a few kilometers say Singapore, Taiwan, Hongkong.

Igsuonnimo

April 9th, 2010, 04:40 PM

I wish I could think of more examples but ....

The U.S. has www.yahoo.com
South Korea has www.naver.com
China has www.tudou.com

What do we have in the Philippines?

Maganda sana nuon ang PEP Talk ni Loren Legarda.
Pero ngayon sa mga kabataan na 20's to early 30's pag sinabi mo na pep talk, Pinoy Entertainment Portal :lol: :nuts:
Copycat pa rin ng Hollywood :ohno:

Magagaling ang mga Pinoy sa mga online gaming, pero sa usapin pambansa, national issues, internationalism, environmental awareness, social justice, cultural diversity at volunteerism --malabo yata ito.

Ito naman VOLUNTEERISM, nagagawa lang ito kapag seasonal. :banana:

Nanflexal

April 9th, 2010, 04:55 PM

Here is plan to build our own Wireless Internet Service provider (WISP) in our area, the area is located in Bon-ot Big matnog Sorosogon.

http://i44.tinypic.com/345kly9.jpg

If you have the same project or thinking similar project, you can send me a private message so we can exchange our idea. we hope we can build this network this coming July 2010 if not this network will be available within 2010. once we react 25+ clients i will upgrade our tower to accommodate more client by putting high power AP and sector antennas which can handle 100 to 300 client per Sector.

kung may support lang sana ng government natin, gusto ko mag-avail kasi yon satellite dish would cost 100k.

Thanks
Nanflexal

Retro

April 13th, 2010, 08:53 AM

EU telcos demand Google pay for traffic
Michael Carroll | April 12, 2010
telecomseurope.net

Three of Europe’s leading incumbent telcos are challenging Google to pay them for carrying YouTube content.

Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, and Telefonica want the search giant to share ad revenues to cover the cost of carrying bandwidth-hungry content on their networks, FT.com reports.

The trio will seek regulatory intervention if Google refuses to acquiesce to their demands, Telefonica CEO Cesar Alierta said.

Google’s relationship with telcos is increasingly fraught, with many operators claiming the search giant wants to reduce them to dumb pipes.

“There is something totally not normal and contrary to economic logic to let Google use our network without paying the price for this,” said Stéphane Richard, France Telecom’s new CEO.

CEO Eric Schmidt denied his firm would turn carriers into dumb pipes in a speech to mobile operators in Barcelona in February, but was reticent about granting too much power to the carriers.

The calls for Google to pay for YouTube content mirrors net neutrality debates in the US, and highlight a broader issue regarding who covers the cost of bandwidth-hungry applications.

Telefonica has already floated the idea of charging internet search engines for the data they send rather than consumers, because the web firms currently contribute nothing towards network rollout and management.

Igsuonnimo

April 14th, 2010, 10:14 PM

Military asserts right to return cyber attacks (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100414/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_pentagon_cyber)
Associated Press

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press Writer –Wed Apr 14, 10:31 am ET

WASHINGTON – The U.S. should counter computer-based attacks swiftly and strongly and act to thwart or disable a threat even when the attacker's identity is unknown, the director of the National Security Agency told Congress.

Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, who is the Obama administration's nominee to take on additional duties as head of the new Cyber Command, also said the U.S. should not be deterred from taking action against countries such as Iran and North Korea just because they might launch cyber attacks.

"Even with the clear understanding that we could experience damage to our infrastructure, we must be prepared to fight through in the worst case scenario," Alexander said in a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press.

Alexander's answers reflect the murky nature of the Internet and the escalating threat of cyber terrorism, which defies borders, operates at the speed of light and can provide deep cover for assailants who can launch disruptive attacks from continents away, using networks of innocent computers.

U.S. computer networks are under constant cyber attacks, by direct assaults by remote sites, by probes by hackers and criminal networks and by espionage from foreign countries. President Barack Obama last year declared that the cyber threat is one of nation's most serious economic and national security challenges.

The three-star Army general laid out his views on Cyber Command and the military's role in protecting computer networks in a 32-page Senate questionnaire. He answered the questions in preparation for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday on his nomination to head Cyber Command.

Alexander offered a limited but rare description of offensive U.S. cyber activities, saying the U.S. has "responded to threats, intrusions and even attacks against us in cyberspace," and has conducted exercises and war games.

It's unclear, Alexander added, whether or not those actions have deterred criminals, terrorists or nations.

In cyberspace, he said, it is difficult to deliver an effective response if the attacker's identity is not known.

But commanders have clear rights to self-defense, he said. He added that while "this right has not been specifically established by legal precedent to apply to attacks in cyberspace, it is reasonable to assume that returning fire in cyberspace, as long as it complied with law of war principles ... would be lawful."

Senators noted, in their questions, that police officers don't have to know the identity of a shooter in order to shoot back. In cyberspace, the U.S. may be able to counter a threat, rebuff an electronic probe or disable a malicious network without knowing who is behind the attack.

The nation's ability to protect its networks and launch counterattacks, however, is shrouded in secrecy. Alexander gave the panel a separate classified attachment that provided more details on how and when the military would launch cyber attacks and under what legal and command authorities.

Among the classified responses was his answer to whether the U.S. should first ask another government to deal with a cyber attack that came from within its borders.

He repeatedly stressed that any U.S. response to a cyber attack must be authorized by the president and must conform to international law and guiding military principles. Those guidelines require that the reaction be deemed militarily necessary and in proportion to the attack.

Noting that there is no international consensus on the definition of use of force, in or out of cyberspace, Alexander said uncertainty creates the potential for disagreements among nations.

Alexander echoed other experts who warn that the U.S. is unprepared for a cyber attack. He said the first priority is to make sure the nation can defend its networks, which are now a "strategic vulnerability."

Alexander said the biggest challenge facing the development of Cyber Command will be improving the defense of military networks, which will require better real-time knowledge of intrusions.

He added that it will be difficult for the military to gain superiority in cyberspace, but the goal is "realistic."

Alexander, 58, is a native of Syracuse, N.Y., and a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy.

Retro

April 26th, 2010, 05:14 AM

Philippines among markets most hit by Internet threats
BusinessWorld Online - April 25, 2010

THE PHILIPPINES emerged as one of the economies most hit by various Internet-based threats last year, the latest Symantec Internet Security Threat Report released over the weekend showed.

The Philippines ranked 10th among Asia-Pacific nations, keeping its rank in the region in 2008, and 33rd globally in terms of reports on malicious activity on the Internet, the Symantec Corp. study showed. The report did not specify how many economies were covered.

The study categorized Internet threats into: malicious codes, where the Philippines ranked 5th in Asia and the Pacific; spam zombies, where the country ranked 10th; phishing, where it ranked 9th; and bots, 10th.

The Philippines also ranked 11th as an origin of such attacks in Asia and the Pacific.

China ranked first with 32% of all malicious activities in the region, followed by India, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Indonesia and then the Philippines with 2%.

"Malicious activity usually affects computers that are connected to high-speed broadband Internet because these connections make attractive targets..." the report read. -- ENJD

Retro

May 18th, 2010, 08:34 AM

YouTube claims 2+ billion hits daily
Nicole McCormick | May 18, 2010
telecomasia.net

YouTube said it now gets more than 2 billion hits each day, having passed the 1 billion mark only seven months previous.

The Google-owned video sharing site claims its 2+ billion hits per day is nearly double the number of people who tune into the US's three prime time TV stations combined, BBC reported

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley told the BBC on that the business has “much further to go.”

"Two billion video streams is a large number but on average people are only spending 15 minutes a day on the site compared to five hours a day watching TV,” Hurley said.

It was five years yesterday that YouTube unveiled its first beta version.

Google paid $1.65 billion for YouTube in late 2006.

red_jasper

May 30th, 2010, 10:46 PM

cross-post...

Google TV Will Enhance Online Casino Gambling (http://casinonewsauthority.com/google-tv-will-enhance-online-casino-gambling/124700/)
May 30th, 2010

http://casinonewsauthority.com/images/google-tv-online-casino-gambling.png

Google will be offering a new Google TV service by the end of 2010 which will enable anyone to surf the Internet using their television. This new offering will certainly enhance online casino gambling and far more people in the world will be able to gamble at an online casino from home.

Imagine playing your favorite casino games on a wide-screen plasma TV that hangs on the wall in your living room. This technology is already available in Asia with consumers in the Philippines being able to hook a box up to their television and access the Internet on their TV. The Internet signal is being transmitted to the TV via the 3G technology of their local cell tower.

Gambling through the TV is already available in the United Kingdom, but Google reaches almost every country in the world, and the online gambling operators are anxiously awaiting the time when they’ll be able to advertise to users of this new device. Gambling online is so much fun, but the one negative is that you have to sit at the computer to play your favorite casino games. With the new Google TV, gambling at the computer will be a thing of the past.

Ady001

May 31st, 2010, 01:51 AM

China vows cooperation in fight vs corruption
By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated May 28, 2010 12:00 AM

Photo is loading...
Sen. Benigno Aquino III greets Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao during a courtesy call at the Aquino residence in Quezon City yesterday. BOY SANTOS

| Zoom

MANILA, Philippines - Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao assured yesterday presidential frontrunner Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III that China is ready to cooperate with the incoming administration in making sure that contracts between China and the Philippines would be “transparent and clean.”

After his courtesy call on Aquino at his residence on Times street in Quezon City, Liu admitted they talked about controversial issues when asked what could be done to avoid anomalies in deals between the two countries.

President Arroyo canceled the controversial $329-million national broadband network (NBN) contract between the government and Chinese firm ZTE Corp. in 2007.

The ZTE deal was nullified following public outcry over alleged bribery and anomalies involved in the contract.

Liu said they did not specifically discuss the NBN-ZTE deal but only general issues.

Liu said anomalies involving commercial deals could be avoided in the future through effective implementation of the laws of both countries.

“Yes, we are very candid with that. As I said I told the press many times that everybody involved should be learning a lesson now, and in the future we do things right. So I think this is the right approach, we don’t want (the things) that took place in the past to hamper or hinder our relations. We are very positive about our future relations,” Liu said in a press conference with Aquino.

Asked whether China conducted its own investigation regarding Chinese projects in the Philippines that were allegedly overpriced, the ambassador said: “I do hope the page will be turned over and we open up to a new stage for future development.”

“As far as the Chinese government is concerned, we are determined to have transparent and clean contracts,” Liu said, adding that China is ready to offer a helping hand in the construction sector of the Philippines.

Aquino said the two countries “have a learning curve that we have to undergo.”

“We have both learned lessons from that past, and there is groundwork for resolving all these issues (that) have already been put forward. We’ll work out the mechanics. There is a pledge of cooperation in all of the investigation if necessary to put a closure on all of these issues. There have been other ventures and activities that are not controversial because they have benefited from the lessons learned from that previous transaction,” Aquino said.

Liu said he visited Aquino to congratulate him and the Filipino people for “having such a wonderful election.”

“You have made known your choice of the leader of your country. Also I conveyed my congratulations to the senator for his very impressive campaign, which put him in the lead. And we talked about our future relations. China is very much looking forward to working with the new administration for very comprehensive and fruitful and positive relations and cooperation between our two countries and to promote also the friendship between our two peoples,” Liu said.

Liu said they talked about cooperation in all areas – political, trade and even issues on the Spratly Islands and North Korea.

“One area of focus was the economic relations between our two countries. We think our economic relations and trade relations are strong, we continue with the process of having more fruitful cooperation between our two countries,” Liu said.

Aquino said they also talked about greater cooperation in the common fight against drug trafficking.

“And of course, a short revisit of past contentious issues so as not to affect future relations between our two countries. So we are very fortunate we have a very amiable, efficient and very progressive ambassador in the person of Ambassador Liu,” Aquino said.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=579168&publicationSubCategoryId=63

Chinese envoy vows to cooperate in NBN probe
By Maila Ager INQUIRER.net First Posted 17:48:00 05/27/2010 China has vowed to cooperate if president apparent Benigno Aquino III decides to reopen the investigation into the scandal-tainted national broadband network (NBN) deal.

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MANILA, Philippines—China has vowed to cooperate if president apparent Benigno Aquino III decides to reopen the investigation into the scandal-tainted national broadband network (NBN) deal.

“There is a pledge of cooperation in all of the investigation if necessary to put a closure on all of these issues,” Aquino said Thursday following a meeting with Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao.

Aquino told reporters that the “groundwork for resolving these issues have already been put forward” although the mechanics have yet to be worked out.

“Once the closure is achieved, there have been other ventures and activities that are not controversial because primarily they have benefited from the lessons learned from that previous transaction,” he said.
Liu said the controversies that arose over the $329-million botched deal should serve as a lesson to everyone, adding that Beijing was looking forward to a better and increased bilateral trade with Manila.

“As I said I told the press many times, everybody involved should be learning a lesson now, and in the future we do the right things right. So I think this is the right approach,” Liu said.

He said the controversy should not hamper the relations of the two countries.

“As far as the Chinese government is concerned, we are determined to have transparent and clean contracts…and we are very much ready to offer a helping hand to the construction in the Philippines. We know that is what this country badly needed,” he said.

During the meeting, the two also discussed the Spratly issue as well as the escalating tension in the Korean Peninsula.

Aquino said he sought the help of the Chinese government to defuse the tension in the region, citing China’s long relationship with the North Korean government.

“I did make the request that they would be, as our neighbors, in the best position to influence, with the end point of defusing tensions in the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

“It is a matter of concern, we are not that far off from the Korean Peninsula. And any tension there especially given the fact there is a suspicion of nuclear capability as far as North Korea is concerned, might affect us negatively,” he said.

On the Spratly issue, Aquino said cooperation should be given importance rather than increasing tension in the group of islets, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs being claimed in whole or in part by and the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei, China and Vietnam.

All claimants he said should focus on finding ways of cooperation in the exploration and subsequently exploitation of the island.

“And we are seeking not only benefit of individual countries but more so stability of the entire region — that I think is the better route to follow rather than emphasizing differences or potential conflicts,” he said.

Liu agreed that the joint cooperation by all claimants could result to a future settlement of territorial issues around Spratly Islands.

http://politics.inquirer.net/politics/view/20100527-272369/Chinese-envoy-vows-to-cooperate-in-NBN-probe

Retro

June 2nd, 2010, 08:36 AM

Facebook faces exodus over privacy
Dylan Bushell-Embling | May 21, 2010
telecomasia.net

Users concerned over the privacy implications of using Facebook are leaving the site in droves, with many more thinking about following, according to security firm Sophos.

A Sophos survey of current and former Facebook users found that 16% had already stopped using Facebook because of privacy worries, and six in 10 were considering deleting their accounts, the Telegraph said.

Subscribers are concerned that they do not have adequate control over their data, and are tired of dealing with the site's tangled privacy settings.

Incensed users have called for a mass deletion of Facebook accounts on May 31 to protest about Facebook's handling of privacy matters.

Sophos earlier this week revealed that 'delete facebook account' had made the top 10 trending topics on Google.

Facebook executives are currently bunkered down at its Silicon Valley HQ to address the problem, WSJ.com said.

People familiar with the discussions told the paper the executives were considering simplifying the privacy settings, and had even discussed drastic measures like changing the default settings – a move CEO Mark Zuckerberg has historically resisted.

Facebook has been in the crosshairs over privacy matters for some time, including for revising its privacy policy to allow it to share user’s profile data with its commercial partners.

Recent high-profile murder cases involving Facebook in the UK and Australia have added to the site’s woes.

Australian officials say young people should be careful what information they disclose on any social networking site.

Retro

June 2nd, 2010, 09:53 AM

SC junks Internet libel case :applause:
by Rey Requejo
Manila Standard Today - June 2, 2010

The Supreme Court has ordered a Makati City regional trial court to dismiss the libel complaint filed by an advertising arm of the Yuchengco Group of Companies against a group of parents who put up an Internet web site for individuals who suffered from the collapse of college pre-need plans.

The high court issued the order even as it clarified the rules governing the filing of a criminal complaint for libel in cases involving defamatory articles posted on the Internet.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, the Court’s First Division ordered the Makati City RTC, Branch 149, to dismiss the libel complaint filed by YGC due to the insufficiency of the allegations.

As a word of caution, the high court said: “It hardly requires much imagination to see the chaos that would ensue in situations where the website’s author or writer, a blogger or anyone who posts messages therein could be sued for libel anywhere in the Philippines that the private complainant may have allegedly accessed the offending Web site.”

“Limitations imposed on libel actions filed by private persons are hardly onerous, especially as they still allow such persons to file the civil or criminal complaint in their respective places of residence, in which situation there is no need to embark on a quest to determine with precision where the libelous matter was printed and first published,” the high court clarified.

Then Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno and associate justices Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro, Lucas P. Bersamin and Martin S. Villarama Jr. concurred with the ruling.

The complaint for libel was filed on Oct. 18, 2005 by Jessie John P. Gimenez, president of the Philippine Integrated Advertising Agency Inc., the advertising arm of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, which the court noted was “tasked with preserving the image and good name of the YGC as well as the name and reputation of the Yuchengco Family.”

The 13 counts of complaint was filed by Gimenez, on behalf of the Yuchengco Family, particularly Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco and Helen Y. Dee and of the Malayan Insurance Co. Inc.

Respondents in Gimenez’s libel complaint were Philip Piccio, Mia Gatmaytan and Ma. Anabella Relova Santos, who are officers of Parents Enabling Parents Coalition Inc., John Joseph Gutierrez, Jeselyn Upano, Jose Dizon, Rolanda Pareja, Wonina Bonifacio, Elvira Cruz, Cornelio Zafra, Vicente Ortueste, Victoria Gomez Jacinto, Jurencio Pereche, Ricardo Loyares and Peter Suchianco, who are trustees of PEPCI, Trennie Monsod, a member of PEPCI , and a certain John Doe, the administrator of the Web site www.pepcoalition.com.

The PEPCI officials brought the case to the Supreme Court questioning the jurisdiction of the Makati City court over the online publication after Judge Cesar Untalan denied their motion to quash the Amended Information indicting them for libel.

PEPCI had been formed by a large group of disgruntled plan holders of Pacific Plans Inc.—a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Pacific Life Assurance Corp., also owned by the Yuchengco Group of Companies—who had previously purchased traditional pre-need educational plans but were unable to collect thereon or avail of the benefits thereunder after PPI, due to liquidity concerns, filed for corporate rehabilitation with prayer for suspension of payments before the Makati RTC.

Decrying PPI’s refusal or inability to honor its obligations under the educational pre-need plans, PEPCI sought to provide a forum by which the plan holders could seek redress for their pecuniary loss under their policies by maintaining a website on the internet under the address of www.pepcoalition.com.

Gimenez alleged that PEPCI also owned, controlled and moderated on the internet a blogspot under the Web site address www.pacificnoplan.blogspot.com, as well as a yahoo e-group at no2pep2010@yahoogroups.com. These Web sites are easily accessible to the public or by anyone logged on to the internet.

Gimenez, in explaining his choice of filing the case before a Makati court, said that he accessed the website in Makati on various dates from Aug. 25 to Oct. 2, 2005.

The Justice Secretary opined that the crime of “internet libel was non-existent, hence, the accused could not be charged with libel.

The public respondent, although finding that probable cause existed, quashed the Information and found that the Information lacked any allegations that the offended parties were actually residing in Makati at the time of the commission of the offense as in fact they listed their address in the complaint-affidavit at Yuchengco Tower in Binondo, Manila; or that the alleged libelous article was printed and first published in Makati.

The lower court later changed its mind and granted the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration and accordingly ordered the public prosecutor to “amend the Information to cure the defect of want of venue.”

Retro

June 17th, 2010, 09:36 AM

An ugly toll of technology: Impatience and Forgetfulness :ohno:
June 15, 2010, 2:56pm - Manila Bulletin Online

Are your Facebook friends more interesting than those you have in real life?

Has high-speed Internet made you impatient with slow-speed children?

Do you sometimes think about reaching for the fast-forward button, only to realize that life does not come with a remote control?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, exposure to technology may be slowly reshaping your personality. Some experts believe excessive use of the Internet, cellphones and other technologies can cause us to become more impatient, impulsive, forgetful and even more narcissistic.

“More and more, life is resembling the chat room,” says Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, director of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic at Stanford. “We’re paying a price in terms of our cognitive life because of this virtual lifestyle.”

We do spend a lot of time with our devices, and some studies have suggested that excessive dependence on cellphones and the Internet is akin to an addiction. Web sites like NetAddiction.com offer self-assessment tests to determine if technology has become a drug.

Among the questions used to identify those at risk: Do you neglect housework to spend more time online? Are you frequently checking your e-mail? Do you often lose sleep because you log in late at night? If you answered “often” or “always,” technology may be taking a toll on you.

In a study to be published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia subjected 173 college students to tests measuring risk for problematic Internet and gambling behaviors.

About 5 percent of the students showed signs of gambling problems, but 10 percent of the students posted scores high enough to put them in the at-risk category for Internet “addiction.”

Technology use was clearly interfering with the students’ daily lives, but it may be going too far to call it an addiction, says Nicki Dowling, a clinical psychologist who led the study. Dowling prefers to call it “Internet dependence.”

Typically, the concern about our dependence on technology is that it detracts from our time with family and friends in the real world.

But psychologists have become intrigued by a more subtle and insidious effect of our online interactions. It may be that the immediacy of the Internet, the efficiency of the iPhone and the anonymity of the chat room change the core of who we are, issues that Dr. Aboujaoude explores in a book, “Virtually You: The Internet and the Fracturing of the Self,” to be released next year.

Dr. Aboujaoude also asks whether the vast storage available in e-mail and on the Internet is preventing many of us from letting go, causing us to retain many old and unnecessary memories at the expense of making new ones.

Everything is saved these days, he notes, from the meaningless e-mail sent after a work lunch to the angry online exchange with a spouse. (NYT)

JulZ

June 19th, 2010, 03:18 AM

question, what is the hierarchy of IT jobs?

Retro

June 23rd, 2010, 11:08 PM

Most businesses found using computers, but not the Internet

BusinessWorld Online/IT Matters
June 24, 2010

NEARLY NINE IN 10 businesses outside the so-called information economy use computers, though only a fifth use the Internet to place and receive orders, results of the Survey on Information and Communication Technology conducted by the National Statistics Office in 2008 but released only yesterday showed.

The results showed that computer use among so-called non-information economy establishments — which exclude information and communication technology, content and media firms — reached 87.5% that year.

Non-information economy establishments were categorized into agriculture; construction; education; electricity, gas and water; financial intermediation; fishing; health and social work; hotel; manufacturing; mining and quarrying; real estate, renting and business activities; other community, social and personal services; transport, storage and communications; as well as wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods. “Computers” referred to desktop, laptop, mini, main frame, handheld and other computer hardware.

The results showed that construction surpassed the other non-information economy businesses in terms of computer use, registering 99.1%. It was followed by education (97.3%) and electricity, gas and water (96.6%). All the others recorded more than 50% each, with fishing at the bottom with 54.8%.

A smaller percentage — 69.7% — used the Internet in their operations. The top three sectors in this regard were construction (88.5%), education (87.2%) as well as real estate, renting and business activities (84.8%). Fishing again was at the bottom with 32.3%.

Moreover, only 28.7% of total employees used computers routinely at work, led by financial intermediation at 84.3%.

Finally, only 21.2% used the Internet to place and receive orders. This use was highest among hotels and restaurants at 34.6%.

Ady001

June 24th, 2010, 03:20 AM

We still need national broadband network, Aquino told

By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:01:00 06/03/2010

Filed Under: Internet, Computing & Information Technology, Graft & Corruption, NBN deal

MANILA, Philippines—Presumptive president-elect Sen. Benigno Aquino III should consider electronically connecting the bureaucracy despite the controversy stirred by the scuttled $329-million NBN-ZTE deal, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Executive Secretary Mendoza observed that the technical problems on the electronic transmission of votes in the May 10 elections had highlighted the need for a broadband network in the country.

He said that in Southeast Asia, only the Philippines and Myanmar lacked such a network.

“If we had a national broadband, problems on the electronic transmission would not have cropped up. I hope the next administration will consider the national broadband network,” he told reporters.

Mendoza was himself charged for signing the broadband network contract as then Transportation and Communication Secretary, but said he had been cleared of any liability by the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman had cleared President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo of graft charges as well as of charges that they conspired to stop whistle-blower Rodolfo Lozada Jr. from testifying on the matter.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100603-273555/We-still-need-national-broadband-network-Aquino-told

Igsuonnimo

June 30th, 2010, 02:40 PM

Cisco unveils tablet computer for business users (http://ph.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100630/ttc-us-it-company-computer-cisco-0de2eff.html) —Yahoo!® News Philippines (http://ph.news.yahoo.com/)
Agence France-Presse
Wednesday June 30,2010

NEW YORK (AFP) - – US networking giant Cisco has unveiled a tablet computer for business professionals as technology rivals line up to compete with Apple's iPad.

The Cisco Cius, pronounced "see us," is powered by Google's open-source Android operating system and boasts eight hours of battery life.

Cisco said customer trials of the Cius would begin later this year and the device would be available in the first quarter of next year.

It weighs 1.15 pounds (0.52 kilograms), less than the iPad's 1.5 pounds (0.68 kgs), and has a seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) screen, smaller than the 9.7-inch (24.6-cm) screen on the Apple device.

Unlike the iPad, which does not have a camera, the Cius features two -- a front-mounted high-definition camera which allows for HD video streaming and real-time video, and a five-megapixel rear-facing camera.

The Cius also offers email, instant messaging, Web browsing through Wi-Fi and eventually 4G connectivity, and the ability to produce, edit and share content stored locally or on the Internet, Cisco said in a statement.

Cisco said the device was designed to provide workers with "the ability to access and share the content they need from any place on the network."

"This platform can transform how healthcare professionals advance patient care, how retailers deliver service experiences to consumers, or how universities deliver world-class education to their students," said Tony Bates, a Cisco senior vice president.

US computer giant Dell last month unveiled a tablet computer called the "Streak" which is also powered by Google's Android.

Apple said last week that it has sold more than three million iPads since the device went on sale on April 3.

Retro

July 1st, 2010, 09:30 AM

Vietnam steps up China-style Internet control

By Ian Timberlake
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 12:02:00 07/01/2010

HANOI, Vietnam—Blogger Nguyen Hue Chi is locked in an electronic game of cat and mouse with a mystery cyberattacker—widely believed to be the government.

Chi and his colleagues have set up a series of websites and blogs questioning government policy in the past year, only to see them attacked and blocked.

Observers blame the communist state, which they say has adopted a more aggressive stance towards politically sensitive Internet sites.

"It seems that the government is definitely starting to follow the China model," said a foreign diplomat who asked for anonymity.

"The simple fact is, where they used to just try to block access, now they try to take down the websites."

According to the diplomat's count, about 24 websites have been disrupted this year. Bauxite Vietnam, which Chi administers, was one of them.

The website last year initiated a petition against government plans for bauxite mining in the country's Central Highlands, helping to fuel a rare public outcry from a broad spectrum of society.

The project, now underway, is controversial partly because at least one Chinese company has been granted a major contract.

"It's clear that they have followed the Chinese model of controlling the Internet," said Chi, which has also criticized the government over a sea dispute with China.

Beijing operates a vast system of Web censorship, sometimes referred to as the "Great Firewall of China."

Chi said two blogs and a website established in April last year were all blocked by year's end, "despite great resistance," and three new sites became overloaded from "hundreds of thousands" of attacks.

Bauxite Vietnam is still accessible, however, through two blogs. And Chi vowed to defend his websites "until the end."

In March, US-based Internet giant Google said hackers had specifically "tried to squelch opposition to bauxite mining efforts in Vietnam.”

Those responsible might have had "some allegiance" to the Vietnamese government, said California-based Internet security firm McAfee.

The incidents recalled cyberattacks in China that Google in January said had been a bid to hack into the email accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Google stopped censoring its search engine results in China, as is required by the government for it to operate.

Google also issued a warning on Vietnam in June, saying it was troubled by new regulations that may allow the government to block access to websites and track the activities of Internet users.

But Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that soaring rates of Internet use have brought "challenges" such as violent content and pornography, particularly at public Internet businesses.

"This decision is aimed at guaranteeing safety and healthy usage for Internet users at public Internet access points in Hanoi," said ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga.

She said concerns over free expression are groundless.

Vietnam's Internet growth is among the world's fastest, and users number almost 24 million or about 28 percent of the population, Nga added.

Observers said Vietnam stepped up its campaign when it allegedly began blocking Facebook, the world's most popular social networking site, in November. Users are still unable to log in through the site's homepage, but many have found other ways to access the site.

Access to the BBC's Vietnamese language website has also been hit.

These restrictions, and on news media, led Western donors in December to say Vietnam's actions threatened its rapid economic progress.

A second diplomat, who also asked for anonymity, said that despite its efforts, the government will face difficulties controlling the Internet.

"You can close down Facebook and you can close down YouTube but there will always be ways for people who really want to, to get around it," said the diplomat.

Blogging has fast risen in popularity since it entered Vietnam in 2005. The government began to clamp down last year even though only a small percentage of commentators are focused on politically sensitive issues, said one blogger.

"I think last year was a big milestone," the blogger, who requested anonymity, said.

Vietnamese security agencies have "exponentially" raised their Internet monitoring ability "because that's the space the dissidents have moved into," said Carl Thayer, a Vietnam specialist with the University of New South Wales.

"They're acquiring and absorbing into their capabilities very modern stuff," partly with help from fellow-communist China which faces similar threats from cyber dissidents, he said.

The sensitivity of Internet conversation has been heightened by next year's Communist Party Congress, a five-yearly event that determines high-ranking leadership posts, Thayer added.

Key documents will be released for public comment before the Congress, and the Party wants to prevent that discussion "from being hijacked" by dissidents, he said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch accused Vietnam in May of a sophisticated and sustained attack against online dissent.

It said at least seven independent bloggers had been detained over the previous two months.

Retro

July 1st, 2010, 05:37 PM

Facebook, Twitter powerful business tools—research group :)

Inquirer.net Online
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 19:15:00 06/30/2010

SINGAPORE - Social media such as Facecbook and Twitter or blogging sites have become powerful tools that influence what people buy, online researcher Nielsen said Wednesday, urging business to embrace the trend.

Nearly three in four people worldwide who use the Internet have visited a social networking or blog, spending an average of almost six hours a month on them, The Nielsen Company said in a report.

Of the seven biggest brands online globally, three are social media networking sites—Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube—it said in its latest report on social media trends in the Asia Pacific region.

"Social media is having a larger and larger influence on purchasing decisions," said Charles Buchwalter, chairman and chief executive of Nielsen Online Japan.

"Everyone understands that social media is hot, it's growing quickly and in very unpredictable ways everywhere in the world," he told reporters in an online media briefing.

According to Nielsen's findings, online product reviews are the third most trusted source of information when consumers decide whether to purchase a product, coming after recommendations from friends and family.

From China and India to Australia, online reviews are a major influence in buying electronics items, cosmetics, cars and food, among other things, it said.

An average 32 percent access social media sites from their workplaces and 31 percent access them from the confines of their bedrooms.

"The findings we've uncovered in this social media report highlight, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that social media is here to stay and needs to be taken seriously by the broader business community," said Megan Clarken, managing director of Nielsen's online business in the Asia Pacific.

Clarken added that "businesses can no longer afford to simply observe the social media phenomenon, they need to embrace it."

Buchwalter said Facebook "is much more than a poster child for social media" as businesses increasingly use it. "Social media is for real. There's no turning back."

Nanflexal

July 4th, 2010, 03:56 AM

if the president revive this project "NBN" (National Broadband Network) i will support him because it will create direct competition to PLDT/Globe/Digitel/ Bayan and Wi-tribe and as a result, Internet will become affordable and can bring higher internet speed.

Kailanga natin ng NBN para sa ikakaka-ganda ng internet connection natin and will make internet cheaper and faster.

Mod. Please don't merge this topic to "Telecommunications Industry". thanks

Ady001

July 4th, 2010, 01:28 PM

@Nanflexal, this thread might be merged to another one, but my take:

Finland makes broadband a 'legal right'

Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen.

From 1 July every Finn will have the right to access to a 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection.

Finland has vowed to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015.

In the UK the government has promised a minimum connection of at least 2Mbps to all homes by 2012 but has stopped short of enshrining this as a right in law.

The Finnish deal means that from 1 July all telecommunications companies will be obliged to provide all residents with broadband lines that can run at a minimum 1Mbps speed.
Broadband commitment

Speaking to the BBC, Finland's communication minister Suvi Linden explained the thinking behind the legislation: "We considered the role of the internet in Finns everyday life. Internet services are no longer just for entertainment.

"Finland has worked hard to develop an information society and a couple of years ago we realised not everyone had access," she said.

It is believed up to 96% of the population are already online and that only about 4,000 homes still need connecting to comply with the law.

In the UK internet penetration stands at 73%.

The British government has agreed to provide everyone with a minimum 2Mbps broadband connection by 2012 but it is a commitment rather than a legally binding ruling.

"The UK has a universal service obligation which means virtually all communities will have broadband," said a spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Making broadband a legal right could have implications for countries that plan tough action on illegal file-sharing.

Both the UK and France have said they may cut off or limit the internet connections of people who persistently download music or films for free.

The Finnish government has adopted a more gentle approach.

"We will have a policy where operators will send letters to illegal file-sharers but we are not planning on cutting off access," said Ms Linden.

A poll conducted for the BBC World Service earlier this year found that almost four in five people around the world believed that access to the internet is a fundamental right.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10461048.stm

Sana maging katulad tayo ng Finland...

Nanflexal

July 5th, 2010, 03:18 AM

I hope they won't merge this thread to "Telecommunications Industry" because the title is clear and a dream of every filipino to be able to access the world wide web via National Broadband Network.

Retro

July 5th, 2010, 10:53 AM

Nanflexal

July 7th, 2010, 08:53 AM

^^ According to an old information concerning our national broadband network it supposed to be interconnecting all our gov't. agencies, institution and gocc as part of national ICT plan.

Here's the link to that article.

http://www.aijc.com.ph/PCCF/observatory/observatory-medium-term-neda.htm

This mean it won't compete with existing private broadband network operator but rather complement with each other either sharing facilities or available access network in rural area.

OMG.

b_two

July 7th, 2010, 03:24 PM

Retro

July 8th, 2010, 12:12 AM

Germany takes legal steps against Facebook

(philstar.com) Updated July 08, 2010 04:08 AM

BERLIN (AP) – A German data protection official said yesterday he launched legal proceedings against Facebook, which he accused of illegally accessing and saving personal data of people who don't use the social networking site.

Johannes Caspar, head of the Hamburg office for data protection, said it had initiated legal steps that could result in Facebook being fined tens of thousands of euros for saving private information of individuals who don't use the site and haven't granted it access to their details.

"We consider the saving of data from third parties, in this context, to be against data privacy laws," Caspar said in a statement.

Facebook has until Aug. 11 to respond formally to the legal complaint against it. Its response will determine whether the case goes further.

The company, based in Palo Alto, California, confirmed in an e-mail to The Associated Press that it had received a letter from Caspar.

"We are currently reviewing it and will readily respond to it within the given timeframe," Facebook said.

Germans are protected by some of the world's most strict privacy laws, which lay out in detail how and how much of an individual's private information may be accessed by whom.

Germany also has launched an investigation into Google Inc. over its Street View mapping program.

In April, Facebook changed its privacy settings to allow users to block access to the contacts listed in their e-mail, but Caspar argues that the previously saved contacts have not been erased and are being used for marketing purposes.

"It is a system that is designed around making it possible for Facebook to expand, for its own benefit," Caspar said in a telephone interview.

He said his office had received complaints from "many" people who had been contacted by Facebook after it obtained their names and e-mail addresses through people listing them as a contact.

He could not give a specific number, but said that it indicated third parties' data had been obtained by Facebook had been saved for future use.

"Given that several million people in Germany alone are members, this is a very unsettling notion," he said.

Germany's consumer protection minister, Ilse Aigner, said last month that she plans to give up her Facebook account, arguing that it still wasn't doing enough to protect users' data.

Maxxclip

July 8th, 2010, 02:43 AM

Director Ridley Scott teaming up with YouTube on docu

WASHINGTON—Ridley Scott wants you to film your day and upload it to YouTube.

The Oscar-winning director of "Blade Runner," "Gladiator," "Thelma and Louise" and other hit films is collaborating with the video-sharing site to document a day in the life of people around the world.

Kevin Macdonald, director of "The Last King of Scotland," "Touching the Void," "One Day in September" and other films, is also taking part in the project dubbed "Life in a Day."

Google-owned YouTube described it as a "historic cinematic experiment" intended to "document one day, as seen through the eyes of people around the world."

Contributors are being asked to break out their video cameras on July 24.

"You have 24 hours to capture a snapshot of your life on camera," YouTube said in a blog post.

"You can film the ordinary -- a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary -- a baby's first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage," it said.

Macdonald will then edit the footage into a documentary film to be produced by Scott.

YouTube said the full-length documentary will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Utah in January.

Contributors whose footage makes the final cut will be credited as co-directors and 20 will be selected to attend the premiere.

Footage needs to be uploaded to the "Life in a Day (http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20100708-279882/Director-Ridley-Scott-teaming-up-with-YouTube-on-docu)" channel at youtube.com/lifeinaday any time before July 31.

YouTube last year created the world's first online orchestra, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, choosing more than 90 professional and amateur musicians from more than 30 countries through auditions on the video-sharing service.

RonnieR

July 13th, 2010, 04:26 AM

AOC launches LED monitors with 3 E’s technology

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 00:00

AOC, the leading computer display manufacturer in the world, launches its new line of LED monitors and LCD TV. The first to launch the LED monitor to the Philippines, AOC furthers its green campaign through its monitors that are safe and energy efficient because they have no mercury content with a press conference and a dealer’s launch last July 7 at the Garden Ballroom of EDSA Shangri-La.

AOC guarantees the 3 E’s of technology—GrEen, Ergonomic, and Entertaining. Its new line of monitors are equipped with top-of-the-line features such as the mercury-free power-saver LED backlight, Navi-Ring to replace the modern remote control, and multiple input connections for the gamer in everyone.

AOC also continues to make safer and more efficient products for a better environment. These LED monitors LUVIA, ECO 7, and MASKK significantly reduce toxic waste production and their automatic power-off timer lessens energy consumption.

The LUVIA debuts AOC’s newest care-for-the-customer technology, i-care. It detects the intensity of available light and adjusts the monitor’s brightness automatically for maximum eye strain protection. Completing the dreamy ambience is the blue LED light, which gives a pleasant glow to illuminate the keyboards even in dark to low-light environments.

Unlike your usual black-on-black monitor, the LUVIA features an ultra slim crystal frame design that can be decorated with Pop Art stickers. You can choose to have deep dark forests outlining your monitor edges with Mystic Black or go for a more vibrant and youthful look with Floral Red. A diverse new piece of technology that blends functionality with your own unique style, the LUVIA is truly the perfect centerpiece for any room in your living space.
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/tech-times/21397-aoc-launches-led-monitors-with-3-es-technology-

Retro

July 13th, 2010, 08:11 AM

Vacationing geek triggers Malacañang’s Website woes

Manila Standard Today
by Joyce Pangco Pañares
July 12, 2010

THE government’s official Web site (www.op.gov.ph) has been down for close to two weeks, and simply because its administrator has gone on leave and no one but he knows the password, Malacañang acknowledged Sunday.

And it’s not simply President Benigno Aquino III’s Web site that has been in disarray since he took his oath as the country’s 15th President: his entire communications group’s Web site is down as well.

“Everyone says you should not use ‘under construction pages’, but this Web site has existed long before your support made me the 15th President of the Philippines, and it will continue to exist long after I have done my sworn duty to our beloved motherland,” the President said in his message posted at the Web site’s placement page.

“Rest assured we are working hard on a new Web site that will reflect my commitment to greater transparency and accountability. Stay tuned!”

A photograph of Mr. Aquino during his June 30 inauguration was placed beside his message, which was written in English and Filipino.

But presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda could not say why the Aquino administration did not have an up-and-running Web site several days after Mr. Aquino assumed office. He was able to talk to one of the web site administrators who had access to its password only on Friday afternoon, he said.

“She said she did not know how to contact us, but I was already able to speak to her,” Lacierda said.

“We will have the Web site ready soon; we are just prioritizing the formation of the communications group.”

President Aquino would issue an executive order this week re-organizing the Office of the Press Secretary, Lacierda said, adding the structure had yet to be made final along with who would head the communications group.

Mr. Aquino has repeatedly underscored the importance of having an effective communications group, although he appears to be having a hard time forming his team.

“You really want to engage the citizenry, and part of that is having an effective communications strategy,” he said.

“It’s not like after being elected, we’d just let our communications group take care of itself.”

Lacierda aside, the other members of the communications group are former Transportation Undersecretary Herminio Coloma, former television anchor Ricky Carandang, and former newspaper columnist and television host Manolo Quezon III, who was Mr. Aquino’s spokesman for his inauguration.

“The structure is still being finalized. We will be making an announcement this week, hopefully, because that is what the President wants,” Lacierda said.

Coloma will reportedly head the media operations arm of the communications group, while Carandang and Quezon will handle Mr. Aquino’s messages.

Lacierda said he will have a male deputy spokesman whom he declined to identify. He said Maria Montelibano, a relative of the President, could not be appointed in any official capacity but could serve as a consultant of the communications group.

Igsuonnimo

July 29th, 2010, 03:54 AM

A return to silence in a post-WikiLeaks world? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100728/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_intelligence_wikileaks)
Associated Press

By KIMBERLY DOZIER, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jul 28, 4:41 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Dismayed by the massive war-documents leak, intelligence experts are raising alarms that post-Sept. 11 changes promoting information sharing have made it too easy to lose control of the nation's secrets.

Some intelligence veterans say it's time to rethink how widely classified material is shared at lower levels or, at the very least, to step up monitoring of the people who are given access.

"Frankly, we all knew this was going to happen," says former CIA Director Michael Hayden. He predicts "a new emphasis on protecting."

The intelligence failures that led to the attacks of 9/11 were blamed on government agencies hoarding information instead of sharing it, missing crucial clues that could have headed off al-Qaida's strikes. The changes that reduced this kind of information "stovepiping" have produced the opposite problem — amassing so much data that officials complain it's hard to make sense of it, and as the WikiLeaks incident shows, keep it secret.

Both intelligence officials and outside experts suggested that agency chiefs may push to limit access to electronic "portals" that have provided growing data access to intelligence officers, diplomats and troops around the world. And others predicted tighter scrutiny by an administration that has already pushed aggressively to investigate and prosecute leakers.

On the other hand, some lawmakers on Capitol Hill worry that the leaking incident will give the nation's 16 intelligence agencies an excuse to go back to old ways of holding back some information as "too sensitive" to be shared.

"The intelligence community has a long way to go in information sharing," says Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "If these leaks lead to even more stovepipes," as in limiting access to data to only certain analysts or agencies, "it would be yet another devastating result of this betrayal," he said.

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., a House Intelligence Committee member who shares those concerns, conducted a closed hearing Tuesday on information sharing.

Eshoo would not detail what went on at the hearing, but she said that "it's the nature of the intelligence community to hoard information." Despite the WikiLeaks episode, she said she would still push for "more information sharing in the intelligence community, not less."

Suspicion for the WikiLeaks document dump centers on Spc. Bradley Manning, of Potomac, Md., a 22-year-old soldier who is being detained in Kuwait, charged with "mishandling and leaking classified data."

Manning was blamed for leaking a classified helicopter cockpit video of a 2007 firefight in Baghdad. Detained after he bragged of providing classified material to WikiLeaks, Manning was later charged with accessing what were described as more than 150,000 classified State Department cables, which have yet to surface.

So far, no U.S. official has directly linked Manning to the WikiLeaks documents.

One U.S. official who has examined some of the WikiLeaks documents said everything he'd seen could have been obtained by Manning by surfing a Defense Department intranet system known as the "SIPRNet," or Secret Internet Protocol Router Network. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

Intelligence analysts like Manning and even troops in the field can access military field reports from Iraq or Afghanistan, or State Department sites, or even some intelligence sites.

The SIPRNet is not new, but access to it has grown since Sept. 11, 2001, to make information available to those who need it as the nation engaged in two wars.

The government has also put more information on SIPRNet by adding more portals giving users access to non-Defense Department information systems such as Intelink, an inter-intelligence agency data-sharing system. Many of these portals require passwords to reach more "top-secret" information, as opposed to the less-restricted "secret" material made available by WikiLeaks.

The U.S. official, who works regularly with these sites, said the defense community had already been fighting the natural inclination of those in the closed field of intelligence to restrict more of the portals by requiring passwords, even before the WikiLeaks incident.

Out on the battlefield, the WikiLeaks episode may also cause a new reluctance to share information. From a sergeant on the ground writing an after-action report following combat, to a supervisor reading the documents, there could well be a new push to leave information out rather than risk having it leaked.

That could make it harder for military headquarters to get an immediate assessment of what's really happening on the battlefield, some officials say. And it could harm the ability of military historians later to make sense of the war.

But there's pressure from the other direction as well: No intelligence manager would want to be responsible for holding back information that could connect the dots and prevent a terrorist attack.

Steven Aftergood, a specialist on government secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, predicted that agencies would look for ways to tag records through electronic watermarks, so that their origins, and the leaker, could be more easily identified.

Former CIA chief Hayden, who now works at the Chertoff Group, a Washington-based consulting firm, went further, suggesting pouring resources into "real-time keystroke analysis of government employees," monitoring everything they type and creating a perpetual cyber-polygraph.

While that already happens at some top-secret facilities, expanding the effort to the hundreds of thousands of people who access the SIPRNet could add millions of dollars to the nation's already-huge costs of fighting terrorism and two wars.

* * * * * * * * * *

Beware of tailgaters

Retro

July 29th, 2010, 10:31 AM

‘Tweetaholic’ Aquino admin bares plan to maximize online media

GMA.news.tv
2010-07-28 21:14:03

Even as they await President Benigno Aquino III’s executive order making their existence official, two Cabinet-rank secretaries who will head his Communications Group said Wednesday they plan to maximize Internet-based media in strengthening Malacanang's public information efforts.

Ricky Carandang, who will be Cabinet Secretary for Messaging, and Herminio Coloma who will be Cabinet Secretary for Information Dissemination, said they are already working on several ways for the government to communicate better with the public.

"Real communication involves two-way flow of information, hindi yung usual lang na (not just the usual approach of) from the top down," said Coloma, after presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda introduced him and Carandang.

Aquino has not yet signed the executive order restructuring the Office of the Press Secretary into the Communications Group as he is prioritizing the signing of the executive order creating the Truth Commission, which will likely be released this week. (See: CommGroup members Carandang, Coloma to get Cabinet rank)

Online media

Even though Coloma, Carandang, and Carandang's deputy Manuel L. Quezon III are currently working on a "voluntary basis"—pending Aquino’s issuance of the long-awaited executive order—they have already created some means for the public to directly communicate with the government, Lacierda said.

The digital version of the Official Gazette of the Philippines was launched a few days ago, carrying the full text of Aquino's State of the Nation Address. (See: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines goes online)

Lacierda, who said the Aquino administration has been described as "Tweetaholic" because some officials like him and Carandang are active on Twitter, said the administration wants Twitter use to be "institutional."

The Official Gazette already has an official Twitter account. Malacanang will also set up soon its official Facebook account.

Twitter and Facebook are just two of the fast-growing websites that allow Internet users to exchange or broadcast information with hundreds, thousands, or even millions of other users worldwide, more conveniently and rapidly than email and e-groups. These richly-multimedia platforms have thus been called “social media" or “social networking" sites.

Coloma said the Communications Group will also link up all the departments in the executive branch so they will all be housed in one website. "Once it's set up it will really be a robust site that will welcome all kinds of input and feedback," he said.

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration had maintained such a common “Internet portal," at URL www.gov.ph, which provided an overview of the Republic of the Philippines and point-and-click links to the websites of the various branches and agencies of the government.

Cellphones and traditional outlets

Coloma said that since not all Filipinos can access the Internet, they are also thinking of ways on how to get public feedback through other means such as mobile phones.

The public can also air their concerns to the government by snail mail, he said.

Lacierda said Aquino has also asked Cabinet secretaries to assign their spokespersons who will speak on their behalf if issues directly concerning their departments need to be explained. The spokespersons will work in coordination with the Communications Group, he said.

For his part, Carandang said the government's intensified efforts to improve its communication arm does not include trying to "spin" a “pro-masses" image of Aquino, who came from a landed clan but is know for his non-ostentatious lifestyle.

"There's no deliberate effort to spin the president in a certain way; ganyan talaga siya (he’s really like that). I've know him since he was a congressman, he's always been like that," said Carandang.

Strengthen PNoy’s trust rating

Coloma said that the use of modern technology to reach Filipinos is one of their ways to make sure that Aquino maintains a high trust rating.

“Trust rating needs to be earned and strengthened. Good public relations is truth well told," he said.

He likewise expressed confidence that Aquino will keep the people’s trust due to his “genuine and without any pretense" image.

Pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported early this month that roughly 88 percent of adult Filipinos believe that Aquino can fulfill the promises he made during the campaigns. (See: 88 percent of Pinoys trust PNoy - SWS survey)

Carandang meanwhile said that there will be no deliberate effort to change the image of the President.

“No spin, no manufacture and no fabrication… This is the way he [Aquino] wants it," he said.

SONA advanced copy

Meanwhile, Carandang said the Communications Group is looking into how the ABS-CBN News Channel, which he worked for before Aquino recruited him into the presidential media team, got an advance copy of the President’s State of the Nation Address.

The ANC was able to disseminate the full text of the SONA right after Aquino delivered his speech, but Carandang denied leaking the copy to his former employer.

"We're still looking into that. I'm trying to find out what happened there," he said.

Carandang had told reporters Tuesday that they distributed advance copies of the speech to select congressmen and Cabinet members so the ANC must have sourced it from any of these officials.—With Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV

Narnian_King

August 7th, 2010, 07:26 PM

mrboy

August 11th, 2010, 02:13 PM

Top 10 Facebook users in the world (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20100811-286209/Top-10-Facebook-users-in-the-world)

NQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:41:00 08/11/2010

Filed Under: Social networking, Internet
MANILA, Philippines—Following are the top 10 users of Facebook worldwide as of August 10, 2010:

1. United States: 128,936,800
2. United Kingdom: 27,479,020
3. Indonesia: 26,792,780
4. Turkey: 23,199,180
5. France: 19,416,060
6. Italy: 16,858,340
7. Philippines: 15,935,880
8. Canada: 15,756,400
9. Mexico: 14,535,020
10. India: 12,608,840

Source: CheckFacebook.com

Narnian_King

August 12th, 2010, 04:21 AM

Playdom Acquired By Disney For Up To $763.2 Million

http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/27/playdom-acquired-by-disney-for-up-to-763-2-million/#comments

http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/resized/0004/5825/45825v1-max-250x250.jpg

by Michael Arrington on Jul 27, 2010

Disney has acquired social gaming startup Playdom, confirming our story from last week. The price – $563.2 million plus an earn-out of up to $200 million.

Playdom’s last round of financing valued the company at $345 million, and the company has raised a total of around $76 million.

Press release is below:

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY TO ACQUIRE LEADING SOCIAL GAME DEVELOPER PLAYDOM

Burbank, California – July 27, 2010—Advancing on its goal of bringing consumers its well-known stories, characters and brands in ever more engaging ways, The Walt Disney Company has agreed to acquire Playdom Inc., one of the leading companies in the fast-growing business of online social gaming.

Playdom shareholders will receive total consideration of $563.2 million, subject to certain conditions, and a performance-linked earn-out of up to $200 million.

In just two and a half years of operation, Playdom has established itself as a pacesetter in building popular games for social networks enjoyed by consumers around the globe. Through well-known titles like Social City, Sorority Life, Market Street and Bola, Playdom engages an estimated 42 million active players each month.

By acquiring Playdom, Disney will strengthen its already-robust digital gaming portfolio, acquire a first-rate management team and provide consumers new ways to interact with the company on popular social networks like Facebook and MySpace.

“We see strong growth potential in bringing together Playdom’s talented team and capabilities with our great creative properties, people and world-renowned brands like Disney, ABC, ESPN and Marvel.” said Robert A. Iger, President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company.

“This acquisition furthers our strategy of allocating capital to high-growth businesses that can benefit from our many characters, stories and brands, delivering them in a creatively compelling way to a new generation of fans on the platforms they prefer,” Iger added.

“We are at the start of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way people of all ages play games with their friends across devices, platforms and geographical boundaries,” said Playdom Chief Executive Officer John Pleasants. “Disney is an incredibly forward-thinking company that shares our vision and is the ideal partner to further our mission to bring great entertainment to people around the world.”
Playdom, which has 15 game development studios, will remain headquartered in Mountain View, California. Pleasants will become an Executive Vice President of the Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) and General Manager of Playdom, reporting to DIMG President Steve Wadsworth.

Disney expects Playdom’s expertise in social gaming software tools, business intelligence and rapid innovation to broadly benefit DIMG, which already has a substantial global presence in online, console and mobile gaming

The transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and certain non-U.S. merger control regulations, is expected to close by the end of Disney’s 2010 fiscal year.

About The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenues of about $36 billion in its most recent fiscal year.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements relate to a variety of matters, including but not limited to: the operations of the businesses of Disney and Playdom; the timing and consummation of the transaction; the expected benefits of the integration of the two companies; the market for online social gaming and other statements that are not historical fact. These statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Disney regarding future events and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty including uncertainties regarding the business of each company, the receipt or timing of regulatory approvals and continued consumer acceptance of online social gaming.

Disney undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that may cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements are set forth in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Disney for the year ended October 3, 2009 and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Disney.

Retro

August 12th, 2010, 07:21 AM

Andreessen's Social-Networking Startup Ning Gets Users to Pay for Service

By Douglas MacMillan
Aug 12, 2010 12:01 PM
Bloomberg.net

Ning Inc., the social-networking site co-founded by venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, did what many young Web companies only dream of: It got customers weaned on free services to start paying.

Since telling users in April it would stop offering the means to build and operate social networks for free, Ning’s paid user base tripled to 45,000, with memberships starting at $2.95 a month. The closely held company is adding paying subscribers at 5,000 a month, three times the rate it had before.

“A very large percentage of economic activity is shifting online and it makes sense that there are more services that are going to charge,” said Andreessen, the co-founder of Netscape Communications Corp., who serves as Palo Alto, California-based Ning’s chairman. “It also means there are going to be more people willing to pay.”

Ning is part of a minority of social-media sites that are charging users, following a path cut by media and entertainment providers, which have experimented with fee-based services. Founded in 2004, the same year as Facebook Inc., Ning failed to turn a profit from its original strategy: offering most services for free and charging a monthly fee for extra features. Co- founder and Chief Executive Officer Gina Bianchini resigned in March, and 42 percent of the staff was fired in April.

Social-networking tools on the Web are widely available to the public for free. Facebook, which has more than 500 million users, is expected to generate at least $1.4 billion this year, mostly from the sale of ads, two people familiar with the matter said last month. Twitter, with more than 100 million users, began running ads on its site this year.

‘Niche’ Business Models

With a large population of Web users relying on Facebook for basic social services, like keeping track of close friends, there’s an opportunity for other sites to charge for more unique services, said Lou Kerner, a social-media analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc. in New York.

“Facebook has won the free social media race,” said Kerner. “What you’re seeing in the marketplace is folks who are trying to find out business models that are more niche- oriented.”

For Jive Software Inc., that niche is business. The startup, also based in Palo Alto, sells social-networking and online collaboration tools to corporations, including Nike Inc., Intel Corp. and Charles Schwab Corp. Jive’s services start at $100 per user per year, and many customers pay for at least 10,000 users upfront.

Business Users

“The use of social software in the consumer world has no doubt fueled the interest level” among business users, said Tony Zingale, Jive’s CEO. The company, which received a $30 million investment last month led by Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, expects bookings of as much as $25 million in the last three months of the year, he said.

Paying subscribers are an attractive asset to venture capitalists, who are often asked for money from Internet startups planning to cash in on advertising.

“Ad-driven is a lazy model,” said Dave McClure, a startup adviser and venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. “If there is value then there probably is a paid relationship that works there at some point,” he said.

Business networking site LinkedIn Corp. generates some revenue by selling professional services, like tools for finding and recruiting job candidates. Meetup Inc., a service for coordinating social events, charges organizers a fee.

The “freemium” model of charging a portion of users is nothing new. One of the earliest examples is PayPal Inc., founded in 1998, which made its payment service free to buyers of products and services so that many people would use it.

Exclusive Services

“You need free users to enhance the overall value for the product,” said David Sacks, one of the founders of PayPal, who now runs enterprise social-media startup Yammer.

Ning will be better off without free users, said Jason Rosenthal, who became CEO of the company in March. Ning may lose more than 300,000 nonpaying users when it shuts down free accounts Aug. 20. Since asking users to pay up, individuals and organizations using the site on a regular basis were reminded of the company’s value, he said.

“What we’re seeing in our own business is a desire to get access to something that’s exclusive,” Rosenthal said.

Joseph Porcelli, a resident of the Jamaica Plain area of Boston, helped raise $1,000 so that his nonprofit, Neighbors For Neighbors, can continue to use Ning. The group uses the site to bring local community members together on issues like crime and public safety. Porcelli asked members to donate $50 each and become an honorary “mayor of the block,” to fund the organization’s 20 Ning networks.

While current funds will keep the networks afloat for two months, Porcelli is trying to raise $5,000 to keep them operating for a full year.

“We want to sustain them so they can continue sustaining us,” Porcelli said of Ning. “If you go to Lowe’s and say you’re going to build an addition to your house, you have to pay for the tools.”

Maxxclip

August 12th, 2010, 07:52 AM

Google Earth Used To Fine People With Pools, Again

http://tctechcrunch.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/pool-preview.jpg

by Alexia Tsotsis on Aug 2, 2010

“Under the table” pools may be the catalyst of the next technology revolution in government. During last February’s economic collapse in Greece, the normally technophobic Greek government used Google Maps and Google Earth to find people who had craftily evaded taxes by failing to declare a pool.

Now Google Earth-enabled law enforcement has come to the USA. The town of Riverhead, Long Island, taking a lesson from the Greeks, is also using Google Earth to track down about 250 “unpermitted” pools. And using the satellite imaging service has proved profitable, Riverhead officials have collected over $75,000 in fines from pool owners who never filled out the required paperwork.

While Google Earth was originally intended to help people find their way around, Riverhead is one of the first incidences of what will inevitably be many more cases of the tool being used by local and national governments to catch people evading their duties as citizens, unless Google somehow intervenes. We’ve contacted Google for comment on this somewhat alarming unintended use.

“Pool safety has always been my concern,” Riverhead’s chief building inspector Barnes said regarding the fines.

Update: A Google spokesperson responded that they do not have an official position on this particular use of Google Earth, and provided us with this statement.

“Google Earth is built from information that is available from a broad range of both commercial and public sources. The same information is available to anyone who buys it from these widely-available public sources. Google’s freely available technology has been used for a variety of purposes ranging from travel planning to scientific research to emergency response, rescue, and relief in natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti Earthquake.”

http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/02/google-earth-used-to-fine-people-with-pools-again/

Google Street View offers a glimpse at Internet era privacy

SAN FRANCISCO – Google's online map feature that provides pictures of real-world moments at spots around the world has become a flash point for people worried about the erosion of privacy in the Internet Age.

Street View images at Google Maps sparked controversy from the outset of the project three years ago.

Google dispatched cars and tricycles rigged with cameras and satellite positioning gear to take pictures of what one might see on streets around the world and synched the images to its free online mapping service.

Some people complained that faces could be recognized in pictures, raising the potential that people caught in compromising situations, perhaps stepping out of an adult video store, would have such moments memorialized online.

Others expressed fears that numbers from license plates could be used to figure out who parks or lives on certain streets.

"Street View is a service that collects and makes permanent information that used to be transient," said John Verdi, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

"Someone walking or driving down a street where anyone could see was always public, but when you put it in a database and make it accessible it raises privacy concerns."

People were soon accusing Street View vehicles of straying onto private roads or yards to snap pictures in violation of the California-based Internet giant's policies.

..."The big concern here is that actions speak louder than words" (http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20100811-286173/Google-Street-View-offers-a-glimpse-at-Internet-era-privacy)

Narnian_King

August 12th, 2010, 12:26 PM

Google Street View offers a glimpse at Internet era privacy

SAN FRANCISCO – Google's online map feature that provides pictures of real-world moments at spots around the world has become a flash point for people worried about the erosion of privacy in the Internet Age.

Street View images at Google Maps sparked controversy from the outset of the project three years ago.

Google dispatched cars and tricycles rigged with cameras and satellite positioning gear to take pictures of what one might see on streets around the world and synched the images to its free online mapping service.

Some people complained that faces could be recognized in pictures, raising the potential that people caught in compromising situations, perhaps stepping out of an adult video store, would have such moments memorialized online.

Others expressed fears that numbers from license plates could be used to figure out who parks or lives on certain streets.

"Street View is a service that collects and makes permanent information that used to be transient," said John Verdi, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

"Someone walking or driving down a street where anyone could see was always public, but when you put it in a database and make it accessible it raises privacy concerns."

People were soon accusing Street View vehicles of straying onto private roads or yards to snap pictures in violation of the California-based Internet giant's policies.

..."The big concern here is that actions speak louder than words" (http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20100811-286173/Google-Street-View-offers-a-glimpse-at-Internet-era-privacy)

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/7351/78106553.jpg
Wala nang Privacy. Yari ang may mga Stalker :ohno: :nuts:

du4rcx

August 13th, 2010, 04:29 AM

Thread for Computer Engineering and Information Technology development.

posts issues on computer and information technology development in the Philippines.

du4rcx

August 13th, 2010, 04:52 AM

Computer Engineers

Computer engineers design and develop computer hardware, software, peripheral devices, and communication networks. They are actively involved in web development by developing new features, tools, and services for the World Wide Web and the Internet. They manage the design, content and development of websites and features for the Internet including e-commerce, web streaming and Internet security.

The computing industry is a vital aspect of our national economy. The industry has impacted every aspect of American life including: mainframe computers in government and industry, supercomputers expanding the frontiers of science and technology, desktop computers at home and work, mobile computing, automobiles, communications, appliances, electronic games, entertainment, health care, and aerospace. The computer industry is one of the fastest growing segments of our economy and that growth will continue in the foreseeable future.

Computers are getting smaller and more powerful. Thus, the use of computers is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Each new computer application area requires the skills of the computer engineer. Jobs that do not exist today will be commonplace tomorrow and require computer engineers. Computer engineers are involved with both the design and development of computers as well as the utilization of computing systems in new and innovation applications. Examples are developing computing systems for automated manufacturing, developing computing systems for wireless communication systems, developing operating systems for specialized applications, developing security systems for computing systems, and developing smaller and more powerful computer chips. Computer engineers can design and develop both the hardware and software components present in every computing application. This is especially important in embedded computing systems such as wireless telephones and the automobile industry.

Computer Engineeringeducation involves the traditional computer hardware education from Electrical Engineering Departments with the computer software education from Computer Science Departments. A computer engineer should have a deep understanding of both hardware and software. In addition, their education program has extensive components of mathematics and science disciplines.

With a Computer Engineering degree, an individual has a balanced view of hardware,software, hardware-software tradeoffs, analysis, design and implementation techniques. The curriculum has been designed following the guidelines of ACM and IEEE model curricula for Computer Engineering and in anticipation of meeting Accreditation Board for Engineering and Tedhnology (ABET) standards. As a new program it is not yet accreditated by ABET; however, the program intends to seek ABET accreditation as soon as all requirements to do so are met. The program awards a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (BSCE). There are two distinct tracks available in the UTPA Computer Engineering Program: the Hardware track and the Software track.

Soucre: ICpEP (http://s4.zetaboards.com/COESS/site/)

Sleepwalker

August 13th, 2010, 05:03 AM

du4rcx

August 13th, 2010, 05:15 AM

With the popularity of single chip solutions (microcontroller-based system/embedded systems), I wonder if the current CompE curriculum still introduces the Microprocessor-based system designs. :)

At dahil sa pagdagsa nang mga advance sensors, electro-mechanical components at mga radio-based devices, sana makagawa na ang mga mag-aaral nang isang desente at matalinong robot.

And I also hope this thread will live long... :)

Welcome to the thread Sleepwalker

Microprocessor-based system designs are still included in the curriculum.
may subject sa curriculum na microprocessor systems and design project. dito sila gumagawa ng designs na inaaply ang kanilang mga pinag-aralan.

marami ng Filipinos ang nagpapakita ng galing sa paggawa ng mga projects in robotics.

du4rcx

August 13th, 2010, 05:16 AM

Computer engineering

Computer System engineering, also called computer engineering, is a discipline that combines both electrical engineering and computer science.[1] Computer System engineers usually have training in electronic engineering, software design and hardware-software integration instead of only software engineering or electronic engineering. Computer System engineers are involved in many aspects of computing, from the design of individual microprocessors, personal computers, and supercomputers, to circuit design. This field of engineering not only focuses on how computer systems themselves work, but also how they integrate into the larger picture.[2]

Usual tasks involving computer engineers include writing software and firmware for embedded microcontrollers, designing VLSI chips, designing analog sensors, designing mixed signal circuit boards, and designing operating systems. Computer engineers are also suited for robotics research, which relies heavily on using digital systems to control and monitor electrical systems like motors, communications, and sensors.

Source: wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_engineering)

du4rcx

August 13th, 2010, 05:17 AM

Information technology (IT) is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of information systems". Information technology is a general term that describes any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information.

source: wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology)

amigo32

August 13th, 2010, 05:19 AM

du4rcx

August 13th, 2010, 05:26 AM

I got a hands-on on robotics when I was working in a semicon company. Automation ay normal na lang yan sa semicon.

Pick and place ng chips:D wire bonding:D robot gumagawa. Hindi kaya ng tao, pero na kwento ng mga hired mga late 70's talagang manual daw nila nilalagy ang mga chips dati:D at ang bagal:D

welcome amigo32.

iyan na ngayon ang advantages ng robotics, marami ng gawain ng tao ang kanilang ginagawa, napapabilis pa ang paggawa.

Sleepwalker

August 13th, 2010, 05:37 AM

I got a hands-on on robotics and automation when I was working in a semicon company. Automation ay normal na lang yan sa semicon.

Pick and place ng chips:D wire bonding:D robot gumagawa. Hindi kaya ng tao, pero na kwento ng mga hired mga late 70's talagang manual daw nila nilalagy ang mga chips dati:D at ang bagal:D

Di na pwedeng manual ang wirebonding ngayon, Sa sobrang liit nang distance in between pads, daming chips ang matatapon... :lol:

@du4rcx, thanks for opening this thread... :) Ano pa kaya pwedeng pag-usapan dito...Hehehehhe

Sana, magamit talaga sa bansa natin ang ating mga computer engineers, hindi lang sa pagdesign/develop nang mga hardware at software, pati na rin sa pag-design nang bagong chip.

du4rcx

August 13th, 2010, 05:40 AM

Di na pwedeng manual ang wirebonding ngayon, Sa sobrang liit nang distance in between pads, daming chips ang matatapon... :lol:

@du4rcx, thanks for opening this thread... :) Ano pa kaya pwedeng pag-usapan dito...Hehehehhe

masyado na maliit ang mga chips ngayon, masyado pa sensitive sa static electricity and dusts. kaya machine na talaga ang kailangan gamitin. pinpoint accuracy na kasi ang kailangan.

madami pa lalalabas na topics dito. malawak ang ating mararating sa topic na eto.:cheers:

du4rcx

August 13th, 2010, 05:44 AM

ICpEP.SE (Institute of Computer Engineers of the Philippines, Student edition) will have their annual general assembly tomorrow, August 13, 2010, at Technological Institute of the Philippines - Quezon City with the Theme "Computer Yesta" (Computer Fiesta), activity starts at 1:00 pm and activities includes seminars.

Sleepwalker

August 13th, 2010, 05:52 AM

du4rcx

August 13th, 2010, 05:56 AM

^^Back in my college years, we had a batchmate who designed and develop the concept somewhat similar to Smart Homes concept, wherein the house is fully equipped with sensors and switches.

In case of burglar alarms and fires, it will alert the owner by sending SMS message or if the owner is online on the internet, he can view the layout of the house and see virtually which section is having the alarm.

And the owner can also turn off/turn on an appliance or any electrical device by just click the mouse or by sending SMS message.

Nice concept actually.
maganda yang design na yan. concepts of binary numbers. pwede mo i-plugin ang mga appliances mo sa outlet which is sms controlled. mahirap na maghanap ng mga cp ngayon na capable nyan, ang ginagamit noon yung model ng nokia (6110, 5110) kaya nun magcontrol.

Sleepwalker

August 13th, 2010, 06:06 AM

du4rcx

August 14th, 2010, 05:21 AM

Mamaya, may mag-post na nang mga schematic designs...Hehehehe

May mga gumagamit pa ba ngayon sa DTMF nang mga cellphones para sa mga projects? Uso kasi noong kapanahonan ko yang DTMF. Ginagamit yong DTMF para pag-prove na pwedeng gawing appliance infrared remote control ang cellphone, pag na-convert yong DTMF tones to infrared frequency.

Sobrang nag-evolve ang technology ngayon... :)

may mga schmatic designs ako nyan, pakauwi ko sa monday hanapin ko sa baul ko para maipost ko dito. currently nasa out of town trip pa ako. including pictures ng mga nagawang design na ganyan.

Ady001

August 16th, 2010, 03:23 AM

Wala nang Privacy. Yari ang may mga Stalker :ohno: :nuts:

Lahat ng mga ads blurred... Pag sa Times Square pa 'to, wala na, blurry na...

xxxriainxxx

August 16th, 2010, 07:22 AM

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/7351/78106553.jpg
Wala nang Privacy. Yari ang may mga Stalker :ohno: :nuts:

Sana may street view na sa Pinas...

Ady001

August 17th, 2010, 02:33 AM

^^ Ayoko naman... Siguro sa mga lugar na sobrang prone ang nakawan kagaya ng Marcos Highway...

RonnieR

August 17th, 2010, 11:57 AM

http://call-center-software.tmcnet.com/news/2010/08/17/4959368.htm

Pyramid: Philippines Broadband Market Will Double Over the Next 5 Years

Aug 17, 2010 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- Under-penetration of broadband services in the country, combined with fierce competition between fixed wireline, fixed wireless, and mobile operators going after the same opportunity will result in a doubling of the broadband market over the next five years, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.

The group said its new report, Philippines: New Broadband Services to Drive High Growth Through 2015, offers a precise profile of the country's telecommunications, media, and technology sectors based on proprietary data from our research in the market. It provides detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies.

The Philippines' telecommunications services market, which we expect to generate US$7.3 billion in 2010, will grow at a CAGR of 7.9 percent during the 2010-2015 period, making it one of the fastest growing markets in the Asia/Pacific region. Broadband will be the main driver behind this growth, with fixed broadband service revenues increasing at a 15.7 percent CAGR and mobile data revenue increasing at a CAGR of 10.7 percent between 2010 and 2015. "Declining voice and SMS prices are putting fixed and mobile service revenue under intense pressure, causing mobile and fixed operators to concentrate on broadband as the new revenue stream," says Tae-hyung Kim, Senior Analyst at Pyramid. "The broadband market, driven by the continued proliferation of cable and fixed wireless platforms, including WiMax, will see revenues more than double, from $669 million in 2010 to US$1.4 billion in 2015." "By the end of 2010 nearly 3 million users will subscribe to mobile broadband services, equivalent to 3 percent of total subscriptions," says Kim. "We expect this figure to increase to 10 million users, or 9 percent of total subscriptions, by year-end 2015." Mobile data, driven by SMS, will continue to be the single most important revenue generator in the Philippines, accounting for $3.9 billion in 2015, 37 percent of total revenue that year.

While the Philippine fixed market has long been characterized by low service, the biggest growth opportunity resides in broadband Internet services, offered by fixed operators both via DSL and fixed-wireless technologies. "We predict a boom in broadband adoption, with penetration rates increasing from 2.5 percent of the population at year-end 2010 to 4.9 percent at year-end 2015," Kim notes.

Philippines: New Broadband Services to Drive High Growth Through 2015 is part of Pyramid Research's Asia/Pacific Country Intelligence Report Series.

xxxriainxxx

August 17th, 2010, 01:41 PM

^^ Ayoko naman... Siguro sa mga lugar na sobrang prone ang nakawan kagaya ng Marcos Highway...

ako nman kasi, gusto ko lang din maalala ang Pinas...

Ady001

August 18th, 2010, 05:39 AM

^^ Well, paano kung nasagip nung camera ang isnag taong umiihi? Or Isang taong nabundol at (iimaginin nyo na lang kung kumakain kayo.)

Well, I think it works well as a traffic tool and anti-magnanakaw.

du4rcx

August 18th, 2010, 08:22 AM

^^ maganda yan, at least medyo mababawasan ang magiisip na gumawa ng masama. marami na makakakita sa mga gagawin nilang kalikohan.

-SNPKLSDMBLDR-

August 25th, 2010, 07:57 AM

meron ba ditong subscriber ng Globe Wimax? is it worth it or depende lang talaga sa location?

du4rcx

August 26th, 2010, 01:47 AM

meron ba ditong subscriber ng Globe Wimax? is it worth it or depende lang talaga sa location?

ok naman services nya, pero depende pa rin sa location and distance from the tower.

JuIcYdUdE22

August 26th, 2010, 02:41 AM

meron ba ditong subscriber ng Globe Wimax? is it worth it or depende lang talaga sa location?

Super inconvenient... I had it changed to a direct line connection..

RonnieR

August 27th, 2010, 12:24 PM

Filipinos are top Internet video viewers
08/27/2010 | 05:46 PM

Filipino Internet users are world's top viewers of videos streamed over the Internet, a global social media tracker said Friday.

Global media agency Universal McCann said in its recent survey that the Philippines has the highest percentage of Internet users that watch videos online, even though the country has relatively low number of households connected to the web.

Out of more than 4 million Filipinos who are active Internet users, 98.1 percent watch videos on the Internet — higher than the global average of 82.8 percent.

China and Spain follow with 89.1 percent and 84.1 percent, respectively.

Smart Communications, the Philippines' largest telecommunications network, shared the results of the survey.

"Filipinos use the Internet not only for social networking but also for watching videos in websites like YouTube. This highlights the importance of having a superior, high-speed broadband Internet network in order for subscribers to fully enjoy real-time video streaming such as the previous fights of boxing champion Manny Pacquiao," said Smart Communications spokesman Ramon Isberto.

"With high broadband speeds, subscribers can experience many things on the Internet — play online games, and download movies and music even while surfing," he added.

After Korea on the top, Filipinos also enjoy uploading videos. About 67.51 percent Filipino active Internet users have uploaded or shared videos — almost double the global average of 35 percent. About 70.98 percent Koreans have done so.

Majority of our Internet users likewise maintain social networking accounts. The survey says 3.9 million Filipinos manage a social network profile.

The Philippines has a 21.5-percent Internet penetration. This means that there are still a lot of rooms for growth in the Philippines. The survey cited Norway as having the highest penetration with 86 percent of households being connected to the web. —JE/OMG, GMANews.TV
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/199588/filipinos-are-top-internet-video-viewers

amigo32

August 27th, 2010, 02:46 PM

adik:D mga pinoy. hehehe

kenken94

August 27th, 2010, 05:34 PM

^ di lang Youtube naglalagi ang mga Pinoy Adiks! Pati narin yung mga telenovela na di napapanood dahil nahuhuli ng dating sa bahay eh sa internet narin nahahanap. dami ko nang nakikitang taong nanonood nga mga telenovelas sa internet. pag internet nang pag-uusapan, walang tatalo sa Pilipinas! kahit sa pinakaliblib na probinsya'y merong Cafe at mura lang din ang presyo kya daming taong naadik.......... hahaha! :D

du4rcx

August 28th, 2010, 03:28 AM

That will be the new trend in IT industry. for the next years, it is projected that video streaming in the web will grow 500%.

-SNPKLSDMBLDR-

August 28th, 2010, 03:44 AM

^^ISP's should improve their services for that to happen. 1 Mbps should be the minimum speed for an internet connection. at hindi dapat tawagin na broadband ang 512kbps na internet speed. :lol:

du4rcx

August 28th, 2010, 03:59 AM

hindi naman talaga broadband yung 512kbps. ang tawag dapat ay globe brokeband and smart broken.

Ady001

August 29th, 2010, 12:32 PM

^^ Basahin mo na lang yung mga complaints page in different online forums. Ang tataas. Deceptive advertising really. Before you show the abs, show the speed.

du4rcx

August 30th, 2010, 01:45 PM

^^magaling na pangbobola sa advertising and marketing nila.

Ady001

August 31st, 2010, 02:46 AM

^^ Baka magalit lang si Nanflexal pag nagkaganun, sa speeds nila...

du4rcx

August 31st, 2010, 03:38 AM

^^if they really want a transparent and dedicated service, give the bandwidth to the customer based on what they saying on their advertisements.

Nanflexal

September 2nd, 2010, 07:02 PM

^^ Baka magalit lang si Nanflexal pag nagkaganun, sa speeds nila...

malamang hehehe.

anyway, like Globe & Smart we're also building our Wireless Internet Service Provider in our province but i won't offer any service that we can't give. magkaaktotoo tayo sa mga customer wag man-linlang at gamitin ang false advertisement.

Ayaw ko ng problema kaya i will work with my customer to address their concern. Walang telephone sa amin at SMS lang pero hindi pa lang my Signal don kaya 24/7 kami sa NOC at kami na mismo ang pupunta sa site kung may problem bago pa i-report sa amin via two way radio.

our WISP
http://www.adamos.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/broadband.jpg

du4rcx

September 3rd, 2010, 03:52 AM

^^ ok yan arrangement mo. were pa lang ang coverage ng adamos broadband?

Nanflexal

September 3rd, 2010, 03:52 PM

^^ ok yan arrangement mo. were pa lang ang coverage ng adamos broadband?

Ginawa pa lang namin yon network ngayon, sana makapag-test na kami ngayon october 2010. on-going na yon construction ng tower.

initially, Genablan Orriental at Occidental and Bon-ot big * Bot-ot Small ang coverage and pero plano yon Culasi, Calintaan at Calayuan. mga 1 day or 2 days magkaka-internet narin yon Culasi, Calintaan at Calayuan pag gugustuhin.

du4rcx

September 3rd, 2010, 04:11 PM

^^malawak na rin ang area mo. ilang bandwidth ang binidigay sa client? ano ang gamit nyo modulation?

Nanflexal

September 3rd, 2010, 06:35 PM

^^malawak na rin ang area mo. ilang bandwidth ang binidigay sa client? ano ang gamit nyo modulation?

bandwidth, as starting siguro mga 384/128 muna or 512/128, wala pang internet sa coastal area sa amin kaya walang ibang provider don kahit Smart Bro or Globe or sun.

du4rcx

September 4th, 2010, 12:47 AM

bandwidth, as starting siguro mga 384/128 muna or 512/128, wala pang internet sa coastal area sa amin kaya walang ibang provider don kahit Smart Bro or Globe or sun.

^^ok yan, basta maganda client service, kampanti ka pagdating sa customer.

max-speed ba yan o stable bandwidth?

securitymattersmag

September 4th, 2010, 06:43 AM

wanna join our discussion on IT security? head on over to SecurityMatters Magazine @ http://securitymatters.com.ph. got a security question about internet security? ask away, and our security experts and professionals will answer your questions.

SecurityMatters Magazine is Philippines' first and only industry magazine for physical and IT security, fire and life safety and protection professionals. check us out!

Nanflexal

September 5th, 2010, 11:43 AM

^^ok yan, basta maganda client service, kampanti ka pagdating sa customer.

max-speed ba yan o stable bandwidth?

stable bandwidth yan. gusto ko mag offer ng 1 Mbps up and down someday at papasukin ko yan Bulan at Some part of masbati at matnog including coastal and in-barangay.

as starting, di pa namin mag-compete sa Bulan pero pag umabot na ng 80+ yon customer namin, the big upgrade will happen, Direct Internet Access na gagamitin namin with direct connection to USA & ASIA port via Fiber optic line of PLDT or Digitel.

ang daming relay ng setup ng Smart / Globe / Sun kaya yon hindi speed very low na bago dumating sa client / destination client.

unless yon sa amin, one hops lang naka-hook-up kana sa Direct Internet Access na regional traffic avoiding philippines internet traffic and as a result, you can have fast internet connection.

du4rcx

September 6th, 2010, 04:13 AM

^^ganda ng concept mo, sana umabot ka dito sa ibang area ng albay, may mga areas pa dito na hindi pa available ang smart/globe/sun wireless internet services.

Nanflexal

September 6th, 2010, 07:21 AM

^^ganda ng concept mo, sana umabot ka dito sa ibang area ng albay, may mga areas pa dito na hindi pa available ang smart/globe/sun wireless internet services.

wow, ang layo na nito, separate network pwedi tapos compete sa Smart/Globe/Sun tingnan lang natin kung hindi sila mabobolobon kun ganyan parin ang service nila.

Gusto ko gawin to someday kung pwedi pa, pero dapat marami na kaming customer sa 1st internet ko kasi ito yon mag susuport sa internet na itatayo sa Albay kung sakali para Dedicated Internet Agad yon starting.

kung may pera ka tol, pwedi kitang tulungan sa setup.

du4rcx

September 6th, 2010, 10:32 AM

wow, ang layo na nito, separate network pwedi tapos compete sa Smart/Globe/Sun tingnan lang natin kung hindi sila mabobolobon kun ganyan parin ang service nila.

Gusto ko gawin to someday kung pwedi pa, pero dapat marami na kaming customer sa 1st internet ko kasi ito yon mag susuport sa internet na itatayo sa Albay kung sakali para Dedicated Internet Agad yon starting.

kung may pera ka tol, pwedi kitang tulungan sa setup.

magkano ba aabutin king sakali ang initial investment?

Nanflexal

September 8th, 2010, 09:28 AM

magkano ba aabutin king sakali ang initial investment?

depend kung ilang barangay yon gusto mo i-cover as starting. need ko ng Tower spaxce, if not, build ka ng Single pole tower, internet source, router, wireless radio, CPE for client, outdoor FTP cable.

bigyan mo ako ng picture ng place na gusto mo mag provide ng internet para ma-estimate natin. thanks

du4rcx

September 9th, 2010, 03:34 PM

^^meron na ako internet source. malaki pa area ko para sa pole.

send ko sayo pic, after makabalik ako sa bahay, busy pa kasi ako now sa Penafrancia fiesta sa Naga.

Linguine

September 13th, 2010, 11:53 AM

Market for Internet content filtering growing

INTERNET CONTENT filtering is a growing market in the Philippines with estimated revenues of $4.7 million in 2009 as firms continued efforts to cut costs, according to a business research and consulting firm.

The Asia Pacific “secure content management” market is forecast to grow by 15.4% in 2010 from just 6.3% in 2009, Frost & Sullivan said. Revenues could reach $522 million by the end of the year.

Edison Yu, Frost & Sullivan industry manager, said in a statement growth would be driven by continued migration to a services platform in a bid by enterprises to control costs.

“Businesses are rapidly seeing the upside in the services approach. Content security, particularly e-mail filtering, has proven to be a suitable ‘poster-technology’ for security services since diverting e-mails to a third-party vendor for security scans is generally perceived as having no direct tangible effect on end-user experience,” he said.

He added: “In truth, the ability for such [e-mail security] services to offer enterprises with ‘spam-free’ bandwidth is enticing from an operational, productivity and cost perspective.”

In the Philippines, e-mail filtering service revenues stood at $3 million in 2009, up by 22.8% year-on-year. “The compound annual growth rate projected from 2009 to 2016 is 28%,” Frost & Sullivan said. -- Aura Marie P. Dagcutan
|

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=17639

Linguine

September 14th, 2010, 01:28 PM

Upgrading to Ubuntu Lucid
FOR months, the intriguing message stayed on my Update Manager.

“New Ubuntu release ‘10.04’ is available,” the notice read. Beside it, an “Upgrade” button beckoned.

Although I installed Ubuntu 10.04 or Lucid Lynx on my Acer Aspire One netbook some time ago, video problems stopped me from doing the same thing on my desktop PC.

Booting from the LiveCD would give me a black screen and hang, and none of the suggested fixes that I found online worked. I later found that the same thing happened with the latest versions of other Linux distributions as well, including Fedora 13 and Linux Mint 9. From this I deduced that newer versions of Linux would no longer play nice with my old graphics card, an Nvidia GeForce 7100.

Last week, I finally replaced the card with an Nvidia GT220, which one forum post said worked perfectly with Ubuntu. I tried booting from the Lucid LiveCD and the black screen was gone. This was my signal to go ahead and press the Upgrade button.

Resisting my usual preference to reformat my hard drive and do a clean install, I thought I would test how easy or hard it would be to simply upgrade from my current system, which ran on Ubuntu 9.10 or Karmic Koala.

There is one major advantage to this approach: it keeps your applications, data and personal settings intact. That means there’s no need to back up your data, or reinstall your applications after the new operating system is installed. In my case, it saved me a lot of time tweaking my desktop settings. It also spared me the trouble of reinstalling the drivers for my aging Epson Perfection 660 scanner, my Canon ip1880 inkjet printer, and of course, my Nvidia graphics card.

The major disadvantage is that upgrading a system takes more time than a fresh install. After all, it takes some time to remove 61 packages, install 278 new ones, and upgrade 2,664 programs.

I started my upgrade on a Saturday night and let it run overnight and finished the next morning.

The Update Manager itself warns you that fetching and installing the upgrade can take several hours, and once the download is finished, the process cannot be canceled. I took note of the warning and pressed the “Start Upgrade” button anyway.

Several points in the upgrade process require user intervention and these could stand some improvement.

At one point, it asked if I wanted to keep my currently installed configuration file for mime types, or use the updated version that came with the new release. The question might throw off a beginner, but I knew enough to realize this had to do with maintaining the association between certain types of files and applications. For example, I had my system set to run VLC every time I double-clicked on a video file and didn’t want that to change, so I chose to keep my configuration file.

Later on, the installer asked me to specify which hard disk it should use to install GRUB, a boot loader that gives a user the choice to boot one of multiple operating systems installed on a computer. Unfortunately, the wording for this is quite atrocious. (“The grub-PC package is being upgraded. This menu allows you to select which devices you’d like grub-install to be automatically run for, if any.”)

Again, new users who don’t know what GRUB is in the first place would probably be intimidated by these cryptic questions.

In case anyone from Canonical is reading, I have two suggestions. First, if the question really must be asked, use simple English. “Which hard disk would you like to boot from?” would have been so much better. Second, since this is an upgrade of an existing system, why ask the question? Wouldn’t it make sense to keep GRUB where it already is, and assume that this is also the same boot drive?

There was one more moment of uncertainty before Lucid Lynx came to life on my PC. The last step involved an automatic reboot, which displayed a text-based log-in prompt that threw me off. Did my video card fail again? Did Lucid ditch my graphical interface and kick me out to a text-based session? In the time it took for me to ask those questions, the boot continued on to the graphical log-in. The upgrade was a success.

Notwithstanding these moments of suspense, the upgrade was surprisingly trouble-free. My applications work just as they did before. My scanner and printer both work as well, and because Lucid kept my desktop settings, my windows control buttons are on the right side, and not on the left where Lucid puts them by default.

All in all, it’s worth going the upgrade route because the longer installation time is more than offset by the time you save from not having to reinstall programs and tweaking your system all over again. In my case, that could mean a savings of a day or more. Chin Wong

Column archive and blog at: http://www.chinwong.com

Linguine

September 16th, 2010, 01:22 AM

Blogging for a Living

By Brian Yalung
September 15, 2010, 11:26pm

While everyone else is busy trying to look for a job, quietly there are people who are embarking on work at home jobs which for most has become profitable.

You may have heard of it for sure. Data entry jobs, article writing or perhaps one of the popular pastimes to date, blogging.

How does one earn from blogging? Technically this is termed as a telecommute job. There are a lot of sites in the web today which house work from home jobs, normally made for the moms who stay at home.

Alas, this has all changed. Even the dads have gotten into it, an easier money-making scheme which has led to some professionals to “write for a living”.

How does it work? Well it is hard to do at first. But once you get through the primary obstacles, blogging for a living is certainly one of the most convenient jobs you can get yourself into.

1. Check out jobs boards. There are a lot of job boards out there such as craigslist or even freelance writing sites where you can find work from home jobs.
2. Set up your own PayPal account. For some this becomes a limitation, considering that there is no PayPal service based in the Philippines. However, you can set up one and find yourself wiring money to the bank with some minor charges. Money gets credited in 4 working days.

The key to earning big bucks is to be resourceful and of course take in multiple writing gigs. Many have claimed that they are earning five digit salaries but mind you, this would all depend on how diligent you would be in content writing or blogging.

Some setbacks include no usual 13th month pay that local employees have in the country. Then again, if you get a five digit salary, you can always set that aside on your own.

Has this new phenomenon caught up with the Filipino people? Well perhaps not majority have had the opportunity.

You do not need to be a journalism graduate since there are foreign groups who make an exception. Just make sure you have good grammatical skills and most of all have an eye for errors.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/277306/blogging-a-living

Linguine

September 19th, 2010, 04:26 AM

Apple said to be in talks with publishers for digital newsstand

Written by Bloomberg News
Saturday, 18 September 2010 09:11

Apple Inc. is developing a digital newsstand for publishers that would let them sell magazines and newspapers to consumers for use on Apple devices, said two people familiar with the matter.

The newsstand, designed particularly for the iPad, would be similar to Apple’s iBook store for electronic books, said the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are private. The newsstand would be separate from Apple’s App Store, where people can buy some publications now, they said.

Apple’s effort is aimed at luring more consumers to the iPad and helping publishers sell subscriptions, rather than single issues. The main hang-ups between Apple and publishers including Time Warner Inc., Conde Nast, Hearst Corp. and News Corp. are who controls data about users and how to split subscription revenue, the people said. Pricing for subscriptions also hasn’t been worked out.

The new storefront could be up and running within a couple of months, although the talks are ongoing and could fall apart. Apple may wait to unveil the initiative until they are ready to announce the next iPad, possibly in early 2011, one person said.

“These are serious discussions about subscriptions and advertising within newspaper and magazine applications,” said Roger Fidler, the program director for digital publishing at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri. “Publishers want to know who their customers are and their usage patterns while reading.”

Fidler, who has been an adviser to publishers during the negotiations, said he has no inside information about the deliberations because the publishers he works with are under nondisclosure agreements.

Tom Neumayr, a spokesman for Apple; Julie Henderson, a spokesman for News Corp.; Dawn Bridges, a spokesman for Time Warner’s magazine unit; and Maurie Perl, a spokesman for Conde Nast, declined to comment. Paul Luthringer, a spokesman for Hearst, did not return a message for comment.

To support the online newsstand, Apple is developing software to make it easier and cheaper to create digital versions of magazines and newspapers, with extras such as high- resolution videos integrated with stories, one person said. By offering tools to simplify the process, the company aims to attract publishers to the storefront, the person said.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, is also working on server technology to keep electronic publications frequently updated, so consumers wouldn’t have to click on a publication to get the most recent news, the person said.

One challenge is that publishers prefer to control subscriber data and revenue, said Ken Doctor, an analyst with Outsell Inc. in Burlingame, California. Apple is trying to insert itself as a middleman that doesn’t exist in other industries, said Doctor, who is not directly involved in the talks. For example, Sony Corp. doesn’t demand a cut of the revenue from television shows on its TV sets, Doctor said.

Time Warner’s Time Inc. magazine unit, which sells Sports Illustrated and People, doesn’t plan to sign on with Apple’s newsstand because of concerns the effort would sever ties between the publisher and its customers, a person familiar with the company’s discussions said.

Next Issue Media, a joint venture of publishers that includes Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith Corp. and Time Inc., met earlier and the discussions centered around the major magazine publishers not wanting to agree to the current terms from Apple, a person briefed on the conversation said.

Melissa Connerton, a spokesman for Next Issue Media, did not return a message seeking comment.

It’s unclear if any publishers have signed on yet, one person said.

A point of friction has been whether Apple will collect 30 percent of publishing sales, like it does for music, games and other applications, said Fidler of the University of Missouri. Another issue is that Apple may not share subscriber data with publishers, another person said. Without that data, it would be difficult for a publisher to bundle print and digital subscriptions.

Publishers are also talking with Google Inc. about tailoring content for tablets using its Android operating system, people familiar with the talks said. The competition created by Android, which is being used in devices from Samsung Electronics Co. and Dell Inc., could help publishers in their negotiations with Apple, Doctor said.

Facing a drop in traditional readership, the publishers are looking to tablet devices as a new way to reach customers. US consumer magazine circulation has fallen for two straight years, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Newspapers’ average daily circulation fell 8.7 percent in the six months through March, after declining 11 percent in the prior six months, according to the trade group.

To take advantage of the new platforms, News Corp., owner of the Wall Street Journal, is setting up a subscription news product specifically for tablets such as the iPad, according to a person familiar with the plans.

One person familiar with Apple’s digital platform plans says it is being designed to help large media companies showcase different kinds of content—say, Fox News television interviews within stories from the Wall Street Journal.

In their negotiations with Apple, publishers are trying to avoid repeating the battle of digital editions sold on Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle device.

Publishers criticized how much revenue Amazon was sharing and the retailer’s policy of owning the subscriber information. Amazon still doesn’t share information with publishers about their customers.

“The last thing these companies want is a new middleman,” Doctor said.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/component/content/article/52-technology/1419-apple-said-to-be-in-talks-with-publishers-for-digital-newsstand

boypad

September 19th, 2010, 06:31 PM

New BIR target: Online traders

Business Mirror Philippines
Written by VG Cabuag
Sunday, 19 September 2010 11:04

BEWARE ebay Philippines, Sulit.com.ph, alibaba.com, ayosdito.com, multiply.com and Facebook sellers: the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is planning to tax online-trading sites to collect additional cash and hit its collection targets.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said the agency is already in talks with the web site administrators of buy-and-sell sites to remind all online buyers and sellers that the government will tax every product sold.

This is the first time the government has trained its eyes on online sellers, which are considered part of the underground economy as anyone can buy or sell products and services without being regulated by any government agency.

Online sellers normally get their payments through banks or personally meeting up with the buyer. Some sites charge a minimal fee for every goods sold, some only ask for membership fee, while others are free but sellers have to declare their personal identities in order to protect the buyers.

For starters, Henares said sites such as ebay Philippines, Sulit.com.ph, alibaba.com, ayosdito.com, multiply.com and the like, should allow sellers who have tax identification numbers, and all those who would close a deal would have to declare their sales.

Henares said the agency is also looking at taxing Facebook users who used the social-networking site to sell goods. “Legally, we need not do anything to impose on these sellers the duty to disclose their transactions for us to determine the corresponding taxes they should pay. But it is not happening; thus, we have to be more aggressive in implementing what the law provides,” Henares said.

Under the National Internal Revenue Code, sellers that sold a good amounting to at least P25 should issue invoices and, in turn, disclose all the legitimate expenses in order for the BIR to determine the amount of tax they would have to be paid.

In August the BIR incurred a collection shortfall of P10.7 billion, or close to 12 percent of its target.

August shortfall brings the January-to-August deficit of the BIR to 31.8 billion, or 5.5-percent off the target. The BIR, however, said compared with last year’s figures, the agency collected more.

Preliminary collection reports of the BIR show that its collection for August reached P79.1 billion, or P11.5 billion higher compared with its collection last year of P67.6 billion. Year-on-year, the BIR said its revenues grew by 17 percent, and August was the highest single month of growth rate since April 2008.

On a cumulative basis, from January to August, the BIR has generated a total of P546.4 billion. Compared with last year, the eight-month collection is P45.6 billion more than the taxes generated for the same period last year of P500.8 billion, it added.

-SNPKLSDMBLDR-

September 19th, 2010, 07:13 PM

dapat kasi inu-una nila ayusin ang pag-gamit ng mga tax na nakokolekta nila, inuuna kasi ang sariling bulsa! hindi yung gawa lang ng gawa ng bagong malalagyan ng tax para tumaas ang collection nila! :bash: tapos kung online rin bumili, dadaan naman sa department of kotongs na isa pang napalalaking problema! :bash:

Englehart

September 21st, 2010, 07:20 AM

habang maaga pa buy and buy lang sa online hay....

Linguine

September 21st, 2010, 08:22 AM

Survey: 87% of Pinoys fell prey to cybercrimes

NEARLY 90% of Filipino Internet users have fallen prey to computer viruses, online “scams,” and identity theft, survey results released by a storage and systems management firm Tuesday showed.

Symantec Corp. said the “2010 Norton Cybercrime Report: The Human Impact” indicated that cybercrimes have become a “silent digital epidemic.”

“The report revealed that Filipino victims’ strongest reactions are anger with 60%, feeling upset with 58%, and feeling cheated with 50%,” Effendy Ibrahim, Symantec’s Internet safety advocate and consumer business head for Asia, told reporters.

The online survey was conducted in April with 556 respondents aged 18 to 64 years old.

Mr. Ibrahim said one in every five said it was the fault of criminals, while one-third felt highly responsible for cybercrime incidents.

The survey said 38% responded to online scams while 34% responded to phishing, in which hackers attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by making a duplicate of a legitimate website. -- Aura Marie P. Dagcutan
|

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18111

Ady001

September 21st, 2010, 10:21 AM

du4rcx

September 21st, 2010, 10:40 AM

^^nagpapatawa sila. sige nga, singilin nila ng tax ang servers and sites na nasa ibang bansa..

richard24

September 22nd, 2010, 02:47 AM

ano ba yan. they're barking at the wrong tree! ayusin nga nila priorities nila, andami diyang hindi nagbabayad ng taxes, mga online sellers pa pinaginteresan! dios mio!

du4rcx

September 22nd, 2010, 08:48 AM

^^ayusin muna sana ang e-commerce law para maproktetahan tayo laban sa cyber crime.

RonnieR

September 22nd, 2010, 11:41 AM

boypad

September 28th, 2010, 02:01 AM

Report: US would make Internet wiretaps easier

The Philstar Online
September 28, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) – Broad new regulations being drafted by the Obama administration would make it easier for law enforcement and national security officials to eavesdrop on Internet and e-mail communications like social networking Web sites and BlackBerries, The New York Times reported yesterday.

The newspaper said the White House plans to submit a bill next year that would require all online services that enable communications to be technically equipped to comply with a wiretap order. That would include providers of encrypted e-mail, such as BlackBerry, networking sites like Facebook and direct communication services like Skype.

Federal law enforcement and national security officials say new the regulations are needed because terrorists and criminals are increasingly giving up their phones to communicate online.

"We're talking about lawfully authorized intercepts," said FBI lawyer Valerie E. Caproni. "We're not talking about expanding authority. We're talking about preserving our ability to execute our existing authority in order to protect the public safety and national security."

The White House plans to submit the proposed legislation to Congress next year.

The new regulations would raise new questions about protecting people's privacy while balancing national security concerns.

James Dempsey, the vice president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, an Internet policy group, said the new regulations would have "huge implications."

"They basically want to turn back the clock and make Internet services function the way that the telephone system used to function," he told the Times.

The Times said the Obama proposal would likely include several requires:

-Any service that provides encrypted messages must be capable of unscrambling them.

-Any foreign communications providers that do business in the US would have to have an office in the United States that's capable of providing intercepts.

-Software developers of peer-to-peer communications services would be required to redesign their products to allow interception.

The Times said that some privacy and technology advocates say the regulations would create weaknesses in the technology that hackers could more easily exploit.

NTprime

September 28th, 2010, 03:37 AM

BlackBerry maker RIM unveils 'PlayBook' tablet computer (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20100928-294727/BlackBerry-maker-RIM-unveils-PlayBook-tablet-computer)
By Glenn Chapman
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 07:56:00 09/28/2010

SAN FRANCISCO—BlackBerry maker Research in Motion unveiled a touchscreen tablet computer on Monday called "PlayBook" aimed at business users.

"It is the world's first professional tablet," RIM president and co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis said as he showed off the device at an RIM event in San Francisco.

The PlayBook is one of a number of tablet computers slated for release in a bid to challenge Apple's popular iPad and is the first foray outside the mobile phone realm for the Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM.

The PlayBook has a seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) touchscreen, smaller than the 9.7 inches of Apple's iPad, and also plays Adobe Flash video software, which is banned from the Apple device.

"You are going to be able to get the full Web experience," Lazaridis said, stressing its integration with RIM's BlackBerry smartphone, a favorite among many professionals.

BlackBerry smartphone users can pair their handset with the PlayBook using a Bluetooth connection to view their email, calendar, documents or other content.

The PlayBook also features front- and rear-facing cameras to support video conferencing and allows multi-tasking between programs.

RIM expects to begin selling PlayBooks in the United States in early 2011 and rolling the tablets out to other countries by the middle of the year.

Lazaridis did not reveal how much RIM plans to charge for the PlayBook.

"RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting-edge hardware features and one of the world's most robust and flexible operating systems," Lazaridis said.

"The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry leading power, true multitasking, uncompromised Web browsing and high performance multimedia," he said.

RIM said that in the coming weeks it would release a software kit so third-party developers can begin tailoring applications, or "apps," for PlayBook.

PlayBook debuted at BlackBerry DEVCON, a combined boot camp and pep rally for outside developers crafting programs for the Canadian firm's devices.

RIM introduced tools that make it easier to build applications for BlackBerry handsets and make money with ads or "in-app" purchases.

RIM is also launching a free analytics service that provides applications makers with feedback regarding how, when and where BlackBerry owners are using programs.

"We are enabling developers to better monetize their services and drive deeper engagement to create richer, more interesting social apps for BlackBerry," said Alan Brenner, senior vice president of the BlackBerry platform.

Approximately 35 million people use the BlackBerry "App World" shop, with 1.5 million programs downloaded daily, according to RIM vice president of global alliances and developer relationships Tyler Lessard.

RIM released tools intended to let developers make "super apps" that can work with data in smartphones to automatically handle tasks such as sensing when a BlackBerry user is driving in a car and read email messages aloud.

RIM also opened the door to more "social" applications that tap into phone features such as chat, instant messaging, and groups, according to Lessard.

Hip, fun or functional programs made by third-party developers have become vital to the popularity of smartphones and tablet computers.

Apple's App Store features more than 250,000 mini-programs for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Blackberry's App World has about 11,000 applications, but programs are also sold at other websites by developers.

Google has been aggressively working to expand an Android Marketplace, which boasts more than 80,000 apps for smartphones running on the California Internet titan's Android mobile operating system.

Linguine

September 28th, 2010, 05:30 AM

$329M lost to software piracy -- BSA study

THE PHILIPPINES could generate $329 million worth of new economic activity if it brought down the share of unlicensed software in the market to just roughly 6 out of 10 in four years instead of the current 69% rate, a report stated.

The 2010 Piracy Impact Study commissioned by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) further noted that more than two-thirds of that stimulus or $223 million rising from reducing the piracy rate by 10 points would go to the local economy.

This was computed based on the estimated ratio between spending on legal software and spending on related information technology (IT) services and distribution, which in turn was derived from country data on IT expenses, employment, wages and commercial value of programs.

Curbing software piracy in the Philippines within that time period would also reportedly create 1,097 new "high-tech jobs", from which $30 million in tax revenues would be generated, the report stated.

And if the Philippines brought down its piracy rate in just two years, the gains would be bigger according to the report: $436 million in new economic activity and $39 million in tax revenues. -- Jessica Anne D. Hermosa
|

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18519

Linguine

September 28th, 2010, 08:38 AM

Nanflexal

September 28th, 2010, 10:44 AM

Kintoy

September 29th, 2010, 12:25 AM

Ady001

September 29th, 2010, 02:10 AM

Sky Cable starts selling ’fastest’ Internet

LOPEZ-LED cable television firm Sky Cable Corp. launched today what it claimed as the fastest Internet connection in the country at 112 megabits per second (mbps).

"We want to address the need for speed. Many people multi-task on the net so they need a high bandwidth Internet service," Rodrigo P. Montinola, vice-president for marketing of Sky Cable, said in a briefing.

Initially, the service will be available to homeowners in township project Rockwell in Makati City. It plans to expand the service outside Rockwell in one to two months.

Plan 112 mbps, which includes a Sky Cable Platinum package, Sky Voice Plan 100 and unlimited additional outlets, costs P24,000 per month.

SkyCable is a subsidiary of broadcast giant ABS-CBN Corp. Shares in the listed ABS-CBN closed 40 centavos higher at P56 each on Tuesday. -- Neil Jerome C. Morales

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18527

Mabilis pero useless pa rin. Come on, who wants to pay that high for a service that's basic in other countries? Hello, national broadband plan?!

Linguine

September 30th, 2010, 01:27 AM

Web founder warns of Internet disconnect law 'blight'

Thursday, 30 September 2010 00:00

Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with inventing the world wide web, warned Tuesday of the "blight" of new laws being introduced across the globe allowing people to be cut off from the Internet. "There's been a rash of laws trying to give governments and Internet service providers (ISPs) the right and the duty to disconnect people," he told a conference on web science at the Royal Society in London.

The "current blight" includes a French law that comes into effect this year that threatens to cut people off if they illegally download from the Internet, and a new British law passed in April which could see similar action, he said.

"If a French family can be forcibly disconnected from the Internet by law for a year because one of their children downloaded something that some company asserts that they should not have downloaded, without trial -- I think that's a kind of inappropriate punishment," Berners-Lee said.

He added: "I'd like to go on using the Internet. If it gets cut off, or for some reason things go wrong, in some cases, for me, my social life would disintegrate, for other people it may be access to medical information."

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor said the US Senate was also considering a bill this week that would have the government create a blacklist of Internet sites that US ISPs would be required to block.

Twenty years after his breakthrough while working at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory, Berners-Lee said "the net has got to a point that is so critical".

Given the importance of the web in everyone's lives, he urged the Internet experts gathered at the conference to act on the encroachment of the once free-for-all online world. "We have this duty of care," he said.

While Berners-Lee said ISPs should not in general be responsible for the content they were carrying, he admitted that issues of anti-terrorism and serious organised crime were "an exception".
-- AFP

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/tech-times/27571-web-founder-warns-of-internet-disconnect-law-blight

Blackraven

October 1st, 2010, 06:00 PM

Sky Cable starts selling ’fastest’ Internet

LOPEZ-LED cable television firm Sky Cable Corp. launched today what it claimed as the fastest Internet connection in the country at 112 megabits per second (mbps).

"We want to address the need for speed. Many people multi-task on the net so they need a high bandwidth Internet service," Rodrigo P. Montinola, vice-president for marketing of Sky Cable, said in a briefing.

Initially, the service will be available to homeowners in township project Rockwell in Makati City. It plans to expand the service outside Rockwell in one to two months.

Plan 112 mbps, which includes a Sky Cable Platinum package, Sky Voice Plan 100 and unlimited additional outlets, costs P24,000 per month.

SkyCable is a subsidiary of broadcast giant ABS-CBN Corp. Shares in the listed ABS-CBN closed 40 centavos higher at P56 each on Tuesday. -- Neil Jerome C. Morales

http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18527

Finally, at least my asenso naman regarding sa state of broadband internet dito sa Pilipinas. I mean, we've been staying below 1 Mbps for too long. It's time to move up na rin.

Anyways, kung mayaman sana ako, I'd would highly consider this plan (lalo na since may kasama Skycable Platinum).

Yun nga lang, medyo pangit lang Sky DSL pag gaming (at wala sila dedicated gaming service like PLDTplay).

Anyways, anu kaya ang ilalabas ng PLDT at Globe para kalabanin ang 112 Mbps plan ng Sky Broadband??? :D

PLDT and Globe, time to step it up :D

amras

October 2nd, 2010, 08:00 AM

hopefully with more players introduding faster internet speed, the price would go down as well.. 24K is too much..

amigo32

October 2nd, 2010, 08:44 AM

Finally, at least my asenso naman regarding sa state of broadband internet dito sa Pilipinas. I mean, we've been staying below 1 Mbps for too long. It's time to move up na rin.

Anyways, kung mayaman sana ako, I'd would highly consider this plan (lalo na since may kasama Skycable Platinum).

Yun nga lang, medyo pangit lang Sky DSL pag gaming (at wala sila dedicated gaming service like PLDTplay).

Anyways, anu kaya ang ilalabas ng PLDT at Globe para kalabanin ang 112 Mbps plan ng Sky Broadband??? :D

PLDT and Globe, time to step it up :D
nanuna namn ang globe sa 100mbps kaysa sky. 12mbps lang namn ang lamang nila, negligible namn yun:D

Linguine

October 2nd, 2010, 12:42 PM

DSL still hot after all these years

Saturday, 02 October 2010 09:54

Digital subscriber line (dsl) remains to be the battleground for major broadband access vendors, despite the advent of newer technologies.

DSL is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. The data throughput of consumer DSL services typically ranges from 256 kilobytes per second to 20 megabytes per second in the direction to the customer, depending on DSL technology, line conditions and service-level implementation.

Research company Ovum, in its second-quarter broadband access market, share spreadsheet, estimates quarterly global DSL revenues to be $848 million, a little higher than fiber-technology-to-building/home (FTTB/FTTH) revenues of $796 million. Over the past two years, Ovum said even as FTTB/FTTH subscribers and associated equipment revenues have grown steadily worldwide, DSL revenues have been slightly higher each quarter.

FTTB is when fiber reaches the boundary of the building, such as the basement in a multidwelling unit, with the final connection to the individual living space being made via alternative means while FTTH means fiber reaches the boundary of the living space, such as a box on the outside wall of a home.

Ovum believes the DSL equipment market will not wither away anytime soon. It said while it is certainly true that DSL subscriber growth is slowing in many countries and that DSL subscribers, in places like Japan and South Korea, are being replaced by FTTH/FTTB subscribers, DSL equipment will still be used in many hybrid fiber-copper architectures. In fact, Ovum forecasts that even in 2015, 63 million DSL ports will be shipped globally (although this is down from 82 million ports in 2009). However, the great majority of these, if not all, will be in conjunction with growth in FTTx subscribers, not DSL.

FTTx is a generic term for any broadband network architecture that uses optical fiber to replace all or part of the usual metal local loop used for last mile telecommunications.

In announcements, vendors have highlighted 400 meters to 500 meters as the distance where they demonstrated their breakthroughs. Ovum said the assumption here is that the length of the copper loop will be approximately that long, the rest being fiber to the central office as part of FTTx architecture.

It said the reason not to deploy FTTH all the way to the customer residence could be primarily economic, but technology and regulatory constraints may also play a part. As a result, Ovum believes DSL network equipment will still be a $2-billion market in 2015, hence the scramble by major vendors to continue innovation in DSL.

The research firm said the number of multiple pairs has varied in vendor demonstrations (six for Ericsson; two for Alcatel-Lucent, plus one phantom pair created by the two real pairs; and four for Huawei). The one constant has been the vendors’ claims of ever-higher speeds due to the combined bandwidth of the multiple pairs. Bonding of these multiple pairs is a common theme and soon to be a reality with AT&T’s recent announcement. Cross-talk, however, has long been the DSL problem child, especially with multiple pairs.

Over the past two years, several vendors have announced technical breakthroughs in canceling or reducing cross-talk, which, in combination with bonding, boost the bandwidth capacity that can be supported by each copper pair, drawing ever closer to the theoretical maximum. Ovum said these solutions are relevant only where there are multiple pairs. They are rare in developing countries and few developed countries have more than two copper pairs to each home.

When commercially launched, these DSL solutions should be cheaper than FTTH, but ultimately the cost comparison and adoption timeline will depend on how these technologies are incorporated in DSL line cards and CPE, said Ovum. In addition, evolution of DSL equipment will be a challenge.

Few in the industry doubt that fiber, with its lower operating expense burden compared with copper and far higher natural bandwidth capacity, will eventually prevail. Globally, Ovum forecasts that until 2015 at least, FTTH/FTTB subscribers will grow faster than that of DSL and cable, while equipment revenues will overtake that of DSL in 2012.

But in many countries, completion of FTTH may take up to a few decades. In the meantime, DSL continues to evolve as a viable alternative as part of different architectures. This is particularly relevant for those countries where carriers facing competition plan to launch new services like IPTV, but cannot find the economic justification or the capital to roll out FTTH just yet.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/component/content/article/52-technology/2002-dsl-still-hot-after-all-these-years

Blackraven

October 3rd, 2010, 04:25 PM

I'm getting conflicting reports. Some news article say 24k/month, others like Business World are mentioning 20k petot/month. We'll see na lang.

And we have to see what competitors will offer.
nanuna namn ang globe sa 100mbps kaysa sky. 12mbps lang namn ang lamang nila, negligible namn yun:D

Ah, so meron rin pala ang Globe? Baka sa HQ lang ito (not available to the public) :D.

How about PLDT? Ano kaya pang-tapat nila??? ;)

Anyways
This is indeed encouraging news. However, I still think na the 'holy-grail' of broadband internet speeds is 1000 MEGABITS PER SECOND (both up and down).

Sa Japan and South Korea, common na ito. Sa Hong Kong, there are at least three companies offering service. Tapos Singapore this month sila nag-launch. Sa United States, there is one provider that will launch 1000 Mbps internet..........in a rural area :D.

And AFAIK, 1000 Mbps can only be achieved through fiber optic connections (unless there is something better that comes along).

Sana in the future, magkaroon sana ng 1000 Mbps internet dito sa Pinas. :D

P.S.
Btw,
How do companies increase internet speed (or the more politically-correct term is bandwith)?

Servers ba increase bandwith? So more quantity of equipment produces more bandwith?

amigo32

October 4th, 2010, 12:31 AM

I'm getting conflicting reports. Some news article say 24k/month, others like Business World are mentioning 20k petot/month. We'll see na lang.

And we have to see what competitors will offer.

Ah, so meron rin pala ang Globe? Baka sa HQ lang ito (not available to the public) :D.

How about PLDT? Ano kaya pang-tapat nila??? ;)

Anyways
This is indeed encouraging news. However, I still think na the 'holy-grail' of broadband internet speeds is 1000 MEGABITS PER SECOND (both up and down).

Sa Japan and South Korea, common na ito. Sa Hong Kong, there are at least three companies offering service. Tapos Singapore this month sila nag-launch. Sa United States, there is one provider that will launch 1000 Mbps internet..........in a rural area :D.

And AFAIK, 1000 Mbps can only be achieved through fiber optic connections (unless there is something better that comes along).

Sana in the future, magkaroon sana ng 1000 Mbps internet dito sa Pinas. :D

P.S.
Btw,
How do companies increase internet speed (or the more politically-correct term is bandwith)?

Servers ba increase bandwith? So more quantity of equipment produces more bandwith?

:lol::lol::lol: sa mayayamang lugar lang namn, wala pa sa Tondo eh:D

GlobeGlobe HyperSpeed is built on the breakthrough technology called Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON), a fiber-to-the-home technology, believed to have been set up to pave the way for the entry of HDTV and IPTV in the country. Globe HyperSpeed was launched in mid June 2009 but wasn't widely made available due to high cost implications.

Globe HyperSpeed Plans are:

* 10 Mbps maximum speed - PhP3,995
* 100 Mbps maximum speed - PhP14,995

The Globe HyperSpeed plans are currently available in Forbes Park, Makati City and soon in Makati areas like Bel-Air Village, Urdaneta Village, and selected buildings in Serendra. These areas are where most of the rich and the famous live.

There was a forum feedback that although the advertised speed is up to 100 mpbs, the actual "throttled" torrent download speed is 1 mbps. This got me curious as to what the real speed of Globe HyperSpeed is. I am not from Metro Manila so I'd like to ask our readers who come from the aforementioned areas.

Thanks in advance to all who will provide answers to my questions: Is Globe HyperSpeed really fast? How fast?

Source: http://www.coolbuster.net/2009/11/is-globe-hyperspeed-fast.html#ixzz11KzoS6ET