Apple Pay Finally Arrives in the Philippines

 

Image from apple.com/ph

Apple Pay has finally arrived in the Philippines. After years of wondering when I would be able to use it, Apple Pay launched in the Philippines today, August 4, 2026. The service allows users to make secure payments in stores, apps, and online using their Apple devices.

As someone who already prefers cashless transactions, I’ve been looking forward to this feature on my iPhone and Apple Watch for a long time.

At its launch, Apple Pay had partnered with four banks: Chinabank, GoTyme Bank, Metrobank, and UnionBank, which became the first institutions to support the service, allowing eligible Visa and Mastercard cardholders to add their cards to Apple Wallet and begin using Apple Pay. Hopefully, more banks will join in the months ahead as the service gains traction locally.

So far, according to the Apple website, merchants such as Abenson, Anko, Ayala Malls Cinemas, Ayala Malls, Beyond the Box, Coach, Digimap, Foot Locker, Globe, HOKA, Hollister, Jollibee, Lush, Power Mac Center, Rustan’s, SaladStop!, Shake Shack, Smart, The Loop, The Matcha Tokyo, The Movie Snackbar, The Underbelly, and WalterMart Supermarket, and apps and websites including foodpanda, Jollibee, Rustan’s, and Shopee, will accept Apple Pay on launch date. 

To use the service in a participating store, double-click your iPhone’s side button, authenticate with Face ID, and tap the payment terminal. When shopping online, selecting Apple Pay lets you check out without repeatedly entering card details and billing information.

Security is another major advantage. Apple Pay does not store actual card numbers on the device or share them with merchants. Instead, it uses a Device Account Number. Every transaction also requires authentication through Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode, ensuring that payment information is not compromised. What’s more, if your iPhone gets lost or stolen, you can use the Find My app to quickly locate, lock, or suspend payments from that device.

Like any new service, Apple Pay Philippines still has some limitations. Only four Philippine banks and a limited number of establishments currently support the service. Some merchants may not be familiar with Apple Pay just yet since the rollout is so new. I expect adoption to grow as more banks and businesses come on board.

Even with those early limitations, Apple Pay is, I think, an important step forward for digital payments in the Philippines. It’s a small convenience, but one that makes everyday transactions faster, easier, and more secure. I am already excited to use it for my next store or online purchase.

ChatGPT: Conversations Redefined by AI

 Introduction:

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made remarkable strides in natural language processing in recent years, paving the way for more engaging and interactive human-machine interactions. Among the many advancements in this field, ChatGPT stands as a groundbreaking language model that has captivated users with its ability to generate human-like responses. In this blog post, we delve into the world of ChatGPT and explore its impact on conversation and communication.

Understanding ChatGPT:

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is built upon the foundation of the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture. Through extensive training on vast amounts of internet text, including books, articles, and websites, ChatGPT has developed an impressive ability to generate coherent and contextually relevant responses. It has learned to understand and mimic human language patterns, resulting in remarkably human-like interactions.

The Power of the Transformer Architecture:

At the heart of ChatGPT lies the transformer architecture, a deep learning model that has revolutionized natural language processing. Unlike traditional models that process text sequentially, transformers employ self-attention mechanisms, enabling them to capture relationships between all the words in an input. This capability allows ChatGPT to understand complex language structures and dependencies, making it adept at generating fluent and contextually appropriate responses.

 Conversational Engagement:

One of the most fascinating aspects of ChatGPT is its ability to engage in conversations with users. Whether it's answering questions, offering suggestions, or simply engaging in small talk, ChatGPT provides an interactive and dynamic experience. Users can engage with the model by giving prompts or asking questions, and in return, they receive responses that strive to be informative, creative, and relevant.

The Limitations:

While ChatGPT has garnered widespread attention and admiration, it is essential to understand its limitations. ChatGPT is a machine learning model trained on vast amounts of data, and while it can generate impressive responses, it does not possess true understanding or knowledge. It may occasionally produce incorrect or misleading information, highlighting the need for human verification and critical thinking when using its outputs.

Promoting Ethical Usage:

OpenAI has made significant efforts to promote the ethical usage of ChatGPT. They have implemented measures to address potential biases, provide clearer guidelines for human-AI interaction, and actively encourage user feedback to improve the system. By ensuring transparency and accountability, OpenAI aims to mitigate risks and foster responsible deployment of AI technologies like ChatGPT.

Applications and Future Developments:

ChatGPT has found applications in various domains, including customer support, content creation, and educational tools. Its versatility allows for diverse use cases, and as the technology progresses, we can anticipate further advancements. OpenAI continues to refine and enhance ChatGPT, working towards building more intelligent and valuable AI systems that benefit society. 

Conclusion:

ChatGPT represents a significant milestone in AI language models, showcasing the power of deep learning and the transformer architecture. It has redefined conversations and provided users with an engaging and interactive experience. While there are limitations to be aware of, ChatGPT serves as a testament to the incredible progress made in natural language processing and the immense potential for AI to augment human communication and understanding.

Hallow: The App for Catholic Meditation and Prayer for the Holy Week

The Holy Week begins tomorrow, and many of us Catholic Filipinos will observe the practices we usually do during this period.  For some, this is an excellent time to meditate on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.  While some Filipinos do the “pabasa,” reading of the passion narrative through song, not all of us can do it. We would just observe through the recitation of the Way of the Cross, and praying of the rosary, and others.  Now, there's a new app that could help us in our meditation and prayer life named Hallow.

Hallow is a popular Catholic meditation and prayer app that offers audio-based guided meditations, daily reflections, and Bible-based content to help users deepen their spiritual practice.  The app has gained popularity among Christians looking to incorporate meditation into their daily lives.

One thing that sets Hallow apart is the quality of its content. The app offers a wide range of meditations and reflections based on scripture and the teachings of the Catholic Church and designed to meet the needs of users with different spiritual backgrounds and preferences. Aside from guided meditations, it includes audio recordings of various prayers, such as the Rosary, Angelus, and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. The app also provides prayer challenges, which focus on specific themes and are usually time-bound. The current challenge is the #Pray40 Challenge for Lent. If you want to test your knowledge, there's daily trivia on the Catholic faith.

I downloaded the app from the AppStore and now regularly listen to the Daily Reflections on the day’s Gospel with Jeff Cavins and Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus Christ on the TV series “The Chosen.”  I listen to the Sunday Sermons of Bishop Barron, the founder of the Catholic organization Word on Fire. I started listening to the Catechism in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz, which started early this year.  

I also like the music section, which contains chants, and contemporary and traditional music. Last Christmas season, the app featured the entire album of Christmas songs from Andre Bocelli and his family. They recently added a lo-fi playlist that you could play while getting ready in the morning, studying, or working. 

With over 400,000 Filipino users across the globe, Hallow started offering meditations and prayers in Filipino in October last year. Yes, you can pray the rosary, Divine Mercy prayer, selected novenas and other prayers in Tagalog. I follow Fr. Franz Dizon's daily reflection on the gospel in Pagninilay Ngayon. There is also a section on the life of the saints named "Buhay ng Mga Banal."  

Many users praise the Hallow app for helping them deepen their faith and improve their prayer life. The app's user-friendly interface is easy to navigate, making it easy for users to find the content they want. The app also offers a community feature that allows users to connect with other members and share their spiritual journey.  

I have just one issue with this app, and that is the voice and delivery of some of the prayer guides. I know that prayer should be meditative, but the guides speak so slowly that some of the prayers take longer to finish than usual. 

Hallow is also affordable. The app offers a 14-day free trial period, after which users can choose to subscribe to the premium version of the app. The premium version gives users access to more meditations and features but is still affordable compared to other meditation apps on the market. At about PhP600 a month, the subscription is worth the cost.

Overall, the Hallow app is an excellent tool for Christians who want to deepen their spiritual practice through meditation and prayer.  The app's high-quality content, user-friendly interface, and affordability make it popular among users.

Images from Hallow

Facebook Reactions Now Available Everywhere

Wow, I didn't know that the Philippines was among the few countries where Facebook tested its Reactions - those emoticons that appear when you press on the "Like" button long enough- since October last year.  But a few minutes ago, Facebook officially released the Reactions to everyone on their social network/

engadget.com

I actually enjoy using these emoticons because it gave me more flexibility in giving feedback to my friends's post. It was a bit constricting before when there was only the "Like" button. I mean how do you react to news about the passing of a friend's relative? "Like" doesn't do the job well, does it?

When they first released the Reactions last year, Facebook included a "Yay" button which was a smiling and blushing yellow orb.  Too bad they dropped it after a few months. Maybe it didn't have enough users to make the Facebook guys to keep it.

Anyway, "Wow" is good enough for me. But I hope I wouldn't get to use that "Angry" button too often.

To add a reaction, hold down the Like button on mobile or hover over the Like button on desktop to see the reaction image options, then tap either Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad or Angry.  For those looking for the "Dislike" button however, I don't think it will come anytime soon.

You Now Need to Shop at Least $45 at Amazon to Avail of its Free Shipping Option

If you are someone like me who shops on Amazon,com and avails of their free shipping, you will now need to buy at least $45 worth of items before you can have your item shipped for free.  Let me make it clear though that this offer is available only in the US of A or when you ship your items to a U.S. address.

Add at least $25 of books in your cart and all other eligible items in the order also ship free, An eligible item has a "FREE Shipping" messaging on the product detail page, that is fulfilled and shipped by Amazon and contributes to your free shipping order minimum.  The site says the method takes about 5 to 8 business days but per my experience, most of my orders take only five days maximum.  

The online retail giant did not offer any explanation for the increase but many suspect that it's a way to lure more customers to their Prime service.  Amazon Prime offers a free two-day shipping for it's members. Aside from this, the $99 annual membership also comes with free music and video streaming.  Be warned however that again, the free streaming is only available for customers who are in the U.S.  

For more information on this, click here.

Panasonic Unveils new Technics SL-1200G, will reportedly sell at $4,000

Panasonic recently unveiled the new direct-drive Grand Classic SL-1200G at CES and sent every music aficionado in a frenzy. Why, even my friends got excited upon seeing the photos and specs. The question on everybody's lips was of course, ‘How much?’

We all knew that it won't be cheap but we almost fell off our seats when we found out that the new model will reportedly cost $4000.  That's according to this article from What Hi-Fi.   

That basically takes the new SL-1200 out of reach for many of us.  At an exchange rate of 47 pesos to a dollar, the new machine will set us back by almost 200 thousand pesos!  That doesn't even include the taxes and other costs levied upon imported goods.  So it is not really an overstatement that the initial excitement turned to outrage,

There's no official word yet from Panasonic but there's buzz in the Internet that the huge price increase was due to the complete redesign of the deck to improve its performance.  It will also have a set of unique features that will control vibrations in the motor.

The new SL-1200G (I suspect it's for Grand Classic) will come our in Summer this year.  There will also be a 50th Anniversary edition which could even be pricier than this one.

And here are the specs straight out of the Technics website:

All New Design for Redefining the Direct Drive Turntable

Twin-Rotor Surface-Facing Direct Drive Motor

Direct Drive Motor ControllerHigh Sensitive Tonearm
Brass-Top Turntable Platter
Insulator

Technics Definitive Design
Inherited SL-1200 Series
Heavy Aluminium Top Plate

Turntable Speeds33 1/3 rpm, 45 rpm, 78 rpm

Variable Range Pitch
±8%, ±16%

Dimensions & Weight
W: 453 mm (17-27/32 inch) H: 170 mm (6-11/16 inch) D: 372 mm (14-21/32 inch)
Approx. 18 kg (39.7 lbs ) *Tentative *Height including dust cover

Terminal
Phono Output x 1 / SIGNAL GND x 1

Images are not mine and came from various sources in the Internet

Amazon Echo: Speaker, Virtual Assistant, and Shopping Companion in One

The big news this weekend in the tech world was the announcement of Amazon on its website for its new product, the Echo.  

from amazon.com

The Echo is a cylindrical device that is basically a speaker that could fill an entire room with music. Just say the magic word, "Alexa" and the device wakes up to provide you with weather report, play music from your Amazon music library, and yes, go shopping with you on Amazon.

There are seven microphones on top of the Echo and it uses beam-forming technology to pinpoint your voice and make sure it can hear you no matter where you are in a room. It has an enhanced background noise cancellation so it can follow your commands and requests even when it is playing music.

The device is always connected to Amazon’s cloud-based web servers where most of the processing of data occurs.  The more you use  the better it understands your speech pattern and the more adept it becomes in identifying and responding to your commands over time. Let's just hope it won't be as buggy as Siri which took some time to recognize my speech pattern,

Music can be streamed through either WiFi or Bluetooth.  That includes music from iTunes and even Spotify.

It also comes with a remote control with a built-in microphone, music playback and volume controls.  There is also a companion app for iOS and Android gadgets and desktop PCs so you can further personalize your Echo experience.  

from amazon.com

Right now, the Echo is available for US$199 (roughly PhP8,900 at US$1=PhP44.5) and for a limited time, it is available to Prime Members at US$99.  Take note that getting the device is by invitation only and you may request it from the official site.  There's no word yet if it will be made available internationally but the way I look at it, Amazon must be testing first if they have a market for this and whether the Echo will work in the real world.  Maybe they were burned enough by the Fire Phone that they're being more cautious this time.

But being always on and with the capability to pick up one's voice where ever he is inside a room, will it be possible that someone could start listening to us 24/7 soon?  Maybe not as long as you don't have anyone in your household named "Alexa".

from amazon.com

Video Comes to Instagram

I just finished downloading the update of Instagram, the hugely popular photo sharing/social network app. The biggest update of course is video.  Users can now post 15 seconds of video to share among their friends.

 

It's so easy to use. Open the app then tap on the camera icon.  You will get to another screen with a video camera icon.  Tap on it and you're ready to go.  Press the record button and record anything you want: your new puppy running around the house, the kids playing basketball or even your partner cooking your favorite food. You don't have to shoot everything in one take. Lift your finger and the recorder automatically stops.

You don't need to worry about camera shake since Instagram incorporated an image stabilizer feature they named Cinema.  For now, it only works with iPhone 4s and higher.  Don't worry Android fans, it's coming to you soon.

 

Instagram also created 13 new filters exclusively for the video feature.  You can choose one of these filter and instantly preview its effect during play before sharing you post the video. Sound is instantly on and all posts are in square format, just like the photos.  Also when you post a video you can chose a scene as a “cover shot” which will be displayed while the rest of your video plays.

Apple Introduces New iPod Touch Sans Back Camera

Apple quietly began selling in the US a new iPod Touch at US$229 yesterday.  At the same time, it stopped selling the fourth-generation 16GB iPod Touch which comes with a 3.5-inch screen and costs $199.

The new model does not come with a rear camera.  Although the front camera is still there, it does not offer 1080p video.    

The new 16GB iPod Touch features a 4-inch Retina Display and is powered by a dual-core A5 processor.  

It has only one color combination: black front and silver back.  It also does not have the loop wrist band that comes with its higher-cost sibling which were released 8 months ago.

Flickr Gave Me 1TB Space for My Photos for Free!

I just noticed this afternoon that my Flickr account looked different. The photos that used to be arranged neatly in columns are now filling the pages.  No more empty white spaces, just photos in different sizes.  Then I opened my mail and discovered that Flickr has just introduced innovation to my favorite online photo sharing site.

Flickr has a new design that puts photos at the heart of its users' Flickr experience.  The homepage is now a gateway for everything the site has to offer. A new Activity Feed combines recent uploads with activity of photos of the users and their friends.  There is also a slideshow mode to allow users to flip through photos hands-free.

The biggest change of course is the amount of space allotted for the users to store their photos.  Flickr just gave each one of us a whopping 1 terabyte of space for free.  This is to encourage users to upload their photos in high resolution.  Here's what Flickr has to say:

At Flickr, we believe you should share all your images in full resolution, so life’s moments can be relived in their original quality. No limited pixels, no cramped formats, no memories that fall flat. We’re giving your photos room to breathe, and you the space to upload a dizzying number of photos and videos, for free. Just how big is a terabyte? Well, you could take a photo every hour for forty years without filling one. 

And yep, you heard us. It’s free.

Aside from more spaces for photographs, Flickr is now supporting up to a full 3 minutes per video of 1080p HD quality.

And there's another major change, a little kink for me.  Flickr Pro is not being offered anymore and in its place, the site introduced the Ad-Free and the Doublr accounts which basically have the same benefits as the free account except that subscribers can browse ad-free.  Doublr account holders also have up to 2 terabytes of space for their photos.  Ads-free accounts come at US$49.99 per year while the Doublr is offered at US$499.99 annually.  

By the way, if you have a pro account you can still renew it at US$24.99 per year and still have an ads-free and unlimited browsing experience.  However, the "pro" badge in your profile and buddy icon will not be there anymore.

Anyway, that's 1 terabyte of free space plus ALL your photos and videos are available for your visitors to see and watch.  Not bad for a free account.  I just hope it stays that way.

Samsung Unpacks the Galaxy S4

I just finished watching the livestream of the unveiling of Samsung's 2013 version of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4.  All I can say is that the company really went all out in presenting its new gadget in a, ummm, big way at the Radio City Hall in New York City.

Let me give you the important details first - the specs of the new phone.   The key specs include a 5-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080p HD resolution, an Exynos 5 Octa eight-core processor in the international version and a quad-core Snapdragon chipset in the U.S. version, a 13-megapixel rear camera, up to 64GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, microSDXC support and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the latest available version of Google’s mobile platform. 

JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung claims that  "All the innovative features of GALAXY S 4 were developed based on the insights and needs we found from our consumers all around the world."

So what are these innovative features? For one, the Galaxy 4S sports a new 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 2-megapixel front camera.  It also has a dual camera mode, which allows you to use both cameras at the same time.  A dual video mode also allows you to speak with somebody in a video call while showing him or her what you are looking at.

When Samsung said that this new phone will connect people even more, they weren't only talking about the support for up to 6 different band sets which allows it to function in most LTE coverage areas as well as enabling global LTE roaming.  It also meant to say about the  'S Translator' which provides instant translation, using text or voice translation on applications including email, text message and ChatON. This instant translation is possible both from speech to text and text to speech and ensures that you can rely on the correct information whilst abroad.

Based on the presentation this morning, it appears that the best features of Samsung Galaxy 4S are not in the hardware but in the applications.  It still runs on Android, particularly 4.2.2,  but added some new features.

One is the Smart Pause which lets you control the screen by where you look.  The feature stops and starts video based on whether or not you’re looking at the screen.  Now before you jump and down thinking that you can control it with your eyes, it seemed that the phone detects the movement of your head; whether you are facing the camera or looking somewhere else.  Similarly, the Smart Scroll allows you to scroll the browser or emails up and down without touching the screen. It recognizes your face looking at the screen and movement of your wrist and then scroll the pages up or down accordingly.

Air View allows users to hover with their fingers to preview the content of an email, S Planner, image gallery or video without having to open it. You can even see a magnified view on the internet browser, or a phone number saved in the speed dial on the keypad. With 'Air Gesture', you can change the music track, scroll up and down a web page, or accept a call with a wave of your hand.

As I've said earlier, Samsung put on quite a show which included a tap dancing boy who took almost 20 minutes before showing off the new phone and a group of bridesmaids who danced to show the other features of the phone. But it seemed that they forgot to include some very important details: the price and the availability of the S4.  The online buzz is rife with speculation that it will come out in April in the US with the major telecom companies carrying it.

Well, I hope Pinoy Samsung fanboys won't have to wait longer to get your hands on this new gadget.

photos from online sources.

PH Finally Gets its iTunes Store

Apple announced this week the launch of iTunes in several Asian countries including the Philippines.  This is good news for us who have an iOS device or two as we now have access to songs, apps and movies that were previously unavailable to us.  These include music from local artists, of course.  Not only that, we can now also shop for books under the iBookstore.

It is only about time that we have our own iTunes Store.  Before this, I can only populate my iPod through ripping my CD.  The only way I can download music and books from iTunes is to ask my sister to get me an iTunes Music Store prepaid card or buy one from an online seller at a higher price.  Now, I can use my local credit card to gain access to all of the goods.

Moreover, Asia is one of the fastest growing markets for Apple products.  Since many of their gadgets now come sans optical drives, Apple users here have no option but to download iOS and Mac OSX software from iTunes or the Appstore.  

iTunes music store has been online since 2003 and after almost ten years, it's here.  Well, better late than never.  Welcome to the Philippines iTunes!

Severe Thunderstorms down Instagram, Pinterest

Thanks to Mother Nature two of my favorite  web sites went down today.

Severe thunderstorms in North Virginia caused an outage to the Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud, which took down Instagram, Pinterest, Netflix and other cloud based sites.  

Although the sites have a local hub here in Asia, it appears that all services are still routed to North America. Hence, this problem. 

I tried loading some pictures on Instagram and either I waited for eternity for the site to come up or I just got pieces of it.  Netizens expressed their frustrations on Twitter and and the affected companies also took to social networking sites to send their messages that they're having some technical problems and were fixing it.  

It's not the first time that Amazon's cloud server was affected by outages due to weather. Many tech experts are beginning to worry that this may lead some industries to have second thoughts on embracing the cloud technology.

Micrsoft Unveils the Surface

Microsoft recently announced its own tablet called the Surface.  It is a 10-inch tablet that comes with a touch screen.  The Surface will come in two flavors - one with an ARM processor that will run on Windows RT, and the other powered by Intel's Ivy Bridge chip running on Windows 8.

Another difference between the two machines is their thickness and weight.  The Windows RT Surface comes in at 9.3 mm thin and weighs 676 grams.  The Windows 8 Pro version is a bit heftier at 13.5 mm and 903 grams.  Microsoft touts the casing as a product of a unique approach and calls it the VaporMg (pronounced as Vapor Mag) which resulted to the thinner form factor of both machines.  It also enabled the inclusion of a kickstand to its design.

And yes, it has a 3 mm touch cover that clicks in on the spine of the Surface.  Microsoft took a swipe at Apple by saying that the pressure sensitive technology on the touch cover allows a user to touch type faster than on an on-screen keyboard.  The user can also add a thin click on cover that will make typing more natural.

It's not even out in the market yet but there already those who give this new gadget the death sentence.  One of them is even a Microsoft partner: an Acer executive declared that the Surface will be a total flop.  Online analysts believe that this must have stemmed from the fact that the company will now directly compete with its hardware manufacturing partners.

We'll find out about that once the machine hits the market.  For now, Microsoft has not even announced when the Surface will, umm, surface in the market and at how much.

(all images from microsoft.com/surface)

Introducing the new iPad

Apple®  introduced earlier the new iPad®, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, featuring a stunning new Retina display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics and a 5 megapixel iSight® camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video. iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G connects to fast networks worldwide, including AT&T’s and Verizon’s 4G LTE networks, and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life  while remaining amazingly thin and light.

The new iPad’s Retina display delivers four times the number of pixels of iPad 2, so dense that the human eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels when held at a normal distance, making web pages, text, images and video look incredibly sharp and realistic.

from apple.com

With iOS 5.1, the latest update to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, the new iPad has a number of new features and enhancements including: a redesigned Camera app with video stabilization technology; the ability to delete photos from Photo Stream; support for dictation in English, French, German and Japanese; and Personal Hotspot.

The new iPad also supports dictation, another amazing way to get things done just using your voice. Instead of typing, tap the microphone icon on the keyboard, then say what you want to say and the new iPad listens. Tap done, and iPad converts your words into text. You can use dictation to write messages, take notes, search the web and more.

Nokia Announces the Lumia: First Smartphones Powered by Windows

Nokia unveiled two new smartphones based on its new operating system, Microsoft's  Windows Phone instead of its Symbian or MeetGo software.  Children meet the Lumia 800 and 710, two new smartphones that Nokia hopes would help them get back in the mobile phone scene.

Lumia 800 is obviously the high end model between the two.  It sports a rather curvy design and based on the picture, its 3.7-inch 800x480 AMOLED screen seem to occupy most of its body.  Inside this device is a  1.4 GHz processor, with hardware acceleration and graphics processor.  For those who like snapping their  photos using their phones, the 800 comes with an 8-megapixel camera.  It has a dedicated button to instantly share your photos online.  It has a hefty 16GB internal storage for your photos and music.  

This baby will come in three colors, cyan, magenta and black.  It is now available for pre-order in Europe but will be available in select Asian countries later this year.  Don't jump for joy yet because most likely, the Lumia 800 will not reach our shores until early 2012.

Nokia wanted to bring the Lumia experience to more people in the world so they also introduced a more affordable phone, the Nokia Lumia 710.  Like its higher end sibling, this model comes with the same 1.4 GHz processor, with hardware acceleration and graphics processor as that of the 800.  However, this one comes with 8GB internal storage and a 5-megapixel camera.

Its design is a typical Nokia design.  It comes in two colors: black and white but the removable back cover can be changed to either black, white, cyan, fuchsia, or yellow.   Remember how much fun it was then to change those plastic covers to our preferred colors?  Well it seems Nokia wanted us to experience that again.

Both handsets runs on the lates Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system. It will also have apps exclusively available to Nokia Phones and optimized for the Windows Phone operating system.  Among these apps are Nokia Drive, which delivers a full-fledged personal navigation device (PND) with free, turn-by-turn navigation and dedicated in-car-user-interface; and Nokia Music introducing MixRadio, a free, global, mobile music-streaming application that delivers hundreds of channels of locally-relevant music.

The Lumia 710 will be released later this year in some Asian countries.  Just like the Lumia 800, this device could be available in the local market by early 2012.

all images from nokia.com

YouTube comes to the Philippines

It's not as if it is not available in the country yet but YouTube recently launched a localized version of the biggest online video sharing site here in the Philippines.  It is the first one in the Southeast Asia region.

The company noted that number of video uploads by Filipinos is one of the highest in the region.  A number of our countrymen have also been using YouTube to make a name for themselves across the globe. Charice was discovered through the site by Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey.  Rock band Journey chose Filipino singer-songwriter Arnel Pineda to be their new vocalist after seeing videos of him belting out their hits on YouTube. And of course, the well choreographed dance routines for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”  of the uniformed inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center made them popular the world over.

The localized service will also allow for monetization of video views in the Philippines. The YouTube Partner Program will enable regular video content creators in the country to become content partners with YouTube and monetize their work on the site through advertising.

I have posted several videos of my travels on YouTube although none has gone viral yet.  But who knows.

iOS 5 is Here!

 

Apple released iOS 5 this morning, its most anticipated mobile operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.  It brings 200 new features and enhancements including Notification Center, iMessage, Newsstand, Reminders, and systemwide Twitter integration.

The update requires iTune 10.5 which was released last Tuesday.  To download, connect your device to iTunes and you'll be prompted with the download.  If not, click on Check for Updates button.  iOS 5 is compatible with the iPad 2, original iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch.

A good number of fellow members of an online Mac users forum stayed all night to wait and be the first ones to download and run this new OS.  Some of them are reporting problems and difficulties with upgrading to iOS 5, as Apple's servers have been acting up perhaps due to high demand for the new release. I am downloading it right now and hopefully the glitches experienced by early adaptors have been addressed already.  I will make a more detailed post about it in the next few days.

Steve Jobs, 56

STEVE JOBS

1955-2011

Thanks for making computing fun. Your legacy will live forever.

Amazon announces four new Kindle Readers

I woke up this morning to some great news from Amazon.com.   The company announced not one (as earlier posted) but four new Kindle e-readers, with prices starting at US$79.  On the Amazon website, CEO Jeff Bezos called the new devices the "best Kindles we've ever made." 

The top of the line among the new Kindles is the Kindle Fire.   The Kindle Fire offers Wi-Fi connectivity and a web browser called Amazon Silk which will use cloud computing to speed access to content over the Internet.  The device is basically a souped up version of the Kindle with a 7-inch color touch screen.  Many pundits are claiming that this gadget is the only real threat to Apple's iPad.  For one, at US$199 it is really way cheaper than Jobs's tablet.  However, Kindle Fire does not come with a camera, a microphone and a 3G connectivity which may not appeal to those who want to these features.  

One of the things that stopped me from considering Kindle Fire is its backlit screen.  I have a first generation iPad and I have to admit that I find it hard to read on it for a long period of time.  Unless Amazon can transpose e-ink technology, I think this gadget will be good for consumption of other media, namely music, magazines and movies which does take long periods of time.

What I am considering is the new Kindle Touch.  This new addition to the Kindle family comes with an easy to use touch screen to make it easier to turn pages, all you need to do is tap to turn a page.  It still comes with e-ink technology and connects through Wi-Fi for access to the Amazon Store.  It is only 6 inches and is lighter at 7.8 ounces.  Battery life is also great - it can last for two months on a single charge without the wireless connection.  If you leave the wireless on, it will still work for 6 weeks on a single charge.

I would really want to know more about the X-Ray Feature of this gadget.  Amazon explains it as "a new technology that lets customers explore the 'bones of the book'."  It says that with just a single tap, readers can see all passages across a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, etc. that interests them.  I think it's worth exploring.

A 3G enabled model of the device will also be available.  The Kindle Touch will be available at US$99 with special offers.  What this simply means is that you will receive special offers and sponsored screen savers.  However, these will only appear when you are not using your device or at the bottom of the screen.  Amazon promises that it will not interfere with our reading.  If you don't want these special offers then opt for the one that does not come with it, priced at US139.  Prices for the 3G enabled model start at US$149.  Both models will be available on November 21, 2011.

If you don't want a touch screen model, there's the Kindle.  The new latest generation Kindle is for readers who want the lightest, most compact Kindle at an incredible price. The latest generation Kindle features a new design that is 30 percent lighter at just 5.98 ounces, 18 percent smaller, and turns pages 10 percent faster. Kindle is now small and light enough to fit easily in your pocket and carry with you everywhere, yet it still features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.  It comes with a price tag of only US$79 and is available starting today at Amazon.com.  

(all images from amazon.com)