Silicon Gulf

Globe gave me P50.00 for loading up P750.00 Ang liit naman ng reward.. well, at least may reward diba? hehhee, i hope they won’t take it back.

Giorgio Armani phone by Samsung. Saw one at the NCCC mall here in Davao City.. Looks expensive…. Its has a 2.6 touchscreen with 3 megapixel cam. Its not a 3G phone though.. only works on EDGE, GPRS, and GSM. Its thin and as small as a normal credit card. Surely. you’ll look good with this phone. [...]

The Nokia N78 from WOM World/Nokia has arrived today! I got to tell you..  its a great looking gadget with a smooth interface.. really cool yet classy… It made me say WOW! Plus, they also pitched in a Nokia MD-4 speakers.. WOW WOW WOW! Its realllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyy nice! More about the N78 on Migs Mobile Network [www.MigsMobile.net] [...]

Blackberry is rumored to be developing a touchscreen phone which resembles the famous iPhone. It’s called Blackberry Thunder. But as Engadget reports, Blackberry thunder will be exclusive to Verizon and Vodafone. Furthermore: The phone will reportedly have four physical keys (send, end, menu, and back), sport a hybrid CDMA EV-DO Rev. C / GSM HSPA radio, and could [...]

Saw this sign in one of the Nokia stores here in Davao City. Nokia take-back point. Looking after the environment is a responsibility shared by everyone! Join us in protecting the environment and saving natural resources by returning used mobile devices. Nokia is also doing research in making mobile phone chargers environment friendly - using less electricity i guess. This [...]

Low on batteries? You can now go inside some establishments to recharge your mobile phone’s batteries.. for FREE. Via several Nokia Charging Stations. See a list of Nokia Charging stations after the break. Click the image to enlarge. There are quite a lot charging stations. Unfortunately, they’re all concentrated in the Metro Manila area. Hopefully they’d expand to provinces and [...]

I agree with one of my favorite tech news sources (TechCrunch.com) that the next technology war will be fought in the realm of mobile platforms. In the dawn of OS-agnostic and Web-deployed applications, the old operating-systems war seems to be finally fizzling out. (A rather anticlimactic denouement, if you ask me.)

Microsoft and Apple have both had their mobile platforms out in the market for the longest time now: Windows Mobile (which had its earlier manifestation as Windows CE) and Apple’s "i" series (iPod, iPhone). But it’s only now that the market has grown to a considerable — and lucrative — scale. This time, there are other aggressive players out in the battlefield: BlackBerry and Google’s Android (which has yet to make a clear showing), among others. Let’s not forget Symbian, by the way.

What form could this new war take? What would the battles be?

One thing seems evident: the ones with huge resources are bringing out the big guns, which, in the world of technology and development, takes the form of venture capital. For example, Google announced in November 2007 that it was seeding a $10-million fund for developers who would take up their challenge: to develop applications on top of Android. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a financial organization that backs technology entrepreneurs, announced last March the launch of a $100-million fund for developers of iPhone-specific applications.

Other similar moves are expected to follow, like the rumored $150-million BlackBerry Fund. In the past, applications developers came up with a sound idea first, and the venture capitalists followed. Now it seems the tables have turned — perhaps this is due to the intense competition in the IT arena.

The Philippines is known as the SMS capital of the world, isn’t it? Beyond that, the use of mobile applications has steadily been growing locally. Development-wise, we are not lagging either. Take a look at this online repository of Windows Mobile applications developed by Filipinos: Airfagev.com.

Clearly, there is a market for mobile in the Philippines. So where are the angel investors who are willing to put up the capital for our talented Filipinos? Our developers do need the financial help in order to hit it big, not only in the local scene but in the global as well.

In line with this, I believe it is high time our government gives more than lip service towards supporting our IT industry. Politicians have lately been touting the role of IT in the country’s development… but what concrete steps have been taken? The highest government body that oversees our progress in the IT industry still remains a commission, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

CICT was created two years ago to address the growing IT concerns nationwide, but it was supposed to be an interim arrangement, wherein it would be upgraded to a full Cabinet-level department. That has not happened yet.

The CICT, in its present mandate, is only an advisory body. It has no true powers of programs implementation. But in the event that it becomes the Department of ICT, it will have the jurisdiction and the necessary wherewithal to implement development and support programs for Filipino IT companies.

The moment is now. Let’s not allow ourselves to miss the train.

Once again, the great guys at WOM World/Nokia are sending over another phone for review. This time its an upcoming phone…the Nokia N78. The full review will be posted at MiGs Mobile Network [www.MigsMobile.net]

Mobilewahck reports that Philips - the brand known for household items (at least here in the Philippines) is said to be  gearing up for its own touch screen mobile phone. The Xenium 800 will be packed with EDGE and wi-fi support and a long lasting battery life. I say the touch screen mobile phone that is cheap yet [...]

I bought my dream phone a couple of days ago. It’s the cheapest I can find in the market. I had a hard time looking for one because I wanted the Black edition which is still quite limited. The beauty of the N82 would be best appreciated on the inside – it’s rich features - rather [...]