Pinoy Tech Blog - The Philippines' Premier Technology Blog

25% off Sale on Logitech Wireless Products

Calvin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:40:40 +0000

Is your desktop getting more cluttered each day? Maybe it’s time to switch to wireless. Logitech is offering a promo on their wireless products allowing you to save up to 25%.

What’s good about these wireless keyboards and mice is that you only need one of their Logitech Unifying receiver to handle multiple devices. Saves up on USB port.

A good deal for your basic wireless setup is the Wireless Desktop MK320 which is already a combination of a desktop keyboard and mouse for only Php1400 (previously Php1899).

Promo runs until April 30 only.

First Six-Core Processor has finally arrived

Calvin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:43:11 +0000

Intel just released the first ever 32nm six-core desktop processor to the market codenamed “Gulftown”. The Intel Core i7-980x Processor Extreme Edition has six-cores and with Intel’s Hyper-Threading Technology can give you 12 computing threads for incredible gaming and multitasking performance.

Not a lot of games right now utilize multiple threads but big games such as Crysis and Battlefield 2 will surely love the power of 12 threads. Smoother and realistic gaming can be achieved by distributing AI, physics and 3D rendering across the six cores. Digital publishing houses who want the best equipment possible will also get a lot of mileage with the 12 threads of the i7-980x.

This new processor is compatible with any motherboards supporting the X58 Express Chipset. All you need is a BIOS update to make your motherboard recognize the i7-980x.

The Intel Core i7-980x will have the same price point as that of the previous Core i7-975 at $999. The retail box however will come with Intel’s DBX-B Thermal Solution for the processor. There’s no word yet on when the price of the i7-975 will go down but if you’re planning to get one soon, go for the i7-980x instead.

Globe brings GCASH to Facebook games

Calvin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:57:52 +0000

Globe announced earlier today their partnership with BOKU Inc., a global leader in mobile payments, that will give Facebook users the option to purchase game credits using G-Cash. Starting On March 24, you can now buy those exclusive items in Farmville, Restaurant City, etc. using your GCASH money. The online payment via GCASH works with BOKU’s Paymo system which supports a lot of online games including those from leading Facebook game publishers like Zynga and Playfish. If you wish to purchase game coins, look for the Paymo payment option and from there you can use your Globe number and GCASH mobile PIN to complete the transaction. The amount will automatically be converted to peso.

It’s a pretty easy way to purchase game credits without having to deal with Paypal or credit cards. With this strategic partnership with BOKU, Globe is bringing game transaction features closer to millions of users with no means of purchasing game credits. Nice move from Globe.

ASUS unveils the mother of all motherboards, the ASUS P7F7-E WS SuperComputer

Calvin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:24:35 +0000

ASUS recently announced the new, drool-inducing, next-generation ASUS P7F7-E WS SuperComputer motherboard which has specs that would probably make people call it it a “fatherboard” instead.

Pardon the pun but the specs are just that awesome that it would leave hardcore PC-junkies fantasizing about it. There’s USB 3.0, SATA 6G storage interface and it can accommodate up to four ATI® CrossFireX cards or 3-way/2-way NVIDIA® SLI cards.

It also uses NVIDIA® CUDA™ parallel computing architecture to support up to a whopping four NVIDIA® Tesla cards with Clarkdale Processors for intensive high-performance computing. Ok you can wet your pants now.

Detailed Specs:

CPU Socket: 1x LGA1156 socket for Intel® Xeon™ 3400 series, Core™ i7/Core™ i5/ Core™ i3/Pentium®
Chipset: Intel® Ibex Peak 3450 Chipset/ Nvidia NF200*1
Memory: 6 DIMMs, supporting up to 16GB DDR3 2000(O.C.)*/1600/1333MHz.ECC, un-buffered memory
Expansion Slots: 2x PCIe 2.0 x16 (@ x16 or x8), 2x PCIe 2.0 x16 (@ x8), 3x PCIe x1 (@ x1)
Multi-GPU: Supports 3-way/2-way NVIDIA® Geforce SLI™ technology; Supports ATI® CrossFireX™ technology, up to Quad CrossFireX™
CUDA Support: Support up to 4 NVIDIA GPUs; 3x NVIDIA Tesla cards + 1x NVIDIA Quadro fX5800 card up to 960 cores
Storage: 2x SATA 6Gb/s, 6x SATA 3Gb/s
Audio: 10-channel output, DTS encoding
Other I/O ports: 1*PS/2, 1*IEEE1394a, 2*LAN, 6*USB(4 for USB2.0 and 2 for USB3.0, 1*Optical S/PDIF out, 1*DVI-I output port
Form Factor: ATX Form Factor, 12 inches x 9.6 inches ( 30.5cm x 24.5cm )

Samsung netbooks finally hit Philippine shores

Calvin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:00:53 +0000

We really don’t know why it’s only now that Samsung introduced their netbooks here in the local market considering the success of their NC10 overseas. Samsung is saying that they want to be prepared before launching their netbooks here so we’ll leave it at that.

Samsung unveiled yesterday their first two netbooks for the Philippine market. Sporting the latest Intel Atom N450 processor are the N220 and the N150. The N220 has a stylish color finish (looks like glass-encased) while the more affordable N150 has a glossy scratch-resistant finish.

Spec-wise both models are pretty basic:

Intel Atom N450 (1.66GHz)
Windows 7 Starter (can be upgraded)
10.1” WSVGA LED display (1024×600)
1GB DDR2 RAM
160GB HDD for the N150 and 250GB for the N220
Wifi, LAN, Bluetooth, 3 USB ports
0.3 megapixel Digital LiveCam

Aside from the design and disk space, the only other difference is the battery life. The N150 has a 4400mah 6-cell battery (8 hours) while the N220 has a 5900mah 6-cell battery (12 hours).

Samsung also included a lot of proprietary utility software to make life easier for the user. Also a feature on both netbooks is the Hyperspace which allows you to instantly use your netbook without waiting for Windows to boot.

The Samsung N150 is priced at P21,900 and comes in black and white while the N220 will go for P24,900 in either green or red. Both should be available in the market this month.

HTC Magic free on Smart Gold Plan 1800

PTB — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:07:10 +0000

The very first Android phone in the Philippines was introduced thru Smart with the HTC Magic. While Android phones don’t enjoy as much attention as the Apple iPhone, it’s a good alternative.

Today Smart is offering the HTC Magic for free on Smart Gold Plan 1800. Not really a huge deal until you get to the part where the plan comes with unlimited surfing. Now that’s a nice mobile plan altogether.

Smart’s regular Gold Plan 1800 includes 450 free SMS and 344 minutes free calls per month.

Olympus introduces new compact ultra-zoom cameras to local market

Calvin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:11:35 +0000

Olympus recently introduced their new ultra-zoom cameras to the Philippine market. The Olympus SP-800UZ is the smallest compact digital camera in its class and the first to incorporate a whopping 30x zoom.

If you’re the type of person who feels intimidated using DSLR’s or lazy enough or don’t have the patience to tinker with the manual settings just to take a shot then you would probably want to consider the SP-800UZ.

The SP-800UZ is an easy to use “all-in-one” 14-megapixel camera that caters to people who wants to take good, quality shots without dwelling too much on the intricacies of a camera’s settings. Not only that, this paparazzi camera has a super-telephoto 30x optical zoom (28mm wide-angle to 840mm telephoto) to capture big, up-close images from afar.

A cool new feature available in the SP-800UZ is the “background defocusing” scene mode. Yup, choosing this scene mode will blur the background and focus on the subject in the foreground for those artistic photographs that people love.

The Olympus SP-800UZ is an upgrade from the SP-590UZ which can only do 26x zoom and requires 4 AA batteries as opposed to the Lithium Ion of the newer model. This new model can also record 720p hi definition videos.

See complete specs from dpreview.

The SP-800UZ will be available this month for P22,995 and comes with a 4GB SD card, Lens Pen and a Speedo Watch. For the 15x zoom model, SP-600UZ, the price is P16,995 and comes with 4GB SD card and a Lens Pen.

Apple’s Aperture 3 is way much better than previous version

Calvin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:44:10 +0000

If you’re one of the many people who were not satisfied with Apple’s photo application, Aperture 1 or 2, that you were forced to switch to Adobe Lightroom, it’s time to go back and take a look at Aperture 3. They made a lot, no a TON of improvements with this version. I saw a demo of the application and I was pretty impressed (I’m a Lightroom user mind you).

Familiarity for iPhoto users

If you love how iPhoto ‘09 manages your photo library then you will love how it is now incorporated with Aperture 3. Yup, Aperture 3 can now replace your iPhoto as your photo editing and management software. It also inherited iPhoto 09’s Faces (face recognition and tagging) and Places (geo-tagging) feature that is quite useful if you take a lot of vacation photos. Uploading to Facebook and Flickr is also included.

iPhoto in steroids

Aperture 3 is not your ordinary photo organizer software. If you usually edit your photos to correct lighting, white balance, etc., then you would you find it easy to use Aperture 3’s presets and brushes.

Users of Adobe Lightroom are familiar with presets where you can treat photos with artistic effects based on preset settings. Aperture 3 has those but also offers brushes if you only want to treat a certain portion of a photo. You can set presets to your brushes so you can only apply for some spot treatments like only brushing the sky or the water with the polarizer preset.

Create beautiful slideshows on the fly

If you want to show your relatives your vacation photos but want to do it with style, Aperture 3 allows you to create beautiful slideshows with a click of a button. Just select a library to show and the theme that you want and that’s it. You can also choose a soundtrack from your iTunes and export it as a video for your iPhone, iPod, HDTV, etc. and never show a boring slideshow to your family ever again.

Pricing

Aperture 3 is available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com.ph) and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of P10,290 and existing Aperture users can upgrade for a suggested retail price of P5,190.

You can also try a full-version of Aperture 3 for 30-days by downloading it from http://www.apple.com/sg/aperture/trial/.

Microsoft offers free Office 2010 upgrade to new Office 2007 customers

Calvin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:55:46 +0000

If you’ve been holding up in purchasing that Microsoft Office 2007 license because Office 2010 is just around the corner (expected in June), no need to wait because Microsoft is offering a tech guarantee for customers who purchase Office 2007 beginning March 5 – September 23, 2010.

Yep, new Office 2007 customers can download the Office 2010 come June at no additional cost for their free upgrade.

To be eligible for the Office 2010 Technology Guarantee program, you must:

Purchase Office 2007, or a new PC with Office 2007, and activate it between March 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010
Have, or create a Windows Live ID
Redeem your Tech Guarantee before October 31, 2010 by visiting www.office.com/techg

That’s it! No need to go back to your store for a CD installer. If you want to try out Microsoft Office 2010, there’s a beta version available at www.office.com/beta.

Asus launched the fashionable Eee PC 1008P Karim Rashid Collection

Calvin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:27:08 +0000

Ever since the popularity of netbooks, it really hasn’t melded well with fashion but ASUS plans to change that with its limited edition Eee PC 1008P Karim Rashid Collection which they launched in the country yesterday.

Separating itself from those glossy, black or decal-painted netbooks, the Asus Eee PC 1008P Karim Rashid Collection sports a rubbery-texture crocodile-looking hide that looks so good that you don’t want to put it in a bag or a sleeve.

This designer edition netbook is based on the Eee PC Seashell 1008HA that was released last year. It has the same slim form factor and light weight at only 1.145kg. What’s new with the 1008P is the Intel N450 processor, Windows 7 OS and 250GB hard drive.

The Eee PC 1008P also has a 3-cell Li-polymer battery which Asus claims can go for 6 hours on a single charge. More like 4 hours in normal usage which is pretty low considering that it’s already using the Intel N450.

People would want to have this netbook mainly for its style and at P25,900, it’s already a good price IMHO. The Karim Rashid Collection comes in glossy Hot Pink for the ladies or matte Coffe Brown for the gentlemen.

This limited edition Asus netbook is only available in select dealer stores: Octagon – Megamall, Complink – MOA, Villman – North Edsa and Accent Micro in Park Square, Makati.