So how many here are using Yahoo! to search for stuff? Or know anyone who uses Yahoo! for search? I don’t know what the score is now but here’s a study made based on last year’s statistics on market share for the big three search engines.

Basically, what the graph means is that Yahoo! is number 1 across all age groups. Yahoo! reps aren’t clear on the parameters how this study was made so let’s just take it with a grain of salt shall we? We don’t really know if it’s based on search made or just visit to the site which can make this statistic viable.

Ok so knowing that Yahoo! is still very strong as a landing page or search engine, what are the top searched categories here in the Philippines? Here’s what Yahoo! gave us:

1. News
2. Celebrity
3. Gaming
4. Travel
5. Careers

Yahoo! is the go to source for news information. The top searches show Filipinos using the Web to stay on top of news stories. These searches illustrate Filipinos desire for more details on specific stories and news makers.

Anyway if you’re a business owner and want to leverage on Yahoo! advertising for your marketing campaign, you might want to take note of those 5 categories up there. These top searches represent what matters most to Filipinos and offer insights that have proven to be useful to advertisers.

Apple just revealed the next generation of iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and the iPod Touch on their Fall 2010 event and it left a lot of people really excited, including us. Here’s what’s new with the iPods and our take on them.

iPod Shuffle

Apple brought back the click wheel on the new iPod Shuffle signifying that the previous no-button version didn’t really go well as expected. It’s now a hybrid of the previous Shuffle and the original one with a square-ish form. Voice-over for songs and artists was carried over and battery life was improved to 15 hours.

Our take:

Now this is more like it. Actually there’s nothing wrong with the form factor of the original iPod Shuffle, they just want to innovate with the succeeding generation. Glad that they brought the old form back and made it more smaller. They let go of the earphones with playback control from the last Shuffle that was problematic during workouts and replaced it with an ordinary one.

It’s much cheaper at $49 and I guess the standard earphone has something to do with that. Seems that all you need is 2GB because there are no other models.

Price (US and Philippines): 2GB – $49 (Php2,490)

iPod Nano

The iPod Nano became the super-mini iPod Touch. It now has a square form factor like the Shuffle but slightly bigger. The 1.54-inch (240 x 240 resolution) multi-touch display will cover all your playback button needs. Only the volume and sleep/wake have dedicated buttons.

Our take:

Honestly, I’m not sold on that touch display. It’s cool but I think it’s too small to easily navigate through your list of songs especially while you’re running. I like the small form though making it really ideal for working out (with the built-in Nike+) by just clipping it on your shirt. No need for armbands.

Price (US and Philippines): 8GB – $149 (Php7,990) | 16GB – $179 (Php9,790)

iPod Touch

This 4th generation iPod Touch takes its cue from the iPhone 4. It has the same retina display, same 1GHz processor, same 3-axis gyro, camera capable of HD video recording and a front facing camera for Facetime. It’s basically a sexier and slimmer iPhone 4 without the data plan and a big upgrade from the previous Touch.

Our take:

This is the iPod Touch everybody’s waiting for. Just having the camera is worth the upgrade. The retina display and 1GHZ processor is just gravy on the top. Media, gaming, camera, this new iPod Touch got you covered. With the pre-installed iOS 4.1, you can now enjoy playing games with your friends more using Game Center.

Price (US and Philippines.): 8GB – $229 (Php12,490) | 32GB – $299 (Php15,990) | 64GB – $399 (Php21,990)

Bottomline:

Well the bottomline is Apple really did well with all three iPods. Having priced the same (or even cheaper) as the previous models, there’s no reason for you not to upgrade if you’re contemplating on that one. Of all the three, I think the iPod Touch is the most worthy upgrade. 5th gen nano users won’t miss much not upgrading but I really dig the clip-on style on the new nano. The iPod Shuffle would be a popular gift for teens this holiday season.

So which one are you planning to get?

Powerful performance at entry-level price. That’s what the new Lenovo ThinkCentre M70e desktop is all about as Lenovo’s Worldwide Competitive Analyst, Matthew Kohut, demoed it to members of the media yesterday morning. It is built with advanced features for expandability, stability and manageability for large business customers.

The ThinkCentre M70e desktop comes in either a tower or small form factor. Some of its features include:

• Intel Core2Quad processor
• Choices of NVIDIA GeForce FX380 Quadro or Intel integrated GMA X4500 graphics
• Up to 4GB DDR3 memory
• Up to 1TB hard drive
• DVD burner
• Suite of Lenovo ThinkVantage Tools

Time to go green

Aside from those features, Lenovo is committed to bring greener, more energy-efficient and earth-friendly iterations of their desktops and laptops. The ThinkCentre M70e is no different as Matt discussed it being GREENGUARD certified, meets Energy Star 5.0 specifications and is ready under the Energy Using Products label.

It will surely help customers control energy cost as they can monitor desktop energy usage and opt to use an 85% efficient power supply using Lenovo’s Power Manager utility included in the system.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M70e is already available through partners with a starting price of Php36,000.

HTC users, if you can’t login to your Twitter account via HTC Peep or FriendStream because of incorrect username and/or password, it’s not because your account has been hacked. Twitter suddenly switched to OAuth to authorize logins and HTC Peep doesn’t support that change yet.

HTC Peep and FriendStream (and other 3rd party Twitter apps) uses the old method called Basic Auth which stores username and password on third-party service. Twitter’s switch to OAuth doesn’t require other services to manage your logins anymore.

So what can you do? You can download the official Twitter mobile app for your phone or tweet from the browser instead while waiting for HTC to release an update on their Peep/FriendStream.

Of course, don’t discount the fact that your account may indeed be hacked if all else fails.

Sony Ericsson UK has confirmed via Twitter that the very much-awaited Android 2.1 (Eclair) upgrade for the Xperia X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro is on target and will be available by the end of September. It’s a bit late for Sony Ericsson when other phones are already enjoying the fruits of Android 2.1 and are making adjustments for 2.2 (Froyo). In fact, the HTC Desire just got the Froyo treatment recently.The Sony Ercisson Xperia X10 can really compete with other 1GHz smartphones out there but is really crippled by its old-fashioned Android version. Only three homescreens, no multi-touch support and outdated browser are just some of the features that can be addressed by the upgrade.

If you can get the Xperia X10 cheap from a frustrated user, better hold on to it and wait for the upcoming Android 2.1 upgrade. Now SE, when will we get the Froyo build on the X10s?

[via CNET]

On 2006, CPU-maker AMD acquired GPU-maker ATI for $5.4 billion. Recently, AMD decided to phase out the ATI brand believing that having two brands is unnecessary especially when they will start offering CPU and GPU (APUs) in one package in the future.

ATI loyalists may feel irked when they see the AMD brand splattered on their Radeon and FusionPro GPUs that will be ship later this year. However, not much will change with the ATI GPUs except for the nomenclature.

Kinda cool to see Intel and AMD in one desktop package though especially on those Intel and ATI-powered iMacs.

[via Engadget]

IBM already completed the acquisition of Storewize, on-line storage optimization through real-time data compression. Hence, it will be known as Storewize, an IBM Company.

Oh the other hand, HP and Dell are still competing for 3PAR.  3PAR’s technology enables large companies to shift to “cloud” storage platforms, giving them extra speed in accessing data and cutting storage costs by nearly 59 percent, according to the company.

From Dell’s bid of USD18 per share announced on August 16, HP made a counter bid of USD24 per share but it was matched by Dell again. HP’s latest bid is USD30 per share.

Data storage firm 3PAR has said a newly-raised acquisition offer by computer-maker Hewlett-Packard was “superior” to that made by Dell, amid a bidding war between the PC giants.

Following the success of the Intel-Nokia Linux project collaboration that brought us MeeGo, the two companies are at it again, officially opening the Intel and Nokia Joint Innovation Center today.

The joint laboratory will be a part of Intel’s European Research Network, Intel Labs Europe. The lab will initially conduct research for new and compelling mobile user experiences that could leverage the rapidly increasing capabilities of mobile devices. Creating interfaces that are more similar to interactions in the real world can enable experiences that are more natural and intuitive, in the same way that modern games and movies are more immersive through the use of realistic 3-D graphics.

The new lab is well aligned with the MeeGo open source platform recently launched by Intel and Nokia. MeeGo provides the greatest flexibility for developing new 3-D experiences on mobile devices as much of the lab’s research activity will also be open source.

Will this venture bring us closer to a phone that is capable of displaying a 3-D hologram of the person you are talking to? I hope so. Consumers will feel more involved and engaged with their mobile experience than with current methods.

“This new joint research facility is built on the strong relationship between Intel and Nokia, and by focusing our first research project on graphical 3-D technology we’re demonstrating our commitment to developing truly original mobile interfaces,” said Rich Green, Nokia senior vice president and chief technology officer.

The lab will be located at the Center for Internet Excellence at the University of Oulu in Finland, and will work closely with the Oulu Urban Living Labs, which provide a unique environment for sensor research, testing and piloting technological and social innovations.

Superstar Online, the first online videoke game launched by X-Play Online Games, has partnered with Coca Cola to search for the next great online singing sensation. Yes, playing this online game can get you a chance to super stardom and be a part of an album and concert with Pop Princess Sarah Geronimo.

Superstar’s Online Singing Star Search is expected to reach more potential singers with the combined efforts of Coca Cola. The talent search is going to launch with the goal to reach 2.5 million youth. This will be done through a series of mall tours for the auditions in 23 SM Malls nationwide. The activities planned for the rest of the year will cover 326 barangays and 4,000 internet cafes around the metro, including online reinforcement through 20 internet cafe forums.

Superstar is an online game akin to the vocals part of Rockband or Guitar Hero using your PC’s mic or headset. It’s not only about timing your singing with the lyrics but having the correct pitch at all times as well to get a high score. Through the online scoreboard, X-Play will ask the high-scorers to audition at Superstar’s nationwide mall shows.

“With the rising popularity of Internet sensations, Superstar has perfectly timed this talent search. The internet is the new platform for superstardom, and we are glad to have Coke on board as a familiar presence to help solidify that fact,” says George Royeca, Chief Operating Officer, X-Play.

X-Play Online Games Inc. is the casual games division of publicly listed online gaming company IP E-Game Ventures Inc. They are the local publisher of popular casual games such as Audition Dance Battle, Operation 7, Band Master and Supertar.

To learn more about Superstar, visit www.superstar.ph.

The website of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), the official information arm of the government is now restored after hacker “7z1” took it down yesterday.

Access to the site run by the Presidential Communications Operations Office was temporarily interrupted Sunday afternoon by an error message that showed ‘HACKED by 7z1’ and an image of the Chinese flag.

Bulacan’s provincial government website was also hacked by “”CopyRight 华夏小A & 409882525.qzone.qq.com ~ 2010″. Unscrupulous pages that contained messages related to the Manila hostage-taking were inserted to the site

The hacker, who claimed to be from China, demanded a ‘sincere’ apology from the Philippine government and ‘reasonable’ compensation for the victims of last Monday’s hostage taking drama that killed eight nationals from Hong Kong.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma ordered government agencies to further safeguard the security of all official websites. “We are alerting all government agencies to review and improve security of their Web sites in view of the hacking of the Philippine Information Agency Web site,” he said in a statement.

However, he said that the Presidential website – president. gov.ph and the official government website – gov.ph ‘remain secure.’

Coloma said the government is adopting best practices to lessen the vulnerability of official websites to hacking and other cybercrimes.