Check LTO Vehicle Registration via SMS

Here's a (quite) new and easy way to check registration of your car registration status at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) using just one text message:

to check with LTO, send a message like this : LTOspaceVEHICLEspaceABC123

to 2600

e.g. LTO VEHICLE ABC123

ABC123 is your vehicle's PLATE NUMBER

send to 2600 (all network i.e. Smart, Talk N Text, Globe, Sun Cellular)

a sample auto-generated response for my car reads:

"Plate no: XXX888/Make:toyota/Model:vios 1.5g a/t/Year:2006/Color;subtle gold/Registered last

07/21/2006, has no LTO apprehension, has no LTO alarm. P2/text"

This is a great innovation that saves time for car owners instead of going to the LTO office in Quezon City. I can use this later to check status once I register again my car whose license will expire in a few months.

Note this is also a great tool for traffic police (Traffic Management Group) to randomly check vehicles and catch carnapped vehicles and/or red-flagged ones if they're really serious with it.

Source: Paetechie

Blackberry Storm: RIM sheds the keypad

When the iPhone 3G got an upgrade to support MS Exchange, it became a greater threat to enterprise users esp. the Blackberry users. RIM fought back and introduced its first touch screen device — the Blackberry Strom (9530).

That’s despite the fact that back in June 2008, Blackberries were selling more than twice as many as the iPhone 3G. RIM doesn’t want to slack while Apple plays catch-up.

blackberry touch screen 9500

Touch Screen Navigation
480 x 360 pixel color display (with light-sensing screen)
1GB onboard memory
128 flash memory
up to 16GB storage via microSD
RIM wireless modem
CDMA/Ev-DO
UMTS/HSPA
Built-in GPS
3.2 MP camera with video
Bluetooth
3.5mm stereo headset jack

The Blackberry Storm (13.95mm) is less than 2-millimeter thicker than the iPhone 3G (12.3mm) and weighs 22grams heavier.

It also has mobile streaming, allows tethering to your laptop to share internet and can sync your desktop iTunes music files using BlackBerry Media Sync. You can view and edit MS Office files too.

The top feature of Blackberry is the full suite of email connectivity and management — MS Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise as well as enterprise email account and personal email accounts — that trumps MobileMe by a mile.

Source: Yugatech

Next Saturday, September 27, Globe is hosting a free event for everyone with a whole day of games, gadgetry and a great phone sale.

The OMG event will be held at the SMX Convention Center at SM Mall of Asia. Aside from the bands and games, there will be mobile phones on sale like the MyPhone S21 for Php1,950, the Nokia 1200 for Php1,250 and other phones as low as Php950.

Actually, there’s also an e-games tournament (like Cabal) as well as a variety show in the afternoon and bands playing (Rocksteddy, Imago, Calllily & Paraluman) but I’m more interested on the gadget sale alone.

More info can be found here.

Globe Pricing Plans: Nokia E90 vs. iPhone 3G

My eyes continue to roll... whatta fcuk$##@!$?!?!








Source: Yugatech

Check out http://www.topiphonenews.com/
For latest update on the New IPhone.

Intel likely to move fab to Cabuyao, Laguna

Posted: 10 Jul 2008 07:01 PM CDT

When the rumor that Intel Philippines was facing an impending closure in April this year, the company corrected this — saying that it’s weighing its options and could transfer its plant somewhere else. June has past and Intel officials have not released anything. I’ve sent out interview questions in the hopes of getting some updates.

For the meantime, here’s what a contact of a friend told me about Intel’s colorful past and possible future in the Philippines.

• Several locations have been considered but the NXP Semiconductors (formerly Philips Semiconductors) plant in Cabuyao, Laguna is the most likely candidate. NXP laid-off over 400 workers back in March 2007 from their Cabuyao plant and moved about 200 employees to their newer Calamba station. Intel could be buying/leasing this Cabuyao plant from NXP.
• Attrition rate is somewhere between 7-10% in the Cavite plant and management has put hiring on hold. Employee count plateaued at a high of 6,500 to a current low of around 1,500. This is partly due to the Flash division spunned off (now Numonyx, founded March 31, 2008 by Intel Corporation, STMicroelectronics and Francisco Partners) and some engineers moving over to the new company.
• Severance packages were offered but still uncertain. The least Intel Philippines could offer is 3 months salary, based on previous severance packages it offered.
• Hardware/CPU pilferage is a normal occurrence not unique to Intel. Almost all plants suffer the same fate — Cypress, Maxim, Fujitsu, Hitachi — it just happens (only in the Philippines?).
• The Merom (Core 2 for laptops) and Penryn (mobileCore 2 Duo) chips were manufactured out of the Cavite plant. Since both are based on the 45 nm process, it’s unlikely this fab will be phased out.
• Ever since the move from the Makati plant to the Cavite plant, only a foreigner holds the position of General Manager. This was due to a management issue that led Intel into far-flung Trece Martires instead of the Laguna Technopark.

Let’s face it, it’s now cheaper to operate a plant in Malaysia, Vietnam and China than in the Philippines - high cost of fuel, high inflation rates, high power rates and not so cheap labor cost. Besides, exemption from corporate income tax is only up to eight years for companies operating in special economic zones like the Laguna Technopark.

Source: Yugatech.com

from INQ.net

Cisco exec on RP tech manpower shortage
1638 viewsDuration: 116 sec
Description:MAKATI CITY, Philippines--Cisco Philippines country manager Luichi Robles talks about the country's shortage in skilled networking professionals. Video taken by INQUIRER.net reporter Alex Villafania on October 2, 2007.
Tags:
Added:03/10/2007
Add to Site: " name=embedsource>

From TechRepublic:

A ray of sunshine on new solar-powered computer

Is the solar-powered computer for you?
Paul Mah: "The Solar-PowerPC II is a device that can obtain its power via a standing solar-array panel and/or via an AC adapter. It comes as a rolling cart, which holds the internal 60 amp-hour sealed battery and costs $1,229 plus $98 for shipping and handling. How does it sound - charge up the internal battery via solar power in the day, and run your A61 ThinkCenter off it when you come home from work at night?" Is the solar-powered computer for you?

• Lenovo's highly power-efficient PC
• Photos: Solar powered streetlights, Wi-Fi routers
• Shrinking the cost for solar power
• Subscribe to TechRepublic's IT News Digest Blog Feed

Google launches Powerpoint clone

Published by: yuga under: Gooooogle.

posted: 5 hours, 43 minutes ago. (Visited 62 times)

It’s out and the entire online productivity suite is complete — Google Documents, Spreadsheet and Presentation. Here’s a rundown of what it can and cannot do as of this moment:

So, what’s inside the box?

• Fifteen simple built-in Presentation Themes
• Ability to import Microsoft PowerPoint files
• Able to Export HTML file
• Basic Image Manipulation
• Basic Text Formatting
• Revision Tracking (Versioning)
• Collaboration
• Online Sharing

Things I missed OR things that should have been there in the first place:

• No object animations of any sort
• No slide transition effects at all
• Sound Embed
• Video Embed
• Too few Fonts!
• Exporting to MS PowerPoint (so I can switch use between the two)

The advanced text and image editing are also missing. Not sure how they’d implement the slide transition and object animation on the web page. Some really tricky CCS magic perhaps?

New Samsung Touchscreen MP3 Players

Posted: 03 Sep 2007 04:12 PM GMT-06:00

Before Apple announces their new line of iPods (with speculations of a fully touch screen iPod video) this coming September 5, Samsung has already preempted their timing by annoucning the YP-P2 and YP-T10 (yeah, weird naming schemes).

See screenshots and video after the jump…

Limited specs are available — a 3-inch wide-screen at 480 x 272 video resolution (DVD-quality 30 frames per second using WMV9 or MPEG4 video formats), 4GB and 8GB capacity, FM tuner/recorder, voice recorder, image viewer, Bluetooth 2.0, plays MP3 and WMA and lasts up to 35 hours on music playback and 5 hours for video.

Here’s a video demo of the P2:

The Samsung YP-T10 is the smaller version with only a 2-inch screen. Colors available in black, white and burgundy.

Still, the P2 looks amazing and Samsung got it out before Apple did. { source: CNet }

New Nokia phones for Gaming, Music & Entertainment

Posted: 29 Aug 2007 10:50 AM CDT

Four new phones were launched today, dedicated mainly to mobile gaming, music and entertainment — a new Nokia N95 8GB (Black), the super slim Nokia 5310 Xpress Music, Nokia 5610 and the N81 8GB.

More details and specs after the jump…

Nokia N95 8GB
S30 3rd Edition, feature Pack 3.1
2.8″ QVGA display ( 240×320 pixels at 16M colors)
GPS with free Nokia Maps to over 150 countries
Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g and HSDPA 3.5G
8GB built-in memory
Bluetooth stereo and IrDA
USB 2.0 and TV out
5MP digital camera
Plays MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/M4A and WMA audio files up to 10hours
Plays MPEG4;AVC/H.263/H.264,RV videos up to 3.5hours
Talk time 300 minutes for GSM and 210 mins for 3G

Nokia 5310 Xpress Music
Triband GSM, GPRS, EGPRS
Series 40 3rd Edition
2.0″ QVGA, 16.7 Million colors
Up to 4GB microSD card
2MP camera, 1600×1200 pixels
Hi-Fi audio, FM Stereo radio and Bluetooth stereo audio
Drag & drop sync with Windows Media Player 10 & 11
Plays MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/M4A and WMA audio files up to 18 hours

Nokia 5610 Xpress Music (slider phone)
Quad-band GSM, Dual WCDMA, UMTS/3G, GSM/EGSM, GPRS/EGPRS
Series 40 3rd Edition
2.2″ QVGA, 16.7 Million colors
Up to 4GB microSD card
3.2MP camera, 2048×1536 pixels (H.264 & MPEG4), 8x digital zoom and two LED flash
Primary camera is 30fps, secondary camera is 15fps
Hi-Fi audio, FM Stereo radio and Bluetooth stereo audio
Drag & drop sync with Windows Media Player 10 & 11
Plays MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/M4A and WMA audio files up to 22 hours

Nokia N81 8GB
S60 3rd Edition
Up to 8GB internal mass memory, supports microSD cards
HSDPA, Wireless 802.11 b/g LAN
2.4 inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) , landscape mode for gaming
Dedicated game keys for N-Gage
2MP camera
Drag & drop sync with Windows Media Player 10 & 11 or Nokia Music Manager
Plays MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/M4A and WMA audio files up to 11.5 hours

Nokia has sold over 2 Million of the first Nokia N95 as well as 3 Million of the old N-Gage. There were also several accessories from Bluetooth speakerphones, headphones, remote controls, and mini speakers.

Gadgets That Run on Body Heat

Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:37AM EDT

See Comments (54)

No jokes about hot bods, please. All of you warm-blooded folks may have the advantage with this new technology. You may soon be able to power your cell phone, PCs, and other electronics by tapping into your own body heat, and you don't need to be pedaling a stationary bike, walking the treadmill, or otherwise working up a sweat to do it. You can just sit there, couch potato style, and generate enough body heat to keep your gear going.

I stumbled across this tidbit on the Discovery Channel, but the research originates from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, where they are developing special circuits that use body heat. These could lead to battery-less cell phones and medical monitors that draw energy from their users.

The new circuits utilize the principle of thermoelectric generators (TEG) made from semiconductor elements. According to the scientists, the TEGs extract electrical energy simply from the temperature difference between a hot and a cold environment. Normally, a difference of several tens of degrees would be required in order to generate enough power, but the difference between the body's surface temperature and that of its environment is only a few degrees. To boost the energy, they combined a number of components that store up the energy until there's enough to operate the electronic device.

The photo shows a wireless transmitter being powered by the heat given off by a person's hand via a thermoelectric generator. Can't wait to see if it takes advantage of hot flashes!

From Yugatech.com

New round of DSL speed increase for PLDT myDSL

published by yuga under Telecoms 8 hours, 27 minutes ago.

(Visited 120 times)

We were discussing about broadband connectivities over at Rico’s blog where he’s recommending ETPI’s 5Mbps package for Php35,000 a month. I haven’t tried Eastern Telecoms ever so I cannot attest to their connection uptime and reliability but have heard so many complaints about their residential offerings, dubbed evoDSL.

And while I suggested getting 2 separate DSL providers and using a D-Link Load-Balancing Router to hook them both up, I also discovered PLDT has published newer bandwidth caps for its residential plans.

Same price points but increased bandwidths:

Package Type * Speed * Monthly Service Fee (Pesos)

Xperience * up to 1.0 Mbps * Php999

Xcite * up to 2.0 Mbps * Php 1,995

Xcel * up to 5.0 Mbps * Php 3,000

The operative word being “up to”, read the fine print:

1. DSL type is Asymmetric DSL
2. Gradual rollout in selected areas starting January 1, 2006
3. myDSL-W (Canopy) only includes Plan 999 (384 kbps) and Plan 1995 (768 kbps)
4. Monthly Service Fees are eVAT exclusive (monthly fees with eVAT as follows: Xperience = 1019, Xcite - 2035, Xcel = 3060)
5. email format = “username@pldtdsl.net”
6. Lock-in period is 12 months (without promo)
7. Free installation except for myDSL-W (Canopy)

Gradual roll-out since January 2006? It’s 2007 already! And oh, I remember getting a call from a PLDT customer rep telling me that if I wanted to extend my contract for another yet, they’d waive my 13th month service fee.

Source: www.yugatech.com


An MIT team demonstrates the possibility of powering up gadgets and electrical appliances wirelessly:

A team from MIT’s Department of Physics, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) has experimentally demonstrated an important step toward accomplishing this vision of the future.

Realizing their recent theoretical prediction, they were able to light a 60W light bulb from a power source seven feet (more than two meters) away; there was no physical connection between the source and the appliance. The MIT team refers to its concept as “WiTricity” (as in wireless electricity). The work was reported in the June 7 issue of Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science.

The concept is called WiTricity, which is short for wireless electricity. By using magnetically coupled resonators, they are able to transfer power from one source to another without the copper wires in between. You can reads the full article here, though a little wordy on physics, which explains how they did the experiments to prove this concept.




Can we finally say goodbye to batteries? Not yet, I think.