Apple unveils smaller iPad Mini at $329

The new iPad mini is shown next to a full sized model at an Apple event in 

San Jose, California October 23, 2012. -Reuters Photo 

San Jose, Calif., USA.
→ Apple unveiled the smaller iPad, the iPad mini, the 7.9-inch tablet computer has made its debut on Oct. 23, 2012, Tuesday morning in San Jose, California, USA.

"This is iPad mini," Apple's senior vice president for marketing said as he displayed the device at an Apple event in San Jose. The device is as thin as a pencil and weighs .68 pounds. The price starts at $329. Its touchscreen screen measures 7.9 inches diagonally compared to 9.7 inches on the original iPad.

"This isn't just a shrunken down iPad," he said. "It is an entirely new design". "It's as light as a pad of paper," said Apple's senior vice president  for marketing chief Phil Schiller.

Here's a video of the Apple Event in San Jose, Calif. courtesy of HonestTechGuys in Youtube.

The Wi-Fi model starts at $329 for 16 GB of storage while its cellular counterpart begins at $459.
The iPad mini will be available for pre-order on Friday. The Wi-Fi version will go on sale on Nov. 2, while cellular versions of the device will arrive two weeks later.

Rumors have swirled for months that Apple was designing a competitor to Amazon.com's Kindle Fire HD and the Google Nexus 7, smaller and cheaper devices that appeal to on-the-go consumers who don't want to shell out for the pricey iPad.

Apple is looking to expand its share in a growing, highly competitive tablet market. The iPad mini stands to target price-sensitive users and the e-reader crowd.

"Given the global economic uncertainty, we think price-sensitive users could gravitate toward an iPad mini instead of making a PC purchase",  said JP Morgan's analyst Mark Moskowitz in a note to investors ahead of the media event.

Apple has sold more than 84 million iPads since its debut in April 2010.

Apple Launches iTunes Store in The Philippines and 11 Additional Countries in Asia Today

DAVAO CITY, Philippines
 — The Apple itunes store launched its expansion in Asia today. 
And it  officially  launch in 12 countries in Asia, such as Hongkong, 
Singapore, Taiwan, Brunie, Laos, Macau, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia,
 Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, and The Philippines read more

Photo courtesy of Apple website

Facebook to pay $10 million to settle suit

San Francisco, United States of America

(by Reuters) 

→  Facebook Inc has agreed to pay $10 million to charity to settle a lawsuit that accused the site of violating users' rights to control the use of their own names, photographs and likenesses, according to court documents made public over the weekend.

The lawsuit, brought by five Facebook members, alleged the social networking site violated California law by publicizing users' "likes" of certain advertisers on its "Sponsored Stories" feature without paying them or giving them a way to opt out, the documents said.

A "Sponsored Story" is an advertisement that appears on a member's Facebook page and generally consists of another friend's name, profile picture and an assertion that the person "likes" the advertiser.

The settlement was reached last month but made public this weekend. Facebook declined to comment on Saturday.

The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Jose, California, could have included nearly one of every three Americans, with billions of dollars in damages, according to previous court documents.

In the lawsuit, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was quoted as saying that a trusted referral was the "Holy Grail" of advertising.

In addition, the lawsuit cited comments from Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, saying that the value of a "Sponsored Story" advertisement was at least twice and up to three times the value of a standard Facebook.com ad without a friend endorsement.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said the plaintiffs had shown economic injury could occur through Facebook's use of their names, photographs and likenesses.

"California has long recognized a right to protect one's name and likeness against appropriation by others for their advantage," Koh wrote.

The settlement arrangement is known as a cy-pres settlement, meaning the settlement funds can go to charity.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Angel Fraley et al., individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated vs. Facebook Inc., 11-cv-1726.

Facebook shares closed at $30.01 on Friday, down 21 percent since the company's initial public offering last month. - Reuters

BlackBerry Chat of Globe Telecom

DAVAO CITY, Davao

With BlackBerry Chat, YOU’RE ON — 
keeping in touch with your friends 24/7.

 Exchange stories from day 'til night with all your 
BlackBerry® contacts anytime, anywhere you are. With BlackBerry Chat, you can now enjoy unlimited BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM) plus FREE SMS to Globe and TM subscribers!

Bianca Gonzales - Globe endorser

For Postpaid subscribers:

Register to BlackBerry Chat for only P99/30 days and get FREE 200 SMS.

Text BB CHAT ON to 8888.

For Prepaid subscribers:

Register to BlackBerry Chat for only P15/1 day and get FREE 100 SMS.

Text BBCHAT15 to 8888.

Mobile Browsing is NOT allowed while subscribed to BlackBerry Chat except if you use WiFi (Hotspot Browser). For unlimited surfing unlimited use of BlackBerry® services, learn more about BlackBerry® MAX.

NOTE: 

Globe BlackBerry promos are available only for use with a BlackBerry handset. Globe reserves the right to modify your subscription if found to be in violation of this condition.

Promo runs until June 30, 2012. Per DTI Permit No. 2744, Series of 2012.


Not sure if BlackBerry Chat is what you need?
Let Liz Uy help you choose which BlackBerry Plan fits your style best.
Watch her video tutorial here


source: Globe.com.ph

All Photos here are courtesy of Globe.com.ph

Gerald Anderson - Globe endorser

Facebook to Acquire Instagram for $ 1 Billion

April 9, 2012

MENLO PARK, CALIF.
→Facebook announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire Instagram, a fun, popular photo-sharing app for mobile devices.

The total consideration for San Francisco-based Instagram is approximately $1 billion in a combination of cash and shares of Facebook. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close later this quarter.


Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, posted about the transaction on his Timeline:

I'm excited to share the news that we've agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That's why we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram's experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook's strong engineering team and infrastructure.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We're looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we're going to be able to build together.

source: Facebook Newsroom

About Facebook
Founded in 2004, Facebook’s mission is to make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.

CYBERZONE - Now open at The Annex of SM CITY DAVAO

DAVAO CITY, Davao


Cyberzone is now open today (March 9, 2012) at The Annex of SM City Davao in Quiampo Boulevard, Ecoland, Davao City.

Cyberzone
— is the largest chain of IT retail stores in the Philippines. From SM City Baguio all the way down to SM City Davao, It bring you all the latest computers, gaming consoles, cellular phones, MP3 players, and so much more.It is always at the forefront of consumer electronics bringing you nothing but the latest.

It is not only known for its notable product mix and quality, but also for holding the biggest gaming and tech-related events the country has ever witnessed. For the true tech enthusiasts, It will also boasts of free WiFi access which allows you to shop and stay connected at any SM Supermall.

Whatever your IT interests may be, you will find it here at the Cyberzone.
A shopping experience unlike any other awaits you at your nearest SM Cyberzone!
This is your one stop IT destination. 
At Cyberzone... IT's all here..

Cyberzone:  2/F, The Annex,  SM City Davao

The Annex of SM City Davao (Facing the Quiampo Blvd. Ecoland, DC.)

                                                                 



  source: SM Cyberzone.com , SM City Davao Fb page

Steve Jobs: Apple founder and former CEO (1955 - 2011)

A look at Steve Jobs' career

Image of Apple founder and former CEO Steve Jobs in an iPhone
outside an Apple Store, New York, USA (Oct.5, 2011)

1977 -  He introduces the new Apple II in Cupertino, Calif., USA

1984 - From left, Steve Jobs, chairman of Apple Computers, John Sculley, president and CEO, and Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, unveil the new Apple IIc computer in San Francisco, Calif., USA

1984

1990

1997

1998

2004

2003 - Steve Jobs is diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and begins showing signs of weight loss. He is shown in this combination photo of file photographs dating (top row L to R) July 2000, November 2003, September 2005, (bottom L to R) September 2006, January 2007 and September 2008. Jobs will take a medical leave of  read more

2007

2008

2010

2010

2011

2011

Apple's visionary Steve Jobs dead at 56

Apple loses a visionary leader who inspired personal computing and iconic products such as the iPod, 

iPhone and iPad, which made Jobs one of the most significant industry leaders of his generation.

 His death after a long battle with pancreatic cancer sparked an outpouring of tributes as world leaders, business rivals and fans alike lamented his premature passing and celebrated his premature passing and celebrated his read more

Published in Yahoo! news (Philippines) on Oct.6, 2011 and in Reuters (US Edition) on Oct.6, 2011.

Software Freedom Day 2011

DAVAO CITY, Davao
 — Last Friday, Sept. 16, 2011 at around  1:30 pm, I was attending
the 2011 Software Freedom Day celebration at the Social Hall of University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) with The Davao Bloggers and the students coming from different Universities and Colleges in Davao City. The said event celebrated on September 17, 2011, but due to the hectic schedule of the Institute of Computing Department of USeP, the date was moved earlier than expected.


The Event was started with the National Anthem followed by the Opening Prayer. And next was the Overview of Software Freedom Day by Sir Val Quimno, Acting Dean, Institute of Computing, USeP.


Guest Speakers:

Iñaki Narciso, a 4th year BSCS student of USeP, he talked about his experience with Open Source Tools and likewise with the Ubuntu Linux  Operating System , It can be installed with  two web browser the Mozilla firefox and Google Chromium. For more help of this topic you can contact him at ionics@gmail.com

Kristine Mae Adlaon, IT Faculty of Mats College of Technology, and she graduated also in USeP. She talked about The Freelance Work in Open Source. She shared Linux Ubuntu, Linux Mint and GCC as well as using the FOSS (open source) so that those people or establishments that are having difficulty in their budget for acquiring a license OS would not worry anymore.

Nathaniel Jayme, work in Tierracycle Cooperative, He talked about Firefox add-on, He was able to show his ideas on  how to make a Firefox Add-on.

SFD2011 Guest Speaker: Mr. Nathaniel Jayme

Charles Piño, connected in DabaweGNU, Inc., He talked about Mobile Application Development with Android. He was able to  share his knowledge in Developing Apps using Scripting SL4A.
Lang = ( Phyton, Perl, JRuby, Lua, Beanshell, Javascript, Tcl, shell)

Holden Hao, connected in AfterFive Technologies, Inc., talked about  Big Blue Button thru online conference using skype.

Atty. Mikhael Matunog, connected in Segworks Technologies Corporation, Talked about ICT4Health using LAMP, Mindanao Integrated Health Information System.

SFD2011 Guest Speaker :Atty. Mikhael Matunog

Lorencio Paolo Lagman, connected in Ultro Digital. He talked about Drupal CMS. He shared us that this is the best for  making a website, a free and open-source content etc. He was the most witty and energetic speaker on that event.

Engr. Marlouie Pidor, connected in Neural Tech, talked about Open street Map.

Lord Pableo, talked about Open Source Hardware.

The event lasted for four hours and It was ended with the awarding of certificates and prizes.The prime goal of the Software Freedom Day is to educate people on how free software can be used in education, government, businesses, personal computing devices, and everywhere else.

It was a very successful event, and 'twas organized by the Computer Science Society of the USeP.

The Davao Bloggers

Guests, IT students of USeP and the students from other schools.