Finally, with Nokia's Lumia 800, Windows users need not be embarrassed by their phones

Let's admit it, most fans of Windows have been afflicted with smartphone envy, for the longest time. While lovers of the iOS and Android platforms have been proudly and at times brashly displaying their iPhones and Android phones, users of Windows-badged smartphones are surreptitiously using their own.

The humiliation, both self-imposed and bestowed by popular culture and market realities, has continued for quite some time. That is, until now.

Nokia's Lumia 800 eases Windows users' smartphone envy.

Last week's launch of the Lumia 800 smartphone by Nokia finally ends most Windows users' wait for a real "Windows smartphone." Finally, Windows users need not feel inadequate each time an Android or iPhone fan whips out his or her smartphone.

Hewlett Packard's TouchPad Tablet Computer Receives a Reprieve

Agreeably surprised by consumers' rabid desire to own one of those TouchPad tablet computers they had earlier declared dead, HP executives recently announced plans to "produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand."

Fire-sale prices made a bestseller out of the HP TouchPad.

HP cut the price of the tablet from $399 and $499 to $99 the weekend following the company's announcement it was ending its tablet PC business on August 18. The move was part of HP's decision to give up its consumer business and focus instead on the enterprise market.

The fire sale created an online feeding frenzy, with consumers seeking to get their hands on one or more of those tablets set to become a piece of IT history or consumer electronics foible.

HP loses money with every TouchPad it sells. 

HP is set to lose money on every final-production-run TouchPad. HIS iSuppli's estimates it costs $318 to produce a 32GB version of the tablet computer.

I wonder why HP would want to have this "final run?" Is the company doing it just to spite Apple?

Hmm. There must be a business model somewhere here.

Source: Reuters Technology News

Cherry Mobile Introduces the Q70, the First Quad-SIM Mobile Phone in the Philippines

Dual and triple-SIM mobile phones are so 2010.

Cherry Mobile's introduction of the Q70, a quadruple SIM phone, has made this possible. 

That is four SIM cards in one mobile phone. No need to buy two or more handsets even for those who need to get in touch using four SIM cards. (If you're one of those people, I wonder what kind of social life you have.)

The company said the Cherry Mobile Q70 is the country's first Quad-SIM-Quad Standby handset that "enables consumers to utilize four different service providers which can be all active at any given time."

Samsung NC215: Samsung Combines Solar Energy with Portable Computing

The Sun might yet have saved the netbook from an impending tablet-driven euthanasia.

While some quarters have been trumpeting the netbook's so-called inevitable doom, along comes Samsung with the NC215 solar-powered netbook.

Loaded with a solar panel on its lid, the netbook can convert two hours of sunlight into an hour of netbook operation.

Hackers attack finance and cloak-and-dagger worlds

Last week, the Manila Bulletin's online edition carried a couple of stories here and here telling about hacking attacks affecting Citigroup and America's spy agency CIA.

In the Citigroup incident, hackers stole personal information of more than 360,000 American credit card customers, almost double the initial estimates.


Hacker group LuIz Security claims to have broken into the public Web site of America's spy agency. 

 According to Citigroup officials, the bank discovered the cyber-attack on May 10. Apparently, hackers used the company's Account Online system to access credit cards issued by North America Citigroup in the United States.

ASUS Power User Gathering 2011

Last week, Mangyantech snagged an invite to Asus Philippines' Power User Gathering 2011 event. A highly exclusive event, it allowed the Taiwanese computer and components manufacturer to highlight some of its latest high-end PC parts and components to a select gathering of some of the country's geekiest PC users.




PUG participants listening to product presentation (when they were not arguing, with gusto)



Sydney of Asus discussing the features and capabilities of a high-end graphics card from his company

 Described by Wikipedia as one who has "the ability to use advanced features of programs which are beyond the abilities of 'normal' users," a power user is a rather special breed of an IT user. Not necessarily a programmer or a computer engineer, a power user is generally aware of what his or her computer is capable of doing, and usually demands more from his computer system and its parts and components.

Acer Iconia 484G64ns dual-display touchscreen PC reaches Philippine shores

Last Thursday, Acer Philippines introduced the Iconia line of touchscreen devices. This makes the country one of the first few territories to grab a hold of the latest Acer products.

Leading the pack is the Acer Iconia, which stands out with its dual 14-inch multitouch, high-definition 1,366 x 768-pixel LED backlit TFT LCD screens.

Below is a video featuring the Iconia (courtesy of Acer Philippines).



These screens support up to 10-finger touch.

Made of tempered glass (Corning Gorilla glass), these LCDs are quite thin but are capable of surviving rugged environments and rough modes of usage.