Lenovo phases out feature phones in Philippines as smarter models get cheaper By: Darwin G. Amojelar, InterAksyon.com August 29, 2012 3:43 PM MANILA - Chinese computer giant Lenovo will phase out feature phones in the Philippines by the end of this year as it joins the smartphone bandwagon. "We do have feature phones available in the market, but we won't be carrying any feature phone by the last quarter of the year. Smartphone is going to be our focus. If you notice the cost of the smartphone is getting cheaper," John Rojo, Busines Unit head of Open Communications, the exclusive distributor of Lenovo Mobile in the Philippines. Lenovo is the second-largest mobile brand in China after Samsung. Lenovo Mobile entered the Philippine market in October 2011 after penetrating Taiwan, Vietnam and Indonesia. "Smartphone has already overthrown the feature phone," Dillon Ye, executive director, Rest of World Business Operation and Phone Business Development of Lenovo. Since October last year, Lenvo Mobile has slowly gained a foothold in the mobile market, Ye said. "With the strong acceptance of the market with our previous smartphone models, we have gained confidence that our new models will further propel Lenovo as a highly competitive smartphone manufacturter," Ye added. The new models launched were A60+, an improved model of Lenovo's entry-level device and the S880, a five-inch screen "phablet" that effectively combines the telphone, entertainment, and business functions of the smartphone. Lenovo's A60+ smartphone will be priced at P4,999 and S880 "phablet" at P14,999. Rojo said these new devices cater to the broad segment of users and the local dsitributor aims to end the year with 5 percent market share.
Philippine Holidays 2013 Filipinos can now start planning their vacations for 2013 after Malacañang announced Saturday the list of holidays and special nonworking days for 2013, to guide employers and the public. The list is based on Proclamation 459, signed by President Benigno Aquino III last August 16. In the proclamation, the regular holidays include: Jan. 1, New Year's Day (Tuesday) March 28, Maundy Thursday March 29, Good Friday April 9, Araw ng Kagitingan (Tuesday) May 1, Labor Day (Wednesday) June 12, Independence Day (Wednesday) Aug. 26, National Heroes' Day (last Monday of August) Nov. 30, Bonifacio Day (Saturday) Dec. 25, Christmas Day (Wednesday) Dec. 30, Rizal Day (Monday) The special nonworking days include: March 30, Black Saturday Aug. 21, Ninoy Aquino Day (Wednesday) Nov. 1, All Saints' Day (Friday) Nov. 2, All Souls' Day (Saturday) Dec. 24, day before Christmas (Tuesday) Dec. 31, New Year's Eve (Tuesday) Feb. 25, the EDSA Revolution anniversary, is a special holiday for all schools, the proclamation said. In his proclamation, Aquino said the proclamations declaring national holidays for the observance of Eid’l Fitr and Eidul Adha shall be issued after the approximate dates of the Islamic holidays have been determined in accordance with the Islamic calendar (Hijra), or the lunar calendar, or upon Islamic astronomical calculations. "To this end, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) shall inform the Office of the President on which day the holiday shall fall," he said. Also, Aquino said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shall promulgate the implementing guidelines for this Proclamation. — LBG, GMA News
Philippine leader signs law to combat cybercrimes AFP News – Sun, Sep 16, 2012 Philippine President Benigno Aquino has signed into law a bill to combat cybercrime, his spokeswoman said Saturday, in a bid to stamp down on everything from forgery to child pornography. The bill will be a boost to law-enforcers who have previously complained of difficulty charging people who use the Internet to commit crimes as there were no legal codes that penalise their acts. Aquino's spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the bill covered most forms of hacking, defining cybercrimes to include "offences against the confidentiality, integrity and availability" of a computer system, as well as gaining illegal access to or interception of data. The bill also defines "computer-related offences" for forgery, fraud, identity theft, cybersex and child pornography. Spamming as well as "cyber-squatting" -- the use of an Internet domain name to mislead consumers, destroy other's reputations or prevent them from using their name -- were included in the bill. The law also punishes libel, Valte said, though asked if this would cover even messages sent on social network websites such as Twitter, she added the state would "leave it up to other lawyers to determine". The bill also calls for the creation of a "Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center" that will implement the law, she said. Valte did not say what penalties will be imposed for different offences under the new law. In 2000, two Filipino computer students were accused of releasing the "ILOVEYOU" computer virus that infected computers worldwide, destroying millions of computer files and causing millions of dollars in damage. However the two suspects could not be charged because there was no law against computer hacking in the country. In the Philippines, libel is a criminal offense. This, despite UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) declaration that the Philippine libel law is excessive and incompatible with international human rights law, in a May 2012 post on the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility website (CMFR-phil.org). Among the offenses punishable under the new Cybercrime law as enumerated in Chapter II of Republic Act No. 10175 include cybersex, child pornography, cybersquatting and identity theft, spamming or unsolicited commercial communication, computer-related forgery, illegal access to a computer system and/or illegal interception of data, data interference, including intentional alteration or damaging of data; system interference, including damaging or altering computer data or programs as well as the use of viruses, the misuse of devices; and the use, production, sale, procurement, importation, distribution or making available without right of malware, passwords or codes. Violators could face a punishment of prison mayor or reclusion temporal and/or a fine (between P200,000 to P1,000,000) depending on the offense as stated under the new law. However, in the case of child pornography, punishment will be in accordance enumerated under Republic Act No. 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009. Only this time, the punishment will be a degree higher because the crime was committed using a computer system. Here's the copy of Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Apple CEO apologizes for Maps flaws, recommends rivals By Poornima Gupta | Reuters – Sat, Sep 29, 2012 SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook apologized Friday to customers frustrated with glaring errors in its new Maps service and, in an unusual move for the consumer giant, directed them to rival services such as Google Inc's Maps instead. The rare apology follows Apple's launch of its own mapping service earlier this month, when it began selling the iPhone 5 and rolled out iOS 6, the highly anticipated update to its mobile software platform. Users complained that the new Maps service - based on Dutch navigation equipment and digital map maker TomTom NV's data - contained geographical errors and gaps in information, and that it lacked features that made Google Maps so popular from public transit directions to traffic data and street-view pictures. "We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," Cook said in a letter to customers released on its website, adding that the company "fell short" of its commitment to deliver "the best experience possible to our customers." Unusually, he suggested that customers download rival mapping services available in Apple's App Store while the company improves the product. "While we're improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app," he said in the letter. Apple is typically loathe to tout rival services and the contrite apology by Cook is an indication of how Apple is changing under the chief executive who took over last year from co-founder Steve Jobs just before his death. It also took the additional step of prominently displaying the rival services on its Apps Store. "It is a bit unusual but at the same time, Tim is keeping Apple's commitment to provide the best user experience for customers," Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said. "A key reason for Apple's success is keeping customers happy so we think this is a good move." "People forget that Google Maps started out inferior to Mapquest and Yahoo Maps," he added. Apple's home-grown Maps feature -- stitched together by acquiring mapping companies and data from many providers including Waze, Intermap, DigitalGlobe and Urban Mapping -- was introduced with much fanfare in June by software chief Scott Forstall. It was billed as one of the key highlights of the updated iOS6 software. But errors and omissions in the maps service quickly emerged after the software was rolled out, ranging from misplaced buildings and mislabelled cities to duplicated geographical features. NEW APPLE The last time Apple faced such widespread criticism was in 2010, when users complained of signal reception issues on the then-new iPhone 4 model. A defiant Jobs at the time rejected any suggestion the iPhone 4's design was flawed, but offered consumers free phone cases at a rare, 90-minute press conference called to address those complaints. While Apple fixed the issue, Jobs had apologized to users only after he was specifically asked if he was sorry. He also said the issue was shared by all the major manufacturers, naming rivals Research in Motion, Samsung Electronics and HTC Corp. Cook himself played a key role in convincing Jobs to tackle the negative publicity that arose around that issue, something he was initially reluctant to do, according to his biographer. "Finally Tim Cook was able to shake him out of his lethargy," Walter Isaacson said in his biography on the late Silicon Valley icon. "He quoted someone as saying that Apple was becoming the new Microsoft, complacent and arrogant. The next day Jobs changed his attitude." It remains to be seen how fast Apple can fix the mapping glitches. Jobs had been in a similar position when he allowed email synchronization software MobileMe to launch in 2008, to deadly reviews. The mercurial CEO took the group to task for it and replaced the group's head. The service is now folded into the iCloud product. Mapping is a complex process that takes a lot of resources and years to perfect, said Marcus Thielking, co-founder of Skobbler, maker of the popular GPS Navigation 2 app, built using the crowdsourced OpenStreetMap platform. "It helps a lot if you have great data to start with," he said, adding that it appears that different database were thrown together in building Apple Maps. "They (Apple) can offer incremental updates and that's what they will do." Cook said that more than 100 million iOS devices are using the new Apple Maps and that the more people use Maps, the better it will get. He also offered some hints on why the company decided to remove Google Maps. Apple launched the Google-powered Maps "initially with the first version of iOS" and created a home-grown version of the service as it wanted to provide more features, Cook said. "As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps," he said in the letter. Google provides turn-by-turn navigation on Android-based devices but the popular feature was not available for Apple devices. Apple Maps replaced Google Maps in iOS 6 and the Google service is now only available through a browser. Shares of Apple fell 2 percent to close at $667.10 on Nasdaq. (Editing by Edwin Chan and Richard Chang)
