by admin | Nov 22, 2014 | Local News / Bohol Balita, Tech Talk
TechTalks.PH Tagbilaran, in celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week, held a meetup with local entrepreneurs at Bohol Fab Lab at the Bohol Island State University on November 22, 2014. Jerome Auza of Auza.Net presented a learning session on “Getting Your Website Ready for Viral Fame” and Ms. Lai Biliran of Alturas Group of Companies discussed on an “Introduction to Entrepreneurship”.
Auza discussed on the requirements to make websites ready to receive high traffic when a product or content on the website becomes popular. He showed reports generated from backend analytics of some of Auza.Net’s high traffic websites. He also showed an example of the monitoring data and reports for a high traffic website during times when the content of a website becomes popular and goes viral. “Viral” is a tech lingo which means the content becomes exponentially popular on the Internet.
Biliran talked about the history of the Alturas Group of Companies which grew from a small sari-sari store to the largest employer in the province. From its humble beginnings, the group now is now into various industries such as aquaculture, feed mill, poultry, swine and other production and processing businesses. This is aside from the retail industry where the group has expanded to strategic points of presence in Bohol and Cebu.
Techtalks.PH Tagbilaran members, resource speakers and participants at the Fab Lab
During the round table discussion, the resource persons and the participants exchanged ideas on how the TechTalks.PH Tagbilaran group could help local entrepreneurs who are not necessarily in the technology sector. Future sessions could also include case studies featuring a local entrepreneur’s product and discussion on how information technology could make the product into a commercial success.
by admin | Nov 14, 2014 | Headlines, Tech Talk
The Department of Trade and Industry – Bohol Provincial Office conducted a Multi-Stakeholder Briefing and Media Tour of Bohol on November 14, 2014. The media tour involved a series of roundtable discussions participated by representatives from the national, regional and local media.
The objective of the media tour was to help promote awareness and proper understanding of the opportunities and challenges of the coming regional market integration called AEC 2015. Issues related to economic prospects and development agenda of the Philippines, industry and business practices and consumer protection in relation to the regional integration were also discussed.
Among the discussion topics was how local stakeholders could collaborate to build competitive MSMEs. DTI Provincial Director Ma. Elena Arbon presented FabLab Bohol, a recently opened fabrication laboratory funded by multiple international funding agencies. The fabrication laboratory, the first of its kind in the Philippines, has been utilized by more than twenty local SMEs and organizations.
Director Arbon presented an example of the fabrication of a food grade silcon mold for ginger candy. Another fabrication project is the fabrication of a heat press machine. This example is unique because it is a fabrication of a production tool rather than the end product itself. Another project developed at the Fab Lab is the Balilihan Wiki House which was inaugurated earlier this year.
Also present to answer questions from the media were DTI Regional Director, DTI-7 Asteria C. Caberte, DTI Assistant Secretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo, Yoshiyuki Euno, Chief, Poverty Reduction Division of JICA and Elpidio T. Magante, President of BISU, the host university of the Fab Lab.
Asteria C. Caberte,DTI-7 Regional Director, Ceferino S. Rodolfo DTI Assistant Secretary, Yoshiyuki Euno, Chief, Poverty Reduction Division of JICA, Elpidio T. Magante, SUC President of BISU answering questions from the media during the media briefing.
Students of BISU and other universities have used the Fab Lab for their school projects. Magante announced that another Fab Lab is planned for the BISU Bingag, Dauis campus. This new laboratory will be oriented towards mass production rather than prototyping.
by admin | Nov 8, 2014 | Tech Talk
Latest OpenSignal report reveals more prospects for country’s internet growth
Above and beyond the progressive advances in its infrastructure and network performance which yielded observable improvements by third-party sources, Globe Telecom affirms its position that its internet speeds could still be further enhanced by institutionalizing IP peering in the Philippines.
In recent reports of UK-based wireless coverage mapping company OpenSignal, Globe posted commendable numbers in terms of better lower latency or lag time – an important metric it said in terms of true user experience, especially in using mobile internet. Crowd-sourced data revealed that Globe is the most efficient among local telecommunication providers at 93 milliseconds (ms) for its LTE service, almost twice or 99% better than its main rival, which was at 185.4 ms at the time of the report.
Despite its 2-to-1 edge over competition, particularly in the aspects of latency and downloading, Globe reiterates its stance to localize internet protocol (IP) peering which is expected to dramatically advance the country’s internet development and performance, overall affecting speeds.
Call for IP connectivity. These past months, Globe officials have actively lobbied for an effective and applicable IP peering agreement to be put in place among major internet service providers (ISPs), echoing the call by industry regulator National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) itself. They have cited the absence of such as a huge deterrent in further advancing the state of Philippine internet.
“Our investments in our modernized network to address the onslaught of data usage and improvements in performance of our internet speeds over competition notwithstanding, we reiterate that better internet experience rests on IP peering available to all local ISPs,” Globe Vice President for Product Development & Management Francisco “Cocoy” Claravall IV said.
He explained that Globe has invested bulk of its capital expenditure budget for data-related infrastructure as data consumption becomes more pervasive to consumers every day. More than P9 billion from proceeds in a recent share issuance is earmarked for deployment of next-generation LTE technologies and completion of its 4G HSPA+ rollout.
“The full potential of these initiatives will only be maximized and experienced by more Filipinos nationwide through a mandatory IP peering of Philippine ISPs. At Globe, we strongly believe it is the only way we can capitalize all the gains our network has put in place,” Claravall said.
Concerned citizenry. The Globe executive cited the NTC’s account in a Senate hearing that in the case of Singapore and South Korea, internet traffic is mostly generated internally as a result of their effective IP peering policies, which in turn enhances internet speed. “In fact, the issue has fired up even ordinary customers as they have become interested in a technical subject as IP peering,” he noted.
Even the Department of Science and Technology supports this position, he said, as it allows internet exchange through the Philippine Open Internet Exchange or PHOpenIX, the only internet exchange facility operated by a neutral organization, in this case, by the government. In the middle of this year, Globe challenged PLDT to make good its claim of supporting IP peering by connecting to PHOpenIX.
Claravall mentioned that the PHOpenIX is actually a sustainable and a viable proposition, following the concept of what telecomasia.net calls as “network effects,” which says that as more networks are connected, the value of the peering point increases.’ Further, in an interview on a local IP peering case study, the website quoted the Metcalf Law stating that, “the value of the telco network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system.”
“Other foreign-based ICT service providers such as cloud computing firms also share our position on IP peering as crucial that the government should compel local telcos to connect to PHOpenIX. In other countries they said, similar efforts have become successful as they saw and reaped real benefits from it,” he stressed.
Faster local traffic. “If we reference the parameters referred to by OpenSignal, local IP peering will establish direct access points among ISPs, giving entities faster exchange of information and enabling improved throughput and latency leading toward enhanced bandwidth utilization,” Claravall added.
The absence of applicable IP peering agreement among major ISPs in the Philippines also makes the country less resilient with its dependency on international cables, which poses a threat to the overall internet connectivity of the country in times of disaster. Case in point is the 2008 earthquake in Taiwan which caused breakage of major international cables which made even local internet sites and government websites inaccessible. Also, lack of an applicable domestic IP peering policy in the Philippines entails huge operating costs for ISPs like Globe.
Globe through its Enterprise Group has also been actively participating in international IP peering forums, such as the prestigious Asia-Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies or APRICOT which was held this year in Malaysia. The corporate ICT arm of Globe Telecom actively promoted the implementation of IP peering in every country as beneficial to its mobile and data utilization. It has also further optimized and enhanced internet peering in the Asia-Pacific region with the Singapore Internet Exchange or SGIX during its third Annual General Meeting last year.
The Globe VP reiterated that IP peering will positively impact not just individual customers in terms of their mobile usage, but will augur well with the business environment and improve the country’s position against its regional neighbors as well as more internet-advanced countries.
by admin | Nov 8, 2014 | Tech Talk
LG Receives 12 ‘Best of the Year’ 2014 Awards Spanning Top Consumer Electronics, Home Appliance Categories
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Nov. 6, 2014 – Reviewed.com, the division of USA TODAY focused on consumer-product testing, recognized LG Electronics with 12 of its prestigious “2014 Best of the Year” awards for LG products across the home entertainment and home appliance categories. Most notably, LG’s Curved OLED TV took top honors as Reviewed.com’s “Best Television of the Year,” as well as the “Best OLED TV of the Year,” while the LG Gallery flat OLED TV was named the “Best Design of the Year.”
LG’s intuitive new Smart TV+ webOS™ was selected as the “Best Smart TV Platform of the Year,” and its 21:9 UltraWide monitor as “Best Monitor of the Year.” LG home appliance products recognized as best of the year by Reviewed.com include the breakthrough EcoHybrid™ heat-pump clothes dryer technology, unique TurboWash™ clothes washer innovations, the pioneering Door-in-Door® refrigerator feature, and the EasyClean® range technology.
“As the industry leader in OLED TV, LG views the ‘Best of the Year’ designation from Reviewed.com as further proof that OLED TVs are truly the Holy Grail of television,” said David VanderWaal, head of marketing, LG Electronics USA. “This award underscores our commitment to bringing consumers the very most innovative products to better their lives.”
LG home entertainment products earned Reviewed.com’s best of the year honors in a number of major categories:
Best Television of the Year and Best OLED TV of the Year
LG Curved OLED 55EA9800)
LG’s 55-inch class (54.6 inches measured diagonally) Curved OLED represents the ultimate in display for home entertainment enthusiasts, offering an infinite contrast ratio and incredible color accuracy for more vibrant images. Additionally, its gently curved screen provides a unique design statement and for a more immersive viewing experience. This is the first OLED TV to be ENERGY STAR® certified.
Best Design of the Year
LG Gallery OLED (55EA8800)
LG’s 55-inch (54.6-inch diagonal) Full HD 1080p OLED TV combines a rich audio experience with a 100W 2.2 channel sound system, amazing picture and a stylish aesthetic. It has all the functionality of a traditional Full HD TV, including Smart TV Cinema 3D TV, and its sleek design aesthetic is meant to emulate art on a wall. LG’s Gallery OLED screen-saver-like mode displays famous paintings, iconic photographs and personal photos.
Best Smart TV Platform of the Year
LG Smart TV+ webOS™
Unique to LG is the Smart TV+ webOS platform offering simple switching between broadcast TV, streaming services and external devices with lightning-quick transition speeds similar to regular channel switching.* LG Smart TV+ webOS features an intuitive interface that consumers can customize and control with the easy-to-use LG Magic Remote, which works with point and click, scroll and voice commands.
Best Monitor of the Year
LG 21:9 UltraWide Monitor (34UM95)
LG’s 34-inch class (33.7-inch diagonal) UltraWide “WQHD” monitor features multitasking and multimedia capabilities as well as connectivity making it ideal for gaming, watching movies and everyday tasks. This advanced flat-screen monitor offers an eye-popping level of visual detail with a 3440 x 1440 screen resolution, and features a 21:9 aspect ratio that expands overall screen real estate. LG’s 4-Screen Split feature allows users to divide the screen into up to four sections making it even easier to multi-task.
LG home appliance products earned Reviewed.com’s best of the year honors in a number of major categories:
Best Dryer Feature of the Year
LG EcoHybrid™ Heat Pump Dryer (DLHX4072)
LG’s ENERGY STAR® certified EcoHybrid Heat Pump dryer is the first in the United States to combine conventional vented drying with a heat pump to reduce energy by recycling heat, delivering up to 50 percent energy savings when compared to conventional electric dryers without sacrificing performance. LG is bringing technology typically found in air conditioners and dehumidifiers to the laundry room.
Best Washer Feature of the Year
LG TurboWash™ Technology (WM8000HVA, WT1701)
LG’s award-winning TurboWash technology saves users 20 minutes per load, even with larger loads of laundry, without sacrificing performance. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average household does 392 loads of laundry each year or 7.5 loads per week. TurboWash’s 20-minute-per-load time savings translates to more than 130 hours a year to spend with family and friends instead of doing laundry.
Best Washing Machine of the Year and Best High End Washer of the Year
LG Mega-Capacity TurboWash Clothes Washer (WM8000HVA)
This ENERGY STAR Most Efficient 2014 washer features the largest capacity in the industry at 5.2 cubic feet, so it can wash more clothes – including larger, bulky items – in fewer loads, saving time and money in energy usage. Consumers can wash a king size comforter and full set of bedding in a single load. It also boasts LG’s innovative TurboWash™ technology that allows users to save up to 20 minutes per load, even with larger loads of laundry, while still offering outstanding cleaning performance.**
Best Counter-Depth Fridge of the Year
LG Large Capacity Side-by-Side Refrigerator with Door-in-Door® (LSC22991ST)
LG’s Side-by-Side Refrigerator with Door-in-Door features LG’s award-winning Door-in-Door technology in its innovative design. LG pioneered the unique feature, which helps makes consumers’ lives easier by providing more convenient access to their favorite snacks, without opening the entire refrigerator, keeping family favorites front and center. Simply push a button on the door handle to release the magnetic seal. The Door-in-Door with ColdSaver™ panel, located on the inside of the compartment, helps to reduce cold air loss to keep food fresher longer and conserve energy.*** The unique model offers a seamless built-in look with its counter-depth profile. It stands flush with the countertop to save more space and complement the kitchen’s design aesthetic.
Best Value Apartment Fridge of the Year
LG Large Capacity 2-Door Bottom-Mount Refrigerator (LBN10551PV)
LG’s 24-inch slim refrigerator incorporates a sophisticated style and design, including contoured doors, hidden hinges, LED lighting and flexible drawers, making it easy to fit lots of function into studio apartments, lofts, tiny houses and other small spaces. The Large Capacity 2-Door Bottom-Mount Refrigerator has Digital Temperature Controls and a Multi-Air Flow Freshness designed to maintain superior humidity and temperature levels to help keep food fresher, longer.
Best Electric Range of the Year
LG Electric Double Oven Range with Infrared Grill and EasyClean® (LDE3037ST)
LG’s Large Capacity (6.7 cubic foot) Double Range Oven offers consumers more space, providing them the flexibility to cook more dishes simultaneously. Its Infrared Grill technology uses infrared waves for faster cooking times by getting the oven to broil temperature without preheating, and produces food that is juicier compared to food cooked on traditional thermal cooking. This also allows users to cut over 20 percent off the total cooking time. The Double Range Oven offers the benefit of LG’s proprietary EasyClean technology, allowing oven cleaning to be performed in just 20 minutes, not hours. This saves both time and energy when compared to self-clean feature. EasyClean works in three simple steps: spray water to the interior walls of the oven, start the EasyClean function to allow the oven to heat up, and after 20 quick minutes, the mess inside the oven can be simply wiped away.****
The Reviewed.com “Best of the Year” awards are selected annually by its editors and based on results from standardized and scientific testing and product reviews from the past year. A division of Gannett Co.’s USA TODAY since January 2011, Reviewed.com conducts its testing in dedicated facilities that feature lab quality imaging, home and kitchen, and display testing equipment. These objective, proprietary testing methods give Reviewed.com a competitive edge with easy to understand reviews that compare products side-by-side.
For more information on these awards and LG’s award-winning products, please visit www.reviewed.com and www.lg.com, respectively.
# # #
About LG Electronics, Inc.
LG Electronics, Inc. (KSE: 066570.KS) is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances, employing 82,000 people working in 119 locations around the world. With 2013 global sales of USD 53.10 billion (KRW 58.14 trillion), LG comprises five business units — Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Home Appliance, Air Conditioning & Energy Solution and Vehicle Components — and is one of the world’s leading producers of flat panel TVs, mobile devices, air conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators. LG Electronics is a 2014 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. For more news and information on LG Electronics, please visit www.LGnewsroom.com.
About LG Electronics USA
LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $53 billion global force and technology leader in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. In the United States, LG Electronics sells a range of stylish and innovative home entertainment products, mobile phones, home appliances, commercial displays, air conditioning systems and solar energy solutions, all under LG’s “Life’s Good” marketing theme. LG Electronics is a 2014 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. For more information, please visit www.lg.com.
*Wireless Internet connection & certain subscriptions required and sold separately. Agreement to smart TV terms and conditions required to use certain smart features. Content and services vary by product and are subject to change without notice. WebOS does not support Flash. In order to stream 4K content you need you will need a high speed internet plan capable of receiving 20Mb per second of data.
**Based on AHAM-HLW-1-2010 test protocol. Cotton/Normal or comparable cycle at default settings, 8-lb loads, front load washers only. Excludes other LG manufactured products. Excludes quick wash or comparable cycles intended for small, lightly soiled loads only.
***Percent reduction in exchange rate of air between opening the door-in-door compared to one French door for 10 seconds. Results based on testing of comparable model with same LG Door-in-Door® design.
****Heavy build-up may require additional manual effort or use of the full self-clean feature
CONTACT:
John I. Taylor
(847) 941-8181
john.taylor@lge.com
by admin | Nov 8, 2014 | Local News / Bohol Balita, Tech Talk
The College of Computer Studies of Holy Name University held a dialogue with industry players on November 8, 2014 at the Chico Cafe in Dao Diamond Hotel in Tagbilaran City. The dialogue was held in order for the college to gather opinions from the potential employers of its graduates in order to help improve the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science curriculum.
The BSCS Academic Program Review and Development Committee invited Henry Baliar, Head of Corporate IT of Alturas Group of Companies, Ruel Rule, founder of Geeko IT Solutions and Jerome Auza, Technology Consultant of Auza.Net. The committee members were Isabel Abucejo, Mariejo Narca and Jay Paig, all professors of the college.
L-R: Jerome Auza of Auza.Net, Ruel Rule of Geeko IT Solutions, Henry Bailar of Alturas Group of Companies, and the BSCS Academic Program Review and Development Committee members: Isabel Abucejo, Mariejoe Narca and Jay Paig
During the small group discussion, the committee gathered opinions from the industry players on the strengths and weaknesses of the graduates, the qualities and skills required of graduates, the trends in the industry that must be incorporated in the curriculum and possible linkages opportunities.
The industry players suggested updates on the curriculum on so that there would be elective subjects focusing on certain specializations of computing specializations like accounting, cloud computing and open source development. They also gave feedback on their experience with the graduates of HNU BSCS who have worked at their organizations.
by admin | Oct 22, 2014 | Tech Talk
Health startup mClinica scores investment from Kickstart, IMJ IP and 500 Startups
Contract Signing. From left to right: Koichi Saito, Director, IMJ Investment Partners (JAPAN); Farouk Meralli, CEO & Founder, mClinica; Dave McClure, Founding Partner, 500 Startups; and Minette Navarrete, President, Kickstart Ventures. Behind them are (L-R) Christian Besler, Vice-President, Kickstart; Kaspar Zhou, Principal, 500 Startups; and Khailee Ng, Managing Partner, 500 Startups.
Mobile health technology company mClinica announced a recently-closed round of funding from Kickstart Ventures, Inc., and foreign venture capitalists 500 Startups from Silicon Valley and IMJ Investment partners from Japan.
The amount of investment remains undisclosed, but founder Farouk Meralli said the capital will be used to fuel mClinica’s SEA expansion, starting with Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The company currently has a growing network of over 1400 pharmacies nationwide on its platform and access to over 20 million customers. One in every two independent pharmacies in the Philippines is now part of mClinica, making it the largest pharmacy network in the country.
“We have been waiting for a solution like this. With mClinica, we now have new ways to access the pharmacy channel more and gather data in the process. This was non-existent before,” Lito Ardeta, Philippines Country Manager, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.
mClinica creates a digital infrastructure connecting pharmaceutical companies directly to pharmacies to make healthcare better for the patient. The Philippines was selected as its pilot market in view of the high prices of medicines, a highly-fragmented status of independent pharmacies, and data scarcity.
Farouk Meralli, a 28-year old Harvard School of Public Health graduate worked as an executive in strategy and management for Roche, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer before taking the entrepreneurial route and founding mClinica. Meralli discovered first-hand the challenges pharmaceutical companies face in many emerging markets.
“While emerging markets were growing rapidly, we did not have access to the same data we had in more mature markets. The issue could not be solved by simply plugging into an existing technology infrastructure – that did not exist. mClinica was born to build that infrastructure – a smart digital network, powered by mobile, that could generate data that was relevant to our needs. We are now building the grid and data is our electricity,” Meralli said.
Through mClinica, drug companies can reach pharmacies on a large scale through mobile phones and furthermore create programs that help patients better afford their medicine, be better educated about the medicines they take, help improve adherence and overall create better health outcomes.
These pharmaceutical companies also receive new and valuable sources of data that have never been available before, helping to reach new levels in the Big Data revolution.
Kickstart led this funding round, providing growth capital for mClinica as well as opening doors to corporations and overseas markets to support a more aggressive expansion plan. As a member of Innov8 Sparks, the network of technology startup support and funding initiatives founded by members of the SingTel Group such as SingTel Innov8 (Singapore), AIS The Startup (Thailand), Kickstart Ventures (Philippines), Optus-Innov8 Seed (Australia), and Telkomsel Teman Dev (Indonesia), Kickstart would be able to give mClinica access to a combined mobile customer base of over 550 million in 25 markets across Asia and Africa.
“mClinica is improving medical retailing for patients and retail customers, drug stores, and large pharmaceutical firms. By combining proprietary software solutions with genuine insight into patient needs, a deep understanding of the pharma industry, and on-the-ground retail experience in emerging markets, mClinica is creating real value throughout the ecosystem, and their traction shows it,” enthused Minette Navarrete, President of Kickstart.
Both Dave McClure, Founding Partner of 500 Startups and Koichi Saito, Director of IMJ Investment Partners shared Navarrete’s view of mClinica. “mClinica will change the way Big Pharma plays in emerging markets,” McClure declared while Saito noted that “mClinica is the most exciting mobile health startup we have come across. They have been able to show incredible growth based on a unique double bottom line business model – the better they do as a business, the better patients do.”
This is the 19th investment for Kickstart Ventures in just over two years, underscoring the Globe subsidiary’s role as the Philippines’ most active institutional fund for seed and early-stage digital startups.
