It’s a little weird to see the Google domain showing up on Google search results.  This could be the start when Google becomes the content of Google search. Is it possible that someone, all the links on the front page of Google be all pointing to Google itself? Google becomes the Internet.

A round-up of the current 9 inch and 10 inch laptops in the Philippine market showed HP’s choice of using Via CPUs instead of the faster Intel Atom broke the deal for most prospective buyers.

Included in the table are the MSI Wind U100, HP 2133, Asus Eee PC 900 and the Acer Aspire One which is supposed to be the cheapest among the four.

UMPC Chart above taken from YugaTech.

iPhone 3G Philippines

The price — a cool Php61,500 for the 8GB. The cost includes the mandatory 2-year contract from the HK telco (Hutchison Telecom) reselling the iPhone 2.0 for Apple. The 24-month plans in Hong Kong costs ~$64/month for the unlimited data plus minutes while a lowest plan only costs ~$24 a month but will have an initial fee of ~$377.

That means, a fully contract free iPhone 3G 8GB in HK will set you back (24 * $24 + $377) a total of $953 or roughly Php43,000.

In any case, you can actually fly to HK overnight and spend less than Php50k for the entire trip with an iPhone 3G in tow.

July 18, 2008

To all our patrons, customers and friends,

We regret to inform you that Ynzal Marketing Corp. will cease to be an Authorized Apple Reseller beginning July 29th. We received notice from Apple recently that we will no longer be accredited as an authorized reseller by July 29, 2008 pursuant to clause 13 B (i) of our Authorized Apple Reseller Sales Agreement (which states that “Apple can terminate the Agreement at any time, with or without cause, on 30 days written notice”).

Last June 4, Apple called our attention because of a complaint by one customer who requested to repair his unit. Apple claimed we have committed irregularities in the warranty procedures for this particular unit.

We have immediately acted on the complaint and resolved the matter with the customer. Our own internal investigations reveal that we have mistakenly encoded a different serial number on our Sales Invoice resulting in a lot of confusion.

We have appealed to Apple for reconsideration by showing them that there was no irregularity at all. We are hoping that Apple would see the merits of our appeal and realize that it was just a case of inadvertence and misunderstanding. Up to now, we have yet to receive a reply from Apple regarding our appeal.

Rest assured however, we will continue to provide our best-in-breed solutions, name-brand products and after market peripherals through the services you came to love.

We are looking forward to your continuous support.

Sincerely,
The Management

Ynzal has until July 29, 2008 to appeal this decision. It is also uncertain where Ynzal customers will claim warranty and service of their Apple products.

Smart Uzzap offers unlimited chatting from your phone to a PC and vice-versa, allowing additional interconnection features such as email and SMS. The platform is a free software you can download directly to your Smart cellphone and desktop PC (no Mac OSX version yet). Uzzap adds your contact list from YM and MSN allowing you to view and chat with users of these two IMs. (Text UZZAP to 7272 to download the program for free.)

From July 6 to 31, 2008, Smart subscribers can use the services for free (with 10 SMS limits daily). However, once the roll-out is completed, time-based charging will be as follows:

Php25/day - 100 free SMS
Php150/week - 500 free SMS
Php400/month - 2,000 free SMS

The Uzzap service will only be available to Philippine subscribers on the Smart network.

{Note: Smart is an advertiser on this blog.}

Winners list below:

Counterstrike: Team Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Arvin Agbisit
Paolo Nancho
Jupiter Mars Gaboy
EJ Clores
Gary Guevarras

WarCraft: Frederick Pe

Guitar Hero: Rafael Formoso

Command & Conquer: John Raymond Tan

DOTA (to compete at the Asian Cyber Games): Team Meneski
Rhymel Olete
Jose Silva Jr.
Ronald Robins
Kendrick Sy
Rovic John Perez

Over 100 gamers entered the quarter finals which began July 11, following a series of eliminations held in various internet and LAN shops in Metro Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao.

National champions will receive a cash prize of P30,000, a Samsung phone, Intel Quad Core CPU, Villman items, Logitech Gaming keyboard/mouse, Asrock Mobo, Sparkle Video Card, etc.

The iPhone Dev Team has earlier reported that they’re very close to putting out a public release of the iPhone JailBreak 2.0. No final word yet on the accuracy of their target deadline.

In Brazil, a group has claimed they’ve unlocked the iPhone 3G. See video below of their demo (in Portuguese)

Likewise, iPhone users are hoping they’d be able to unlock their new iPhone 3G and break away from their providers.

This could be a huge problem in countries where the iPhone 3G has a later release that. When they officially come out in those areas, there will be several free to paid iPhone unlocking softwares available. That could spell trouble to the partner cellcos.

Asus Eee PC 1000 to launch in the Philippines

Intel Atom Processor 1.6GHz
2.93 lbs
40GB solid state drive
2GB of RAM
WiFi 802.11n
Bluetooth
1.3-megapixel webcam
6-cell battery (up to 7.5 hours)

We have the recommended price but we’re not allowed to reveal it until then. However, Amazon is listing the Asus Eee PC 1000 40G and 1000H 80G at $649 and $699, respectively.

The Asus Eee PC 900 was launched in mid May of this year.

Nokia E71 Philippines

HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
2.36 inches screen (320×240 pixels)
Full QWERTY keyboard
110 MB internal memory
128 MB SDRAM Memory
ARM 11 369 MHz processor
WiFi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP
Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 v3.1 UI
3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, autofocus, video (QVGA@15fps), flash
2nd front-facing camera for video call
Built-in GPS receiver
FM radio tuner

The lowest list price is Php21,200 while in most stores, it ranges between Php21,500 to Php24,950. Some official units from Nokia can cost up Php37,000. More pics of the Nokia E71 here.

Claimed to be used by the Philippine Presidential Security Group!

“The Unbreakable Umbrella works just as well as a walking stick or cane but does not make you look funny or feel awkward. Whacks just as strong as a steel pipe but it weighs only 1 lb. and 11 oz. (775 g).” Bold text is mine.