Smart Communications Inc. has launched the country’s first netbook with a built-in high-speed broadband connectivity through Smart Bro.

Smart , in a press statement, said Smart Bro wireless broadband modems now come embedded on certain units of the Asus Eee PC 904 GO. The built-in modem allows the Asus Eee PC 904 GO to access the Internet through Smart’s nationwide HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network. The network offers speeds of up to 2 mbps in key cities in the country.

The device, the company said, will allow users “a complete, ready-to-run Internet experience in an all-in-one device, right out of the box.”

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A STUDENT project that uses social networking, short message service (SMS) and Smart Communications Inc.’s money transfer to gather relief goods for communities hit by disasters won this year’s Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (Smart Sweep) Innovation and Excellence Award.

The student team from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) won P500,000 for themselves and P500,000 in grants for their school last Saturday at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.

Charese Olmoguez (right), student team leader of Ateneo de Davao, explains to Smart SWEEP judges how her group’s search and rescue management system, which uses global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) data, works. Ateneo de Davao won second place in last Saturday’s Smart SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Award. (PHOTO FROM SMART PUBLIC AFFAIRS)

The Smart Sweep Innovation and Excellence Award was dominated by Ateneo schools, with ADMU taking the first and third spots and Ateneo de Davao University taking second place.

The ADMU team of Marc Ericson Santos, Adrian Khan, Carlos Miguel Lacson and Marty Peterson Tan was mentored by Ronell Sicat. The team created an integrated system that allowed people not only to donate online but to also invite friends in their social network to donate to their communities of choice. The system also tracks the donations.

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(This is for my column on Tuesday, March 17)

BY THE TIME this column gets printed, we’d have known whether a group of students from the University of San Carlos (USC) made Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (Sweep) history by being the first Cebu team to win the Innovation and Excellence Award.

We’d have known whether a group of high school students from the Science and Technology Education Center (STEC) in Basak, Lapu-Lapu City made Smart Sweep history by winning the first Doon Po Sa Amin (DPSA) Learning Challenge (I was jut told that they did—Charles Pascual of STEC won the contest).

But by the time I was writing this, I just came up from breakfast where I saw a group of students, among them some of the USC and STEC members, eating breakfast in a muted, definitely non- student type of way. I know the reason for the behavior. They’re geeks and later in the day, Smart Sweep will be announcing winners of the Innovation and Excellence Award and DPSA Learning Challenge. Nerves  make anyone behave.
Continue reading ’5th Smart Sweep Innovation and Excellence Award: Notes from the sidelines’

I’ve been asked to review the Nokia E71. Nokia Philippines lent me a review unit for two weeks.

The E71 is part of Nokia’s Eseries, a line of smartphones for business use. The phone’s features can make any heavy mobile user drool: wi-fi and high-speed mobile Internet connectivity, easy e-mail setup through Nokia’s service, integrated A-GPS, an integrated 3.2-megapixel camera and all the features you’d expect from a modern phone such as Bluetooth connectivity, expandable media storage, FM radio, digital media playing capabilities etc.

The two-week test will be the longest time in probably more than five years that I’ve used a Nokia phone. I’d try out Nokia units once in a while for several minutes and that’s the full extent of my usage.

The last Nokia unit I used extensively was, I’m embarrassed to admit, the venerable Nokia 5110. After that, I switched to Ericsson, starting with the R320s and stuck to the company, which later merged with Sony, until this day.

I’m excited to try the unit out. I’ll be blogging the entire review process here as well as posting constant Twitter updates that you can read at the sidebar on the right or in my Twitter page.

Nokia formally launched in Cebu last week its latest model in the XpressMusic product line, the Nokia 5800. The XpressMusic line is Nokia’s answer to Sony Ericsson’s Walkman phones, devices that are designed for music playing.

The features of the Nokia 5800 are formidable—it comes with all the features you’d expect from a modern phone plus touchscreen control, built-in A-GPS, wi-fi connectivity, high resolution 3.2-inch display, and a 3.2 megapixel built-in camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash.

NOKIA 5800. Nikka Singson-Abes, corporate communications manager of Nokia Philippines, holds the Nokia 5800 during its launching in Cebu.

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Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao hogged local searches in Google News, according to the Google Zeitgeist 2008, the latest of of the web giant’s annual report of popular search terms.

Pacquiao, who recently defeated Oscar de la Hoya, is on the top three search terms, including one that appeared to be a misspelling of his name, for Google News local searches in the Philippines: 1. manny pacquiao, 2. pacquaio marquez fight, and 3. pacquiao diaz fight.

The gruesome RCBC bank robbery ranked 4th while ABS-CBN broadcaster Ces Drilon, who was kidnapped in June, ranked 5th. The phrase “sona 2008″ for President Arroyo’s state of the nation address ranked 6th.

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