Will PLDT TelPad click?

Upon arrival from Cebu last December 13, went to SMX immediately to witness the launch of PLDT TelPad. Published my initial observation about it at Sun.Star.

I just upgraded my PLDT DSL service to 384kbps earlier this month. Not sure how that upgrade be affected if I apply for a PLDT TelPad service. Maybe will wait for that to take effect first and decide later.

Great to see PLDT using Facebook to answer queries about the PLDT TelPad service. Will read up and post a question there soon.

How about you? Do you have plans of upgrading to the PLDT TelPad service?

E-Commerce Project Planning and Creating an E-Store Workshop for the Carl Duisberg Association of the Philippines

This Friday and Saturday, I will be conducting an E-Commerce Project Planning and Creating an E-Store Workshop for the Carl Duisberg Association of the Philippines (CDAP). I was told that non-members of CDAP who are interested to participate need only to pay two thousand five hundred pesos (P2500).

If you are interested, just contact me so I can reserve you a slot for the event. Just bring the P2500 on that day that you will pay directly to CDAP.

Here is the program agenda:

E-Commerce Project Planning / Creating an eStore Seminar-Workshop
Oxford Suites Makati
November 19 -20, 2010

Program

November 19 (Friday)

8:15 a.m. - Registration

9:00 a.m. - Opening Ceremonies
National Anthem
Invocation : Ms.Ellorence D. Cruz
Opening Remarks: Mr. Ronaldo Limbago
Introduction of Speaker: Mr. Santiago Palizada
Resource Speakers : Ms. Janette Toral

9: 00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. E-Commerce Project Planning / Creating an eStore

• Overview on e-commerce in the Philippines (where Filipinos go online to look for products to buy and to sell)
• Planning an E-Store
• Identifying needs
• Setting goals
• Features list (prioritization)
• User identification and needs
• Competition identification
• Content plan
• Product pricing
• Delivery options
• Technical infrastructure plan
• Testing
• Marketing
• Maintenance
• Case studies on E-Commerce
• Russell Ri, e-Philippines Travel Adventures
• Reggie Bundang, RegaloService.com
• Jona Oboza, Platform2U/ SMilds.com / Buyanihan.com
Webstore 101 by Jona Oboza

November 20 (Saturday) 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

• Hands-on: Creating an e-Store and Promoting it
• Presentation
• E-Commerce Trends for 2011

3:30 p.m. - Closing Remarks – Mr. Ronaldo Limbago

Master of Ceremonies - Mr. Santiago “ Sonny” Palizada

It is great to be back doing this training for the organization. My first training with them happened last year and was focused on E-Commerce and Social Media.

Foursquare Maps and Laptop Bags

One thing that caught my fancy online lately is Foursquare via iPhone. It allows me to view, or stalk, my friends as to where they are and what they do. You can keep on zooming till you see a person's actual location. (Although if you don't want to receive such type of information about anyone, another option is to remove the connection and they won't appear on your map anymore.) It kinda makes me want to organize an amazing race of sorts, ala Amazing Foursquare Race. Well who knows, maybe someday.

Although if that pushes through, I don't think my current laptop bag will be up for it. You see I am using this Toshiba laptop bag although my gadget is actually a MacBookPro.

Friends, when they see it, especially the hard core Mac fans, insist that I should replace my bag. Ok in order to stay away from that kind of attention or pressure, my shopping hunt is on for a laptop bag. It must be a colorful bag.

A good laptop bag must have multi-functional compartments and hidden pockets that organize all your essentials.

Having a colorful bag can also influence your mood and how you are perceive. I notice that friends who have colorful ones seem to immediately give a sense that they are fun or fashionable.

One brand brought to my attention is Hellolulu and will check them out one of these days.

You can find this available at Rustan’s Department Store, ROX, The Travel Club, Bratpack, Islands & More, Crossing, The Ramp, Power Mac Center, Ashop, iStudio, Fully Booked, Duty Free – Fiesta Mall, Fashion Rack – NAIA 3, Le Grand Boutique – Naia 3. They also have kiosk at 4th Floor Cyberzone Area, SM North Edsa – Annex.

iPhone 4 finally in the Philippines!

At the PR 2.0 Congress yesterday, got the chance to catch up with Globe's Coy Caballes and get the latest update about the iPhone 4 launch as I am already waiting for my iPhone 4 unit.

According to Coy, Globe launched the iPhone 4 in the country yesterday (September 24) with a range of customizable plans designed for iPhone customers.

iPhone 4 features include:

• FaceTime which makes video calling possible and a feature often demonstrated by those who have one. Was given a demo on this last August by a friend.
• Retina display - currently considered the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in super crisp text, images and video. 
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and HD video recording
• Apple’s A4 processor
• 3-axis gyro 
• up to 40 percent longer talk time
• Glass and stainless steel design that is the thinnest smartphone in the world.
• iOS 4 which includes over 100 new features. 
• App Store providing access to more than 205,000 apps including the new iMovie app built just for iPhone 4.

The photo in this blog post shows Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu with Globe Consumer business head Peter Bithos who are both very excited with the launch of iPhone 4 in the Philippines.

Beginning September 24, customers can experience iPhone 4 through booths at Metro Manila malls Greenbelt and Glorietta. Globe will also host an exclusive launch event on September 26, 2010 to be held at the Makati Shangri-la and New World Hotels in Metro Manila for the first customers who registered online at the Globe website. Invited customers can expect a call, text message or email from Globe, to let them know what time they can claim their iPhone 4 at the above venues.

Full pricing and availability details for iPhone 4 in the Philippines will be available soon on their website.

Winners of free delegate pass: InfoSec Conference 2010

Many thanks to those who joined our free delegate pass contest for InfoSec Conference 2010. This will be on August 25 at Hotel Intercontinental, Makati City.

The winners are:

1. JayL of Blog-PH.com
2. Jayson Biadog

Note that this slot is not transferable. Congratulations to the winners!

Get a free delegate pass: Infosec Conference 2010

With Filipino's concern on Internet security still not subsiding and affecting the growth of e-commerce adoption in the country, DigitalFilipino Club and Posh Marketing Services is organizing Infosec Conference 2010 this August 25 at Hotel Intercontinental, Makati City.

We are giving away two (2) delegate passes to this event.

Should you like to participate and hope to get one of the passes, this is what you have to do:

1. Make a blog entry about the Infosec Conference 2010 and cite why you like to attend this event.
2. Your blog post must have a link to the following:
   link 1: Infosec Conference 2010 at http://www.infosecphilippines.com
   link 2: DigitalFilipino Club at http://www.e-commercephilippines.com
   link 3: Posh Marketing Services at http://www.poshmarketingservices.com/infosec-conference-2010-sharing-best-practices-in-it-security.html
3. Add a Facebook "like" button to your blog post to enable your readers to give a thumbs up.
4. Post a comment to this blog entry and give me the url link where your entry can be found. 

Deadline for submission of entries is on August 17, 2010.

Two winners will be chosen based on:

• First winner shall be based on most number of Facebook likes or thumbs up from readers.
• Second winner will be based on the blog post story - why do you want to attend the summit.

The 2 winners who will get one delegate pass each shall be posted here on or before August 20.
 
I hope you can join and see you at the Infosec Conference 2010.

Finding my Super One

Just got word about the Globe Super One service that allows you to have unlimited text messaging and voice calls to one Globe number. I currently have a "Super One". Unfortunately, since I am on a prepaid plan, I can't tagged this person for unlimited text and calls.

However, Globe is exploring to make the service available to prepaid subscribers soon and very much look forward to it.

At present, postpaid subscribers can avail of it from P150 to P170 a month per Globe number. So if you have a Super One in your life, I suggest availing of this plan. Here is how to activate:

However, I have a personal mission next week and that is to talk to my Super One if I can have our photo or video taken and join Globe's Super One Blogger Contest. The contest winner will have the chance to win a Samsung Galaxy S Android phone.

Globe is very proactive in promoting their Super One service. They also launched a similar contest through Twitter that will end this August 2 where you will need to name your Super One on Twitter.

My Rewards My Globe, TM Astig Rewards launched

At 10:01 this morning, I finally received a text message from Globe 4438 divulging their rewards program - My Rewards.My Globe. TM has a counterpart offer branded as TM Astig.

The rewards program give you special points based on how much you spend and how long you’ve been a Globe or TM customer. You can choose from a host of great deals, like free call/text services, Jollibee gift checks, free passes to Manila Ocean Park, Avilon Zoo and Enchanted Kingdom, PAL Miles points, iPod 4GB, Nintendo DSi, Canon Digital Camera, TCL LCD TV, Deviant portable DVD player, WOW Magic Sing Fiesta, gifts, discounts, and free services in various outlets, among others.
If you haven't received a text message and would like to know more, just send "rewards" to 4438 (without the quotes).

Globe, TM, and Tattoo SIM active prepaid and postpaid subscribers, in and outside of the Philippines, are automatically registered as part of the program.
I think Globe did a great job in building up interest for the 4438 launch. Prepaid and postpaid subscribers got intrigued on what it is all about as Globe organized various contests that includes 4438 sightings and encouraging people to take a guess.

Checking out Twitter, I saw people posting tweets asking if they receive a text message from 4438 already. Checking out SocialMention.com yields 4438 postings on various social networks at 12 minutes average per mention with hundreds of authors (which in this case - users) talking about it.

I certainly look forward to more benefits from My Rewards.My Globe.

What is Globe 4438?

I got an event invitation recently about the 4438 service. According to the announcement, the service will be launched this April 4.

Since I heard it, started asking my Twitter and Facebook friends about the service wondering what they think this service will be.

Here are some guesses:

• Unlimited texting, calls, and Internet for only 38 pesos a day that can be used for oneself or as a gift to another Globe user.
• No time limit international call for only 38 pesos.
• Form a group of 38 Globe users and set up a TRIBE that can participate in various special activities and deals.
  
• Buy special deal items for only 38 pesos.

The possibilities are just endless. I guess we'll just have to wait till April 4 to find out what this new Globe service is all about. Will be out of town by then but good thing I have my roaming activated. It will surely be an interesting Easter Sunday.

Been using Globe for as long as I can remember. It is my hotline number for inquiries set as default in my DigitalFilipino.com website. Great to see all the variety of services meant to serve its prepaid users like me (and of course to their postpaid too). I'm sure with all this excitement being built-up, will likely be a loyalty program worth checking out.

How about you? What do you think this Globe 4438 service is all about?

Silverlight Client for Facebook

I was doing my digital handshake this morning (yes, still not done) when I saw this post from Guada about a client software that can be used to manage your Facebook account.

This is the Silverlight Client for Facebook. On your first visit to the link, it will ask you first to download the Silverlight 4 Beta software. Once installed, you can visit the link again and proceed installing the Facebook client.

What I like about the tool is how it shows you the latest post from friends who emailed you and latest updates from friends in the home page. You can make direct postings from the client software therefore removing the need to log on to your Facebook account from the browser.

However some limitations include:

• Not able to tag friends when making a wall post.
• Can't see likes/comments made for wall post done using the Silverlight Client.
• Can't view groups and fan pages.

I guess this client tool is ideal for users who just wants to view and post basic updates. Then logon to the website for more advanced Facebook activities.

I think having a desktop client software that allows you to do the advance capabilities within Facebook will be popular among its users. I hope a secure powerful application will become available soon.

When friends spam you - should Facebook charge, close, or moderate its developer program?

One thing that made Facebook very popular is its developer program. This allowed users like you and me who are creative in developing our very own application and share it in the social network for users to try out.

However, since late last year, there were so much abuses committed against this program. This includes:

• Applications that creates a photo and tag friends, appearing on notifications and not on your Facebook wall. (SIMs, Who's Viewing Your Album?, Who's Viewing Your Profile?)
  
• Applications that imitates Facebook's "like" feature. (calling itself "like", "likes", "lika")

What is most common in these spam programs is that they are created in several variants using the same engine or re-uploaded several time using different user profiles. Some are also classified as a virus already.

To counter this, Facebook has now stopped applications from sending us notices. This is an issue especially for users who have authorized specific applications to update them such as NetworkedBlogs. I think what Facebook should prevent from sending spam notifications are those that were not authorized in the first place.

What is the worst thing that can happen to Facebook with these applications?

• People will get fed up with all the spam and leave.
• Facebook will face a huge attack that it can't protect itself from - sooner or later.

What can Facebook do?

• Perhaps it is about time for Facebook to have a fee entry for its developer program, rather than be a free for all. This way, any abuser can be caught, properly identified, and be made accountable for their actions. They can implement a similar approach to developers selling apps in an iTunes store.
• Moderating application is another option but that may be too many to manage. However, I believe the above, the entry fee, will make abusers think twice if they will join.

We always say that social networking in 2010 will be bigger than ever. If it is all about Facebook, then all I can think about is that the 1st quarter is all about users defending itself from various form of spam attacking the network.

Google Buzz: is it really buzzing?

Like many Gmail users, such us Mike Abundo, I got excited when the news about Google Buzz came out and had my first taste of it. What I like about it includes:

• Having instant followers / following right away.


• Integrate your various social networking profiles.


• Receive notification at your inbox whenever someone response.


• Easy integration of photos and videos.

However, as soon as I started using and configuring it, felt its disadvantage especially if you are already an active social network application user. This includes:

• It can be spammy especially if the people you add are so active in applications like Twitter. Most of the time, I end up unfollowing them.


• Redundant content. If you are an active social network user, chances are, you will see the same content getting posted. If the people you follow don't post original content that much, you will also feel a sense of silence in your buzz community (which is my situation now with FriendFeed).
  
• Content duplication also happens where a feed appears twice (upper and lower part of your Buzz page).
  
• Also have instances where I muteed a post then it suddenly appears again.


• When using Internet Explorer, the view window does not adjust. An example here would be viewing a YouTube video like in this image.
  

It will be interesting though if Buzz will allow me to do the following:

• embed Google Docs forms and files for sharing / editing with friends.
• integrate Google Wave like features into Buzz.

How about you? What do you think of Google Buzz?