Technology NEWS

As the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021 goes fully digital this year, allow me to share some of the crazy gadgets that I stumble upon on the virtual exhibit floor.

As the country continues its fight with the dreaded COVID-19 while allowing business and the workforce to adapt to what we call the new normal, the MRT-3 will upgrade its manual contact tracing process to digitized one by soft-launching the “MRT-3 Trace” [https://trace.dotrmrt3.gov.ph] web application on Monday, January 18, 2021, with full implementation by February 1, 2021.

UK-based sports tech startup, ArcX Technology launches the world’s first smart ring specifically designed for single-handed sports and fitness use at CES 2021. This smart ring is designed to be worn on the index finger and controlled with the thumb. A Bluetooth connection to any smartphone enables the ring user to store phones in a pocket or backpack, controlling playlists and other phone functions simply and easily — even when wearing gloves. An intuitive App is available for free on both Android and iOS platforms providing a host of customizable options and additional functionalities such as a stopwatch, an emergency SOS call function, and the ability to connect with other sports-based Apps.  

The Philippines’ third major telco player, DITO Telecommunity, has formally notified the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) of its readiness for the technical audit, which is a requirement for their subsequent commercial operations set to commence by March 2021.

It has been ten (10) months since the very first community quarantine was implemented in the Philippines with hopes of curving the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Among the many sectors affected by the lockdowns is sports development – more particularly grassroots football development. Though some local football academies continue training via virtual environments, less fortunate players – especially those with limited access to the Internet – can only dream of further honing their skills in football during this pandemic.

It has been ten (10) months since the very first community quarantine was implemented in the Philippines with hopes of curving the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Among the many sectors affected by the lockdowns is sports development – more particularly grassroots football development. Though some local football academies continue training via virtual environments, less fortunate players – especially those with limited access to the Internet – can only dream of further honing their skills in football during this pandemic.

If there is one industry that thrived during this pandemic, it would be Information Technology (IT) with cloud technologies as its flagbearer. The current global health situation makes it even more difficult for all kinds of businesses – big or small – but as more embrace cloud technologies, they are somewhat surviving.

During the recently-concluded GITEX Technology Week 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Avaya received several accolades at the Future Enterprise Awards.

On track for its commercial launch by March 2021, DITO Telecommunity inaugurated last 09 December 2020 the brain of its operations — the Network and Security Operations Center. No less than National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. graced the momentous event.

As a technologist and technopreneur, I should say that convincing traditional business owners to adopt cloud technologies is not an easy task. When most of this long-time business players believe in the notion of “Why fix something that is not broken?” works, they also need to understand that industries are changing and they need to embrace technology for their enterprise to survive.

As the country eases up community quarantine restrictions and asks business establishments to prepare for the “new normal”, one may have to ask: “is your building return-ready?”

Following the early access launch of BLOX last October to a small group of users, the “cryptocurrency for all” official opens its doors worldwide, allowing everyone to join its growing community.

It was confirmed by no less than Atty. Adel Tamano, DITO Telecommunity Chief Administrative Officer that the upcoming telco has expanded their friendly user test (FUT) for employees and selected partners as part of the roll-out and preparation for launch by March 2021.

I was quietly working last night when I was surprised by this unusual prompt from Adobe Flash Player:

It is normal for any internet service provider (ISP) to have unscheduled outage from time to time. But for the second time this month, Converge ICT Solutions (Converge) has encountered a massive outage affecting a vast majority of their subscribers.

As businesses, both here and abroad, try to ride the wild wave of this pandemic, one aspect that we realized need proper focus and attention is data management. When we talk about how we manage business data, we are not just referring to the archival and compliance ingredient of administering information. Data management includes information protection and recovery that must be efficient and cost-effective.

As typhoon Ulysses left a destructive path along parts of Luzon and Metro Manila, a familiar name — Project NOAH — re-surfaced the interwebs and even trended in Philippine social media.

With the on-going pandemic making businesses and enterprises shift into an intelligent and connected virtual space for them to survive, several startups across the globe, aware of the demand, have since kicked off their mass customization practices.