Halika 3.0

As rumors unfurl about a new gadget upcoming from Microsoft, the company’s Origami Project [^] is starting to take shape as a very small tablet computer, one perhaps affordable enough to appeal to mainstream consumers.

The concept, which Microsoft plans to detail next month, is built on top of the Windows XP operating system but aims to be a new kind of device, rather than a replacement for existing PCs, according to sources familiar with the effort. With a screen bigger than that of a handheld but smaller than a notebook PC screen, Origami devices won’t fit in the pocket, but they’ll make it into purses and even the smallest of backpacks, sources said.

Microsoft’s goal is to create a blueprint for devices that could sell for $600 or less, although the actual prices will depend greatly on what manufacturers decide to include. Origami is capable of supporting features like GPS, Bluetooth, 3G cellular technology and Wi-Fi, though each of these adds to the cost of the device.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications announced several new phones on Tuesday, including two that carry Sony’s Cyber-shot brand and come with 3.2-megapixel cameras that are integrated with Google’s Blogger application.

Users of the new K800 and K790 phones who don’t already have a blog can set one up over the phone. They’ll be able to take photos with the camera and then easily add them to their blogs, according to Sony Ericsson.

March 2006
Moments of Love: DingDong Dantes, Karylle, and Iza Calzado
(a man of the present falls in love with a woman of the ’50s)

(a la Pretty Woman)
Katrina Halili and Dingdong Dantes

Filipinos continue to dream the American dream.

American Idol: Jose ‘Sway’ Penala
American Idol: Jasmine Trias

World Talent (Hawaii, USA): Alyssa Ashley Soriano Palacsa

Pinatunayan nina Judy Ann Santos at Piolo Pascual na sila ang pinakamalakas sa kasalukuyan na love team sa pelikula sa Don’t Give Up On Us.

All set naman sila na patunayan ang lakas ng kanilang tambalan sa telebisyon through their new soap coming up, Sa Piling Mo. Sa Pebrero 27 na ang simula nito.

May impression kami na isang strong character ang gagampanan ni Juday sa bagong soap nila. Isang babaeng kristo ang gagampanan niya. Isang kristo sa sabungan, si Jennifer.

Ano kaya ang uri ng karakter ni Piolo na si Adrian na isang bulag? Isang weakling ba si Adrian sa kuwento at matapang na babae naman si Juday? Tila bagay.

Ayon kay Juday, nag-train siya sa isang babaeng kristo para sa papel niya sa serye. Pumunta siya para manood ng sabong sa bandang La Loma.

Isang araw siyang sumama sa trainer niya at work. At may babaeng kristo rin na palagi sa taping kung kailangan.

Ganyan din daw si Piolo na tila may advisory rin sa pagganap niya ng isang bulag na may pag-asa pang gumaling sa bagong soap nilang ito.

May bagong love team na isinama rito – sina Maja Salvador at John Wayne Sace. Kasama rin sina Bembol Roco, Mat Ranillo III, Liza Lorena at Albert Martinez.

Kung si Rico Barrera ay kasama sa Gulong ng Palad (hindi pa lumalabas ang karakter niya sa serye), isang dating housemates ng Pinoy Big Brother — si Jason Gainza — ay kasama rito sa soap nina Juday at Piolo. [source]

Cinemalaya filmfest announces 10 finalists

[source: article by Nestor U. Torre of inq7.net]

Local movie buffs and new filmmakers are excited over the second Cinemalaya alternative filmfest, which unreels four months from now.

Who are the 10 new writer-directors who will each be given a seed grant of P500,000 by Tonyboy Cojuangco to demonstrate their ability as filmmakers, and to enrich viewers’ lives with alternative movies they wouldn’t usually get to see in the country’s more predictable mainstream cinema?

Entries

The 10 winners were supposed to be announced last month, but the members of the screening committee felt that some of the semi-finalists’ entries needed more revisions.

So, 15 scripts were first chosen, and their writers were given two more weeks to improve on their work, with valuable inputs given by the committee.

Some of the writers took the suggestions to heart and worked hard on their second drafts, so a number of them really improved.

Still, choosing the final 10 was no easy task, and a couple of otherwise worthy entries failed to make it because their exceptional promise in terms of concept and theme wasn’t substantially realized.

Teams

So, even if they didn’t make it to Cinemalaya, they could be improved on further and enter into other filmmaking tilts, or be self-produced by their filmmakers and their respective teams of backers.

So, who did make it? In alphabetical order: “Ang Huling Araw ng Linggo” by Nick Joseph Olanka. About a pyramiding scam and the lives it affects.

“Ang Ngipin ni Doring” by Dado Lumibao and Bong Ramos. About the female boxing circuit.

“Batad, Sa Paang Palay” by Vic Acedillo Jr. and Benji Garcia. About the clash between tradition and modernity in the Cordilleras.

“Donsol” by Adolfo Alix Jr. About the tourists, whales and townspeople in a town where whales are frequently sighted.

“Isang Ikot ng Mundo sa Rotonda” by Byron Bryant. About bisecting lives and downbeat incidents circulating around the fulcrum of a busy intersection.

“Larombata” by Khavn dela Cruz. An animated film about the “lives” of toys and games.

Epiphany

“Lima” by Arah Gell Badayos. A middle-aged woman has a belated epiphany about her roles as wife and mother.

“Mga Anino sa Apuhap” by Domingo Lazam III, Ronald Verzo and Sigrid Andrea Bernardo. About subjective love, truth and infidelity in the world of the blind.

“Saan Nagtatago si Happiness?” by Florida M. Bautista and Real Florido.. About the quest for elusive happiness in the world of the misbegotten.

“Tulad ng Dati” by Michael Sandejas. About the local band scene, as vivified by the “rebirth” of The Dawn.

It’s hoped that some of these film projects will match the high level of achievement established by the first Cinemalaya movies, like “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros,” “Pepot Artista” and “Big Time.”

ABC-5 airs American Idol Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10pm.

Fil-Am among ‘Idol’s’ top 24

[source: article by Kathryn Reyes of inq7.net]

ANOTHER FIL-AM TALENT HAS MADE IT TO the top 24 of the widely popular talent search, “American Idol.”

Jose “Sway” Penala turned 28 on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), when the final crop was selected during proceedings in Pasadena, California.

Out of thousands who auditioned from all over the United States, 200 had been sent to Hollywood for the qualifying rounds.

Sway said he felt “numb” when judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell told him he was through to the next level.

“It’s still sinking in,” he said in an interview on Friday.

Unexpected obstacle

It hadn’t come easy for Sway, whose eligibility was questioned earlier.

He was said to have been part of a band with a recording contract when he auditioned for AI in August. Contest rules banned anyone signed to a recording or talent management contract.

The issue was put to rest when AI producer Ken Warwick announced on Feb. 3 that Sway was “still absolutely in the show” since the Fil-Am singer had dropped the contract as soon as he passed the auditions in San Francisco.

From childhood

A product of La Salle Greenhills, Sway migrated to the US with his family in 1989. His parents are investment bankers. In his latest interview (on the website idolonfox.com), he said he would land in real estate if he didn’t make it on “Idol.”

He spent his teenage years in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he formed singing groups. His passion for music had been apparent since he was 7.

Proud mom

Sway’s mother, Cristina, was at the Pasadena Civic Center when he got the coveted green light.

She was telling host Ryan Seacrest how proud she was, when her son burst into the holding room with the happy news.

Trail blazers

Former Fil-Am finalists were Camile Velasco and Jasmine Trias, who joined the third season in 2004. Trias finished third.

Winners from this point on will be determined by viewers’ votes.

I Love Paris (Angel Locsin and Richard Gutierrez)

Sometime mid 2006.

I Will Always Love You
Angel Locsin and Richard Gutierrez

The shares are down, but satellite radio won’t die yet, thanks to Howard Stern. This could be the reason why Google is thinking of marrying radio ads with adwords.

There are no federal decency standards to constrain you, that’s a plus. However,

The bigger problem, is that the potential of satellite radio to justify even current valuations remains very much unproven. The mass appeal of satellite radio is not yet a given.

Even if the two managed to run a cosy duopoly, moreover, they will also have rival technologies to contend with. At the very least, services such wireless broadband internet, multicasting by traditional radio stations and iPods may limit their potential to hold on to the sorts of margins envisioned in a few years time.

American Igorot News 8 Austin