This is the reason why we should demand more from Hollywood

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 24th, 2012

‘Archetype’ is a labor of love directed by Aaron Sim. It was created with a budget of USD $0.00. Maybe he’s exaggerating, but what this technology revolution did for social media, it’s doing its magic to the film industry.

No wonder there is a lot of worry in Hollywood. And I’m not referring to the actual cost to produce things nowadays. It’s merely the fact that Hollywood — and other big businesses have been built under a pretense of an enduring industrial age.

They never saw this revolution coming. And it’s the same reason why we should demand more from Hollywood. Because they need to change too.

Jollibee brings NFC technology to their stores with the ‘happyplus’ Card

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 17th, 2012

I laud Jollibee for being the first retailer pushing for fast adoption of NFC technology in the Philippines.

Geeky Explanation: (warning, nosebleed)
NFC stands for “Near Field Communication” and is a prevalent piece of technology similar to Bluetooth or QR codes and is based on the current RFID technology. The difference is that the “near field” in NFC means that as soon as you point your device (in this case a card) to the kiosk sensor within 4 centimeters, the “tag” is recorded. The not-so-recent Android 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade enables NFC for several of their models like the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Non-Geeky Explanation:
Your mobile phone (or any device with NFC) is now a debit card.

The HappyPlus Card seems to be Jollibee’s way to condition the minds of Filipinos to adopt NFC as a part of their daily lives. This is a bridge. It is no secret that the final product will be to use NFC-enabled smartphones (many Android devices already have it built in but aren’t being used by Pinoys) but the cards are a good way of pushing the market to familiarize with this tech. Essentially, it’s something Filipinos have been doing for a while, claiming rewards points with their load, using Passa Load services, etc. Jollibee’s move makes sense as they already have staked their claim in a mobile app for smartphones (aka Netphone).

The service will be available starting January 23 2012. The card itself will cost PHP 100.00 and will enable rewards points to accumulate. You can use the points to purchase from Jollibee, Chowking, Red Ribbon, Greenwich and soon, Mang Inasal. In essence, NFC eventually replaces the CBTL Swirl Cards and SM Advantage cards we have come to love.

Current Phones that support NFC:

Android
Nexus S
Google Nexus S 4G
Samsung Galaxy S II (not all versions)
Samsung Galaxy Note (not all versions)
Galaxy Nexus

Meego
Nokia N9

BlackBerry
Blackberry Bold 9790
BlackBerry Bold 9990/9930
BlackBerry Torch 9810/9860
Blackberry Curve 9350/9360/9370

The iPhone does not officially support NFC technology.

2012 is the year NFC will be introduced and will grow. Smart has started pushing it as well for bazaar entrances. You can use your smartphone (w/ NFC) to enter bazaars. Who knows what’s next? Concert tickets? MRT tickets? Endless!

How to make your own “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” Meme

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at January 7th, 2012

Hot Air Balloon Festival, Clark Pampanga (Every February of the year)

UPDATE VI: The DOT linked back to my tutorial from their official website!

UPDATE V: Lester Bambico has programmed and uploaded an “It’s More Fun” app into the Android Marketplace. More details here (with screenshots!)

UPDATE IV: Looks like some of my work is featured in SPOT.PH. Three of them. Including the tutorial.

UPDATE III: Someone made a DOT Philippines now has an official “More Fun” maker over the weekend. You can visit the site at http://www.morefunmaker.com/. It allows you to upload a photo, add a caption and choose whether to place it on top or at the bottom of the image. If you’re not comfortable using Photoshop or any other photo editing tool, this is the easiest way to get your “More Fun” meme out!

UPDATE II: The amazing Arnold Gamboa (@arnoldgamboa on Twitter) used his coding skills to build a living Twitter wall where you can view the crowd-made “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” photos. Nice one! The site is: http://www.itsmorefuninthephilippinespics.com/. To be included here, all you need to do is Tweet your photo + include the #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines hashtag. The site grabs photos every 5 minutes.

UPDATE: Added an extra step to focus on SEO for image search and added more examples below. Enjoy!

It’s More Fun in the Philippines. You know the new DOT online campaign works because it really gets netizens involved. Most are using the hashtag (#ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines) but others are getting their creative juices flowing and making their own DOT-inspired images based on their personal experiences around the 7,000++ islands.

Now I’m pretty sure BBDO Guerrero will provide an easy to use web tool where anyone can upload photos and add text from the new It’s More Fun in the Philippines site. But in the meantime, here’s one way you can create your own “Philipp-FUN” memes.

Are you ready? Let’s go!
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EastWest Bank wants you to win a BlackBerry Torch (and more!)

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 11th, 2011

You know, it’s OK to admit that your wallet seems to empty itself during the holiday gift giving routine. It’s the same story every Christmas — that I either decide to buy bulk gifts for all my friends (i.e. my blog themed cupcakes from way back) or individual gifts for people who are really memorable to me during the year. Now it’s usually the former, but one thing that I always had a hard time doing was budget my expenses. Well. Because even if let’s say I set a budget of PHP3,000-PHP5,000 for gifts (excluding family) I find out at the end of my shopping spree that I’ve emptied my wallet! I think “sales” are a consumer trap, especially if you’re into gadgets.
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SMART Communications to offer iPhone 4S by end 2011

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at November 9th, 2011

The Inquirer reported this evening that SMART Communications would be offering the new Apple iPhone 4S come end of 2011.

Quote:

MANILA, Philippines—Wireless telecommunications giant Smart Communications is set to heat up competition in the offering of telco services bundled with Apple products with the rollout of Apple’s game-changing smartphone iPhone to premium subscribers within this year.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of Smart’s parent firm Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., confirmed that Smart was in talks with Apple to launch the latest version of the iPhone—iPhone4S—before yearend.

Similar to what happened to bigger markets like the United States, Germany and Canada, consumer electronics giant Apple has abandoned the regime of exclusive iPhone distribution.

With the lapse of the exclusivity deal with Globe Telecom, the original iPhone official carrier in the Philippines, Smart is now getting ready to launch iPhone4S as well.
[source]

The article also mentions the possibility to bring in Apple iPad tablets with data plans.

It seems that a Twitter hashtag campaign has started called #smartiphone. You can try to follow this for more developments. This development is rather interesting as SMART has already cornered exclusivity deals with HTC for their Android phones. WIth the iPhone 4S deal, has SMART locked in the smartphone business for both Android and iOS?

Aside: During the launch of the Netphone 701 and SmartNet platform at the Jump store, one of the execs did hint of being in talks with Apple for something related to smartphones. It seems like the cat is out of the bag. Are we going to see a SmartNet app pretty soon on the iTunes Store?

[N.B. There is a general disclosure on my blog's about page on who I work / consult for.]

Ramon and Vina’s Geeky Prenup Shoot

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at October 27th, 2011

Congratulations to my cousin Ramon and his lovely wife Vina for tying the knot! You see, Ramon and Vina alongside other high school friends are constants in my life as we hold true to our sacred board game nights. Believe me, it is so hard to find other like-minded people who can spend hours in the company of alcohol and perforated cardboard.

I asked them if I could post their prenup photos on the blog and they wholeheartedly agreed. Can you guess the themes? Click on the photos for higher resolution.

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A look into the new 2011 Ford Explorer with My Touch

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at October 8th, 2011

I’m not a car geek. Far from it. So let me tell you how I ended up test driving the new 2011 Ford Explorer. All 3.5L V6 of it.
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How to save yourself from a socially awkward situation

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 8th, 2011

Solution: Download this card and use when necessary

SCUBA Test: Samsung PL120 and SH100 WiFi Camera with Seashell Housing

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at July 18th, 2011

Above: Jan in his complete pro UW setup

The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. The irony is that a lot of the action happens in the city Manila. In its odd state, you would think that for a country that is surrounded by water, we would have at our disposal a stable of underwater cameras or housings with underwater cases for sale in most gadget stores. Sadly this is not the (underwater) case. **Pun Intended**

If you take a look at the UW housing landscape in the Philippines, save for a dedicated store that deals with UW housings, it is quite rare to find manufacturers outfitting underwater cases for cameras. The reason isn’t so much as lack of demand, but warranty. It is very hard to put a warranty tag on a decent acrylic housing that can be submersed at depths of 100+ ft. Not that it would flood. But the risks may be bad for business.

Nonetheless, bringing down a camera to the underwater depths has its rewards. I for one have been diving for more than 2 years, shooting amateur UW video for a little more than a year, and indulging myself in underwater photography for a little over six months.
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Father’s Day + Nintendo + Legend of Zelda for 3DS + Robin Williams

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at June 18th, 2011

This odd combination actually works. Happy Father’s Day =)

My Dive Gear

Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at June 16th, 2011

So Lilliane started this so I decided to follow with my own list of dive gear. I’ve divided the list into skin diving gear, SCUBA gear and underwater camera gear.

Skin Diving Gear

Black SCUBAPRO Spectra Mask

The current mask I’m using now. I like the black skirts instead of transparent ones because it gives less distractions when taking photos. This mask was a gift to me by Chie!
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