Technews
Are you connectaholic?
By GLENN RICHMOND ONG
o you remember the good ol’
D L
days when social network-
ing sites were limited, mo-
bile phones were only for
sending SMS and calling,
e-mails were not much of
importance, and wireless landline phones
were non-existent? I know I do. And to be
honest, I miss the simplicity of a life with-
out them.
I was recently hospitalized due to den-
gue fever, and what I only had with me was
my mobile phone. I had moments when I
would surf the Internet (thanks to the free
Wi-Fi), but I also had times when I would
pause to ask myself if I am a “connecta-
holic.” By that, I meant being addicted to
having a connection 24/7 in whatever way
– may it be via computer, by landline or
through the use of a mobile phone.
Our bodies easily become dependent
on the likes of coffee, soda, sweets, alcohol,
cigarette, drugs, etc.; however, it does not
mean someone is addicted to them even
if these things are often available and be-
ing used frequently (think toothpaste, for
instance).
So how, then, can we know whether or
not we have become a slave of technology,
social media, and being connected?
Are you addicted to being plugged in?
In other words, are you afraid of losing
Internet connection or else you would feel
that something is missing?
Some people I know have two to three
Internet subscriptions at home, so as to
have a backup when the primary one fails.
While on-the-go, they also have several
networks of SIM broadband to make sure
connection is ready whenever and wher-
ever they need to plug it to their netbook
or tablet. Not satisfied with that, they still
subscribe to unlimited data plan on their
mobile phones, so they can tweet, update
status, access email, and surf all day long.
Debates on whether broadband cap-
ping should or should not be implemented
are all around these days. But how can
you forget those times when dial up was a
norm? Dial up connections were either in
prepaid or postpaid that time, and every-
Cool design meets
high-tech simplicity
with Acer Liquid E
In delivering a best-in-class browsing and
multimedia experience, the Android-based
Acer Liquid E manages the professional and
personal – and performs as well as it looks
smartphone’s good looks
A
aren’t enough to impress ur-
ban professionals who have
work to do. Sure, the visual
impact of taking a sleek,
sexy smartphone out of your
pocket is nice – but it’s also short-lived.
In the rush of business and communi-
cation, greater demands are made, such
as needing your phone to attach files to
an urgent E-mail, having the ability to
navigate smoothly through menus and
apps, or relying on long battery life to last
the city-paced nine-to-five grind. There
are also performance demands that re-
quire smartphones to be authentically
“smart”: a powerful processor, a flexible
OS, high-definition multimedia playback,
and a browsing experience that’s efficient
and intuitive.
It is in response to these demands that
Acer recently launched the Acer Liquid
E smartphone, a good-looking and hard-
working multipurpose mobile device de-
signed for managing one’s professional
and personal life. Its ultra-fluid 3.5-inch
capacitive touch screen is a visual stun-
ner, but what sets the Liquid E in a class
of its own is its impressive set of perfor-
mance and connectivity features.
The Acer Liquid E is powered by the
Android 2.1 Éclair platform, which en-
riches the mobile user experience with
features like enhanced contacts manage-
ment, voice-activated functions, quick
synchronization options (for bookmarks,
files, contacts, and calendar), three pre-
dictive keyboard options for faster touch
screen typing, and ready access to over
EVERY MONDAY • 31 January 2011
one cared about just having a connection
even if it was slow. Now, we are no longer
satisfied with the speed of our connections
– we want it faster and without any limits.
Why are we obsessed with being con-
nected 24 hours a day?
It is the whole scene of having friend-
ships, followers, and connections that
make us feel loved and important. We feel
complete and secured when we know we
have something to look into if we have
sudden questions and thoughts in mind.
There is an adrenalin buzz on the knowl-
edge that comes from being plugged in all
the time.
Determining if you are
a Connectaholic
Becoming too poised on being plugged
in to the point that you are no longer fo-
cused on the situations around you is a
flag for being connectaholic.
When you seem to like online activi-
ties more than your actual work in the of-
fice, you are not giving your employer the
worth of hiring you as a resource. When
you think that talking on the phone, tex-
ting, and chatting is better than personal
50,000 apps on the Android
Market.
The phone’s battery affords
up to five hours of talk time
and up to 400 hours in standby
mode, while the pre-installed
DataViz Roadsync supports
push mail via MS Exchange
and file management via Docu-
ments To Go, a productivity
tool for opening E-mail attach-
ments and creating or viewing
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
documents. The Liquid E, in
short, means business, and it
inspires in professionals the
kind of confidence needed to perform
at peak levels.
This smartphone also delivers the
kind of browsing and multimedia expe-
rience that is best described as best-in-
class. The Acer Liquid E comes with in-
tegrated Wi-Fi b/g and HSDPA 7.2Mbps
connectivity features as well as a Web
browser that supports HTML5, fueling an
online experience that’s accessible pretty
much anywhere.
E-mails, instant messaging, universal
searches, social media networks like Fa-
cebook and Twitter, news sites and blogs:
stay right on top of all of these with the
unique mobile freedom that the phone
provides.
YouTube videos, music, and stream-
ing multimedia content also come to high-
definition life on the Liquid E – perfect for
a quick escape from stressful working
environments and into a world of choice
entertainment and socializing.
D3
meet-ups, then it is time to rethink of your
technologically-addictive behavior.
Freelance writer Deborah S. Hildeb-
rand lists down the following factors that
tell if one is a connectaholic or not:
• You don’t (or can’t) stop texting,
talking, tweeting or posting while you eat,
bathe, drive or during other day-to-day life
activities
• You are only happy when you are
talking, texting, tweeting or posting
• You allow being plugged in to take
precedence over all other activities in-
cluding sleeping
• You become upset when anyone
suggests you cut back on talking, texting,
tweeting or posting
• You regularly show up late to ap-
pointments or your job due to talking, tex-
ting, tweeting or posting
Sounds familiar? You are most likely
a connectaholic or on your way to becom-
ing one. Always remember that as with
anything in excess, the line of enjoyment
and dependency is thin. So slow down on
online activities and enjoy life without too
much dependence on technology.
Thanks to a Qualcomm Snapdragon
chipset and its embedded 3D graphics ac-
celerator, navigation through the Liquid
E’s gorgeous user interface and five-page
home screen is smooth and fluid. Apps
open in an instant, multitasking becomes
effortless, and 3D games look as though
they are about to come bursting out of the
phone’s immersive LCD screen. Even
the widgets look sexy, complementing
the Liquid E’s gallery of live wallpapers
and elegant icon animations.
In packing these performance features
and technological innovations within a
clean, compact exterior, the Acer Liquid E
is one of the world’s most deceptive – and
sophisticated – smartphones. It is drawn
with lines of beauty that are expected out
of every smartphone; more importantly,
the Acer Liquid E is designed to perform
as well as it looks – and to work as hard as
today’s urban professionals do.
By Allan D. Francisco
It's getting dark in here
ast week's bombing of a bus in the
country's central business district has
abruptly and mercilessly shattered our
make believe that we were living in a
safe world. In the age of globalization,
terror knows no borders. What happens
in the farthest and darkest corners of the globe will
always ultimately find its way to almost anywhere
else on the planet.
The savage act's perpetrators are both lacking
in heart and soul, definitely. They neither had any
originality, nor the courage to die with their victims
like those suicide bombers we have been hearing
and reading about do.
But let us not allow this savagery and lack of
humanity to deprive us of our dignity as humans.
We must remain unbowed. We must never cease as-
serting our right to live a normal life, unencumbered
with fear and frightful uncertainty. We owe it to our
forefathers who withstood much worse and much
more despicable acts during our wars for liberty
from Hispanic, American, and Japanese occupiers.
You think last week's bombing was bad? Imagine
how hard it must have been for our grandfathers and
grandmothers when the whole of Manila was burned
down after the battle between American and Japa-
nese forces over the so-called Pearl of the Orient.
Maiming, killing, raping, and pillaging were done on
a wholesale basis.
So today we mourn our losses. We commiserate
with those who lost their loved ones. We join hands
with those who were injured. We gather around, we
stand as one with their families and friends. We also
remember those who fell in similar fashion from
similar dastardly acts.
But we shall never give in to fear. The best way
we can fight back – push back the darkness that
threatens to engulf us – is continuing living our nor-
mal everyday lives.
Samsung's Newest, Budget-Friendly
Samsung recently unveiled four derivatives of its
bestselling smartphone, the Galaxy S.
Aimed at customers looking for smart but pocket-
friendly mobile phones, the Ace, Fit, Gio, and mini
Galaxy smartphones are being launched in China,
Russia, and other markets outside the United States.
Each of these phones comes with features and
design elements that would remind consumers of the
genetically superior Galaxy S.
Clearly, Samsung is going after Nokia's crown –
world domination of the mobile devices market. The
company will show off these phones at the Mobile
World Congress in Barcelona from February 14 to 17.
LG's Quarter Lacks Fun
Lower prices for flat screen TVs and tight compe-
tition from the iPhone and other smartphones for its
mobile phone business brought LG Electronics one
rather unpleasant quarter. The Korean electronics
giant suffered $229.4 million in the quarter ending
December 31, its first quarterly loss in almost two
years of continuous healthy bottom line.
However, LG Electronics, currently the world's
second-largest flat screen TV manufacturer and
third-biggest in mobile phones, should find some
consolation from the fact that its fourth-quarter
bleeding was not as bad as analysts predicted it
would be.
That's all for the meantime, folks. Join me again
next time as we keep on watching IT.
JVC's RD-R1 and RD-R2
boomboxes bring the studio
to the streets
JVC has released its new RD-R1 and RD-
R2 compact boomboxes that weigh a scant
450 grams. The devices come equipped with
dual omni-directional mics and a microSD
slot (with an included 2GB card) to record
your rhymes at bitrates up to 192Kbps. Both
models also have five-second countdown and
clapper-style start functionality. Additionally,
the RD-R2 adds a metronome feature and a
6.3mm mono jack for those who want to add
an electric guitar to the mix.