Jay Lagare

General

PLDT DigiTel Purchase

By on Friday, October 28, 2011

After long months, the purchase of DigiTel by PLDT was finally approved by the National Telecommunications Council (NTC). Of course there still are opposers particularly a congressman who cited Section 15 of Digitel’s franchise (Republic Act No. 7678), granted in 1994, which says that Digitel:

“…shall not lease, transfer, grant the usufruct of, sell nor assign this franchise or the rights and privileges acquired thereunder to any person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity, nor merge with any other corporation or entity without the prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines.”

Okay, that’s fine since PLDT is buying DigiTel and not its franchise directly. But then it goes on:

“Neither shall the controlling interest of the grantee be transferred, whether as a whole or in parts and whether simultaneously or contemporaneously, to any such person, firm, company, corporation or entity without the prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines.”

This is interesting since it effectively means it is illegal to buy even a single part or share of DigiTel without prior approval from congress. So if you bought a share of DGTL you’re a lawbreaker. Nice.

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General

iCloud and DropBox

By on Monday, October 24, 2011

When iCloud came out, there were some comparisons between it and DropBox. In a way, both are similar. Both are cloud storage services for users. In contrast to cloud storage services for developers, developers no longer have to provide their own cloud storage. Users provide their own storage. If users needs more, they buy it.

iCloud right from the start is a framework for allowing developers to store their apps’ data on users’ iCloud storage. For now it’s Apple who has those apps, but any app developer should be able to use iCloud.

DropBox now they has an API allowing developers to store their apps’ data on users’ DropBox storage. But they, started out as cloud storage for non-cloud apps. You store files such as Word and Excel files online and you can access it in any of your devices. They’ve been pretty successful with this feature.

So currently, DropBox offers more. But an enterprising developer, maybe even Apple, could easily develop an app cloning DropBox’s cloud storage for non-cloud apps feature using the iCloud as framework.

Is there a threat to DropBox? Definitely. As cloud storage becomes more important, there will be a consolidation and/or standardization as applications support just one or two services. And a huge user base plays a critical role here. If they can’t rapidly increase their user base, they need to partner with someone who has one.

iCloud of course has an instant huge user base thanks to the iTunes store. But DropBox has already famously declined Apple. The other huge user bases I can think of are Google, Amazon, and Facebook.  Google and Amazon are currently executing their own cloud strategies with Google rumored to be coming out with cloud storage for users (probably a repackaging of Google Docs) soon. Facebook?

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General

Andy and Khae’s Wedding

By on Thursday, October 20, 2011

Michelle, and I went to Clark to attend Andy and Khae’s wedding. We were planning to go there early but we ended up leaving late and then having to pick up my coat from James. We then proceeded to pick up Brianne who was riding along. As it was already time for breakfast, we grabbed a quick one before continuing.

We got to Clark around 10 so we proceeded to the salon for Michelle’s hair and makeup. It was almost 1 when Michelle was done. We then went to the hotel for the photo shoot with the bride. Meanwhile, Brianne and I had lunch.

After lunch, we went over to the church. As we were putting our coats on, I commented that the church better have air conditioning. And it did! And then the rain started, cooling things down even further. That was refreshing, literally.

After the wedding, we went to the reception. Everything went smoothly: from the entry, to the photo booth, program, to the buffet dinner, and then back to the program. Good planning and coordination. A local(?) reggae band called Chocolate Factory played during dinner. They’re pretty good, playing their reggae variations of oldies and new wave songs.

We left as soon as the program was done as it was still a long drive ahead. Still, it wasn’t so bad. NLEX was smooth sailing. After the usual slowdown through traffic at  EDSA near Cubao (I don’t like the circuitous way to C-5 from NLEX), it was smooth sailing again and in no time we were home.

Congratulations Andy and Khae!

 

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General

WTF: Batangas Sign On Taal

By on Thursday, October 20, 2011

It seems the provincial government of Batangas has approved putting up a huge sign a la Hollywood on Taal. Apparently they’re unhappy the scenic volcano being mistaken as part of Tagaytay (which is in the province of Cavite) since that’s where people usually go to view it. While at it they should tattoo “Batangas” on their foreheads so nobody will mistake them to be from anywhere else!

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General

Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich

By on Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Watched the YouTube live stream of the launching of the Samsung/Google Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich. The Galaxy Nexus has nice specs (1280×720 display!) though I’m not too hot on the form factor. I’ve never liked banana-shaped phones (Nokia 7110/8110 anyone?) nor humongous screens (which unfortunately is the trend). But Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) stole the limelight. Slick new UI, powerful new features (Face Unlock, Beam, folders, screenshots, etc.). Both the phone and ICS seem to have patent-issue avoidance in mind, e.g. the phone cannot be mistaken for any iDevice, the new folders don’t have the content-view of iOS.

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