racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

June is nearing and it’s the season for Hollywood blockbuster movies. With family-friendly films slated for theatrical release this coming June — Cars 2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, X-Men First Class, Captain America, Green Lantern and Hangover II, who wouldn’t want to spend the tail-end of summer relaxing and watching a movie?

(OK, forget the Hangover as “family friendly,” but if your family is mature enough then go ahead.)

That’s why this blog, in cooperation with Globe My Super Circle and Sumo Sam, is running a photo contest that will showcase family connectedness using today’s high-tech (or even low-tech) tools.

The mechanics are simple:

• Take a wacky, funny, interesting or artsy photo of how you and your family members stay in touch.
• You can submit your entry through any of the following: (1) Post your photo on your blog or photo-sharing account, and link to this post, (2) Tweet a link to your Photo and mention @jangelo; or (3) Share your photo on Facebook, include a link to this post, and tag my account – J Angelo Racoma
• Photos may not be edited/Photoshopped except to improve the contrast/levels and to resize.
• To ensure I don’t miss your entries, send me an email at jangelo (at) gmail (dot) com with a link. If the photo is accessible from a photo-sharing site, do write a comment on this post with a link.
• Submission of entries will run from today, May 31, until 11:59 PM of Friday, June 10, 2010. I’ll be updating this post to include official entries.

I will then choose a list of 10 finalists, from which I will raffle off the entries using a randomizing application. Winner will be announced this Independence Day, June 12.

Note: I’ve extended the contest up to June 17, and I’ll announce winners by June 19, due to reader requests.

So get your camera out and take shots of your siblings, spouse, friends, relatives, pets, yourself, and whoever you hold dear. Prizes at stake are tickets for 8 people at Shangri-La Cineplex and a PhP 5,000 dinner at Sumo Sam.

This contest assumes the winner can claim and use the prize (i.e., located or living in the Philippines), but if your entry wins and you can’t physically claim/use it, then you can assign it to someone who can.

In the wake of the iPad 2 announcement earlier this month, people are probably wondering whether Apple would lower the price of the original iPad. Seems like they did.

I’ve always admired Sony Ericsson mobile phones for their design. Sony is, after all, known for its excellent styling and features. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 smartphone subscribes to this ideal, with more of a Zen type styling that Sony Ericsson’s newer smartphones are known for.

The X8 is actually my first try at an Android phone (coming from an iPhone and a Symbian S60 phone) and I must admit there was a bit of adjustment, although the learning curve is not that steep. Sony Ericsson loaned me a review unit sometime back, and I spent a few weeks (months, actually) playing around with the phone. Android is highly customizable, although it will take a bit of getting used to if you’ve been using other smartphones previously.

What’s in the box

The Sony Ericsson X8 is a midrange mobile phone that runs on the now-popular Android operating system. It sports a scratch-resistant 3-inch capacitive touchscreen at 320×480 resolution. The phone is powered by a 600 MHz ARM processor, and has 128 MB internal storage, 168 MB RAM, and is bundled with a 2 GB microSD card. The box also comes with a user guide.

Sony Ericsson is known for its quality design and built. Last year’s Xperia X10 and X8 were formidable Android smartphones, and this year, Sony Ericsson is introducing the Xperia arc at CES 2011.

Apple will launch the iPad officially this December 17th. Until then, I don’t think you should purchase iPads locally from third-party sellers, as you might be surprised how low the official price will be, compared to the grey market. The entry level iPad starts at PhP 23,999 for the 16 GB WiFi (no 3G) model.

WiFi only models

• 16 GB: PhP 23,990
• 32 GB: PhP 28,990
• 64 GB: PhP 33,990

WiFi + 3G models

• 16 GB: PhP 30,990
• 32 GB: PhP 32,990
• 64 GB: PhP 40,990

From what I’ve read, it also seems the Ateneo Apple store will be selling iPads at discounted price to students, staff and alumni, so expect a discount of about 5 to 10 percent or so.

Update: Yugatech posts Ateneo iPad prices:

MB292 iPad WiFi 16GB – Php23,000 (SRP: Php23,990)
MB293 iPad WiFi 32GB – Php27,500 (SRP: Php28,990)
MB293 iPad WiFi 32GB – Php32,000 (SRP: Php33,990)

MC349 iPad WiFi+3G 16GB – Php29,800 (SRP: Php30,990)
MC496 iPad WiFi+3G 32GB – Php33,800 (SRP: Php35,990)
MC497 iPad WiFi+3G 64GB – Php38,500 (SRP: Php40,990)

[via techpinas | Photo credit: Ryan Anson/AFP]