Sharp Plasmacluster Ion air purifier for cars

I love a room that is not only clean but also smells good. I easily catch colds, you see, so I'm quite fastidious when it comes to this. We all want to have healthy air to breathe, but city-living does not exactly give us that.

Like when was the last time you braved turning off your car aircon and rolling down the window as you drive down the highway? I almost never do that, unless the aircon conked out. But even inside a closed air-conditioned car the air quality I'm sure is not pure. Dust from our shoes and stuff collect on the floor, mats, dashboard and seats. There's lint that we can see and not see. I imagine there are other organisms that co-exist with me inside my car, but even a clean-nut like me won't know how to get rid of them.

Then one day, I was happy to receive a give-away present from Sharp Philippines. It was an air purifier the size of a tall coffee jug that is specially designed for cars and made to fit in a car's cupholder. It was a new product that I'm thankful to have because it promises to remove viruses, bacteria, allergens, molds and bad odors in the car!

The Sharp Plasmacluster Ion Generator releases high-density plasmacluster ions that follow the car's interior airflow. The ions disinfect and purify the air as they are released at a 20-degree angle upwards and are carried along the ceiling of the car to every part of the interior.

It uses the car's power source. Just plug it, turn it on and it'll do the air purifying quietly. The plasmacluster ion generating unit mounted in this product must be replaced periodically. What is periodically? Sharp says after every 17,500 hours which is roughly equivalent to 6 years when operated 8 hours a day. Cool, huh? I'm definitely using this product, but not until I've swept my car clean first. You know, just to give this little workhorse some help. Is that silly? Well, only if you're the type who sprays perfume without taking a shower. Haha!

HP Scitex large-format printers -- huge in possibilities

They cost a fortune but the printing possibilities they offer are endless. I'm talking about the HP Scitex and Designjet large-format printers that could change everything you thought you knew about printers.

A local company, 11 FTC Enterprises, Inc., has several of these mammoth printers from HP that can directly print on wood, doors, tiles and other flat surfaces; lighted signs; tarpaulin streamers and billboards; cars, trucks and even on the body of the LRT/MRT trains; stores and retail booths signages; fabric and plastic...the list could go on and on.

A visit at 11 FTC's plant in Novaliches, Q.C. gave me a preview of the services they offer using the HP large-format printers which are quite awesome, especially for many of us whose concept of printers and printing are somewhat limited to laserjets or inkjets that churn out prints in A4, legal-size paper. The first photo below shows the new HP Scitex FB7500 at 11 FTC's facilities, and under it is a file photo of how the machine actually looks. The FB7500 (FB means flatbed) is a UV flatbed printer designed for industrial printing of high-quality exhibition graphics, backlit displays and posters, and many others.



A service bureau that works with 11 FTC called AGG Advertising Supplies can actually wrap your entire vehicle with customized designs stickers printed on HP Designjet LS25500 for about P8,000 minimum. HP uses its own Latex inks for jobs like this. HP Latex Inks produce prints that are eco-friendly as they are odorless, non-flammable, water-based and contain no hazardous air pollutants. Photos of their sample works below.



I'm familiar with the term "latex" but only because there was a huge paint job in our house recently and we had to buy large pails of latex paint. How I wish instead of those material we had this:



The above photos (poor quality courtesy of my old camera) show a wall of printed tiles (first pic) while the other one is covered by wall paper (second pic). Instead of using smelly ordinary latex paints that produce flat colors, HP large-format printers produced these sceneries to cover what otherwise would be plain walls. Now, isn't this something you'd want to have in your own home, room or place of work?

LG Optimus

LG Optimus, the latest smartphone offering from LG Electronics will be in stores starting next week. It's really raining smartphones lately with almost all leading consumer electronics makers having their own offerings that give us consumers a much wider selection to choose from.

The LG Optimus is LG's first Android device featuring a full 3-inch HVGA touchscreen, a 3 megapixel camera, advanced media player that supports DivX and Xvid video formats, a social networking application manager, cool games and a lot of other cool apps from the Android Market.

For P12,900, the LG Optimus can well claim to be the most affordable Android-powered smartphone for the entry- and mid-level market where many users are wanting to try and own their first Android smartphone without having to rob a bank.

To further increase LG Optimus' mass appeal, LG also tapped Korean celebrity Lee Min Ho of "Boys Over Flower" fame to endorse the GT540, which is the robot name of this product. Speaking of robot, I thought Transformers' Optimus Prime would also make a good ambassador for this phone, but that's just me who happens to have a 7-year old nephew who worships Optimus Prime.

Anyway, the LG Optimus is available in black, silver, pink and white colors so, take your pick.

Samsung N150 Plus in Corby Yellow

The pink was nice, but I love the yellow more. Thus, I had my Samsung N150 Plus Corby Pink changed to Corby Yellow which is a happier color.

The Samsung N150 Plus Corby Yellow is small enough that I can use this yellow Ikea kiddie stool for a desk where it appears like the chair's back rest!

What I really love about it though is its long-lasting-eleven-hours of unplugged use when its battery has been fully charged. I also find it easy to type on this one unlike on other netbooks I used before. And I love the 250GB room for saving files and its LED screen. The smudge-free yellow cover is also a major plus for me. :)

What's in the box?

This box can fit a 10-inch pizza. But it's not for pizza. What's inside is better than pizza :)



This box is the tiny packaging for the latest Samsung N150 Plus netbook.



The Samsung N150 Plus netbook has a 10.1-inch anti-reflective LED display with a scratch resistant lid casing. It's an energy-efficient display that contributes to longer battery life for the unit. This model boasts of 11 hours of battery, which is a LOT. The Samsung N150 Plus runs on Intel Atom N450 processor and Windows 7 Starter, with a 250 GB hard disk space and 1 GB memory, plus an Intel integrated graphic processor. It also features a webcam and a slew of I/O (input/output) ports and connectivity options to serve mobile users better.

The Samsung N150 Plus will be available for P21,900 and it comes in black, red, pink, and yellow. This one here is the Corby Pink model. Ain't it cute? It looks like Hello Kitty's netbook. My cat thinks so, too. :)

Xperia Mini Pro

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro today makes it local debut in stores nationwide. The world's smallest Android-based smartphone, the Xperia Mini Pro features a full QWERTY keyboard although the actual unit is just the size of a regular credit card.

Except for the slider keypad, the Xperia Mini Pro offers the same features as the X10 Mini such as a 2.55-inch scratch resistant TFT touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera for taking stills and videos, Wifi support, and embedded popular Web and social networking apps like Facebook and Twitter, complemented by Sony Ericsson's own apps -- Timescape and Mediascape that help organize content stored in the phone.

The Xperia X10 Mini (s.r.p P16,000) is available in black, pearl, white, lime and silver colors while the X10 mini Pro (s.r.p. P17,500) comes in red and black only.

There are other better deals to be had if you visit the Sony Ericsson
Expo 2010 that runs till Sunday at the Megatrade Hall 1 in SM Megamall Bldg. B. There Sony Ericsson is showcasing its collection of other smartphones and handsets that include the flagship Xperia X10, the HD video phones Sony Ericsson Vivaz and Vivaz pro, and the new Sony Ericsson Spiro and Zylo Walkman phones.














But let's go back to the X10 Mini Pro which is currently in my drool-worthy list of gadgets...Sony Ericsson even partnered with the clothes shop Oxygen for a little black shirt specially made for the X10 Mini and Mini Pro. The little black shirt comes free when you purchase either the X10 Mini or the X10 Mini Pro. The phone in the photo that's peeking out from an Oxygen shirt's mini pocket is not a Mini Pro though, but my Sony Ericsson C510 (a.k.a. the Sarah G. phone ;p)

The Oxygen mini tee has a tiny breast pocket sewn a bit sideways so one can easily keep in and retrieve from there an X10 Mini or a Mini Pro. This reminded me of the Levis PDA pants which had a secret PDA pocket near the side of the leg to hold what was then the hottest device.

It was a good expo, a first for Sony Ericsson, and I'm glad I dropped by. Not only did I see the company's new phones, I also overheard a queer comment by someone who qualifies as a germphobe who declared that she wouldn't buy a slider like the X10 Mini Pro because sliders trap moisture that cause germ build-up. Usually people say they shy away from sliders because of the moving parts that could eventually break down and cause problems. But Ms. Germphobe obviously has health issues in mind. :)

Samsung Galaxy S

There was a time when I could truly say that I know what's the latest in mobile phones, and I mean really the latest. But when the market got too hyped and crowded, my interest in this ubiquitous gadget went on auto-pilot -- meaning I tuned out and would only glance with curbed enthusiasm at models that seem okay although not necessarily premium.

Last week, I came across something that's more than okay and is definitely a premium. Samsung launched in Singapore its Galaxy S Android smartphone which once again stirred my enthusiasm in mobile phones. The Galaxy S is truly a gorgeous, apps-rich device that elevates the term smartphone to a new level.

Look at it -- it got a four-inch AMOLED screen that's really bright without hurting the eyes. It runs on a 1GHz processor, uses the TouchWiz 3.0 user interface, has HD video capability, and a galaxy of applications from both Google and Samsung. I particularly love the e-reader app called Aldiko. Thanks to the Galaxy S' superb screen, e-book is something I can now really consider reading on a phone!

Samsung executives, in a meeting with Asia Pacific journalists, said the Galaxy S embraces Google's Android platform because they believe it's the only one that can compete well against a company whose name starts with the first letter of the alphabet. Hmmm, no need to Google that.

The Galaxy S runs on the Android 2.1 OS, but we were told Samsung is already doing their codes for Android 2.2 for scheduled launch in two months. Upgrade will be offered free, they added. As for the unit price, the Samsung Galaxy S will cost about P32,000 under Globe Telecom plan. So, will you shell out that much cash to have the Galaxy in your hands?

Well, from this photo I took and created, it seems like even Mr. Monopoly Man would trade something for a Galaxy S. :)