The day I got lost with Nokia Maps

We were going around in circles, trying to find the restaurant I told her about. Thirty minutes had passed and frustration was starting to set in. She had exams the next day but obliged to let her friend of 13 years take her out for a post birthday treat. I noticed her constantly checking her watch, probably to make sure she has enough time for one last review session. To ease some of the tension I proceeded to give her gifts.

I handed her one piece at a time to open (conveniently, there was a can opener in the car at that time). First can had three FRESH roses. Second can was full of chocolates. And the last can was filled with a puzzle as she was fond with them. I could not forget her smile that evening. My grin was most likely from ear to ear to. At this point (we haven't found the restaurant), I started to talk about how we've been friends for such a long time, how close we were, my true feelings for her and how I wanted to make our relationship go deeper. She fell silent. After what felt like the longest 2 minutes of my life, she told me how she felt and that she was open to taking our relationship further.

The sigh of relief that escaped my mouth was so audible it caused her to laugh. After a few left turns and a right, we reached the restaurant. We had a nice Persian food dinner and generally caught up with each other's lives.


The thing is, I purposely got lost. The night before, I studied the area of the restaurant on Nokia Maps so I could go around in circles and pretend to be lost. I wanted to see how she'd react to the whole situation. What we got was raw, unscripted reactions that made the night certainly more memorable and I'm sure neither of us will forget. 

Nokia Amazing Hobbies

It's been a while since I've played my sport as there is no team in my current city mainly due to the fact that we don't have a heated pool here. Imagine playing in 15 degree Celsius water. YIKES.

Anyway, underwater hockey (UWH) is a fast paced non-contact sport (usually) where two teams of six a side try to push a 3 lb lead puck into each others goals. Just like ice hockey, we use sticks (although drastically shorter), a hockey puck (that is tons heavier) and team play is key to scoring goals and winning. Heavy armor padding is reduced to a diving mask, a snorkel, a silicone padded glove and skimpy swimsuit while ice skates are traded for fins. The most critical difference though is instead of playing ON frozen water, we play UNDER liquid water. :)

The funny thing is, you do not need know how to swim to play! Crazy right? Since game play happens underwater, "swimming" is just what you do when taking a breathe and moving on the surface of the water. Being humans, we need to breath to function, so game play consists of well timed diving, breathe holding and resurfacing all while trying to push the puck to the other end and playing the opposing team. Confused yet? Here's a two minute video clip that gives a quick overview of the sport. (credit to http://www.puhc.com.ph/)

Here's an EXTREME version of UWH, played in a 4.5 meter deep pool! Talk about lung busting! (credit to http://suhc.multiply.com)

And here's a short clip of me during a training session.

Hopefully I've piqued your interest in the sport of UWH. If not, at least introduced you to a unique sport and push you to try other non conventional sports too! :D

But before you go, here's silly photo of me in gear (out of water)! lol :)

Ticket to Nokia World 2011

I think I would be one of the few who will answer that I am most excited about the Next Billion afternoon session. Granted Nokia World is where Nokia will be releasing their latest phones, operating systems, announcing new partnerships and telling the world in what direction the company is taking in the future.  I definitely am excited about these too.  But I'd like to see the other side of Nokia as a company.  It would be nice to get to know what Nokia is doing with all the awesome technology they have to offer to impact our world for the better.

With the hopes of getting picked to go to Nokia World 2011, I have my passport in hand, ready to make a mad dash for the UK embassy as there are only less than 7 days to Nokia World 2011.  Good luck to everyone!

Ovi Maps was made with love

One of the projects of Nokia is the Ovi Maps. They have the standard 2D version and the newly released 3D version.

The three basic things I love about the Nokia Ovi Maps are:

• It's functionality
• Attention to detail
• Beauty (more for the 3D maps)

As for functionality, off the bat, the 2D map site is extremely user friendly. The homepage shows you the major features of the site, mainly:

• Adding a place to your favorites list
• Sharing your experiences
• Add a public place to Maps
• Use your current location
• Share places
• Chang your perspective

I love the fact that within the first 5 minutes of browsing the site, you immediately get to maximize it's functions. Once you log in your Ovi Account, navigating this baby is as easy as pie. What's great is that all these functions are available with a right mouse click (shown on the left). You don't have to mess with complex pages just to share a  location via a tweet or facebook status. If your favorite place is not on the map, adding it is a breeze. And once you've added found favorite place, you can share your thoughts and experiences about the place, rate it upto five stars and even upload photos. Of course the standard "getting directions" function is available which gives you basic directions and distance to destination. If you need help, the search bar is there with it's suggestions.

What separates the Ovi Maps from the rest of the maps is attention to detail. This is a screen cap of my home city, Baguio.

What you see here are the names and general locations of our Barangays, the Philippine's equivalent of a district. No other map has this data. Not even our local paper maps. So this is a big help not only in navigation but the general education of the community. I also noticed that on the national highways of the Philippines the map indicates the towns that you pass by. Again, a detail overlooked by other maps.

And lastly beauty.  If you think the world in photos is awesome, Ovi Maps 3D takes you up another notch.

Give your imagination a boost by exploring Ovi Maps 3D. Currently with 20 major cities in full 3D and the rest of the world in partial 3D. You can pan, zoom, rotate and change the angle of viewing of your favorite land marks. It gives you an opportunity to experience the world right in the comforts of your home. And if you're planning a trip, looking at the intricately rendered maps will just build up your excitement for it.

The only cons I see for now are:

• You would need a fairly powerful computer and a fast internet connection to efficiently use the maps
• Some features are not yet available (add public place) to all areas
• No search function for Ovi Maps 3D

Understandably, Nokia has to prioritize development in areas that have more end users.  Also 3D rendering is a programming nightmare so all we can do is wait for Nokia to catch up.  All though I must say that with the current features in place, I cannot wait to see what we could do with the maps once they are complete.

**The Nokia Ovi Maps has a lot more features that have not been discussed in this blog post.  I will try my best to blog about each feature in detail. For the mean time, I encourage you to sign up for an Ovi Account and try out the Ovi Maps 2D and Ovi Maps 3D yourself.

Unleash the Chismosa in YOU!!!

One thing that everybody loves is gossip or chismis (though they might not openly admit it).

gos·sip [gos-uhp]

noun, verb, -siped or -sipped, -sip·ing or -sip·ping.

–noun

1.idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or privateaffairs of others.

2.light, familiar talk or writing.

3.Also, gos·sip·er, gos·sip·per. a person given to tattling or idletalk. (chismosa)

If you've always wanted to release you inner chismosa or take your being a chismosa to the next level, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 if THE perfect gadget for you!

Paano ka'mo?

Say you're in Bonifacio High Street, walking your toy dog, complaining to your yaya that it's so init. Then out of the corner of your eye, nakita mo si Kim Chui na may kaholding hands na lalake! *SNAP* May 5 megapixel photo evidence ka na!

DAWHO?! source

Success! So tuloy ang window shopping. Tingin dito, tingin doon. Kunwari di mo sinusundan si Kim Chui at ang Mysterious man na kasama niya. So you think to yourself "Aanhin ko ang picture, kung may video naman ako." You pretend to make kuha a video of the fountain in High Street while secretly taking the couple in the background.

In all your excitement, kailangan mong sabihan lahat ng iniisip mo. Tamang tama, you're not limited to 160 characters. Mahirap yatang gawing concise ang chismis. So compose ka naman agad sa full qwerty keyboard mo.

OMG!!! I'm at High Street. Guess WHAT?! I just saw Kim Chui holding hands with a guy na di ko kilala! Ang sweet nila ha. It's like they don't have pakialam to all the people here. But the guy is sobrang CUTE! Di ko sure kung showbiz siya. Pero mukha silang bagay na couple. Magtatagal kaya sila kung sila nga?

 But then, nag hesitate ka. Text alone wouldn't convey the nuances of your voice. Kailangan i-voice message! At eto ang kalabasan ng recorded sound clip mo:



And the best part, BlackBerry Messenger allows you to send all the above mentioned file types to your chikka group! Isang click lang, alam na ng buong grupo ang latest! And if someone wants to maki sali in your chismis group kasi you're so updated, you just have to scan their BBM barcode pin and VOILA! nasa contact list mo na siya. ANG SAYA! At isa pang the best diyan, kahit saan sa WORLD ang ka chikka mo, WALANG overseas charges ang BBM!  San ka pa? Pang International ang chikkahan!  Panalo talaga ang BBM!

BUT SERIOUSLY, this article just shows you how awesome BlackBerry phones and BBM are. Whatever purpose you have for your BlackBerry whether for family, work, friends, business, leisure or chismisan, the BlackBerry phone has got your back.

Check out BlackBerry Pilipinas for the latest BlackBerry news and Unbox.ph for the latest in tech, gadget, and all around fun stuff!

Ovi Nokia hits 300,000 fans on Facebook!

Congratulations to Ovi by Nokia as they reach 300,000 fans on their facebook page!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, they're giving away a Nokia N8 just by telling them which three Ovi apps you're going to download to bring your N8 on a holiday trip. More details here.

Here are my top three apps:
Camera Pro N8
This app plus combined with the N8's 12 MP sensor and Carl Zeiss optics will allow me to shoot dSLR quality photos.  Bring in to the equation the compact size of the N8 and you're presented with an opportunity to take shots no dSLR or standard camera can go.  And to round it off, the perfectly user friendly interface makes taking magnificent photos a breeze.

Eye.’ by Patricio Ramirez 

Molome

When in the mood for quick artsy and dramatic photos, this is the app to go with. Whether converting existing photos in your gallery or taking a spur of the moment snapshot, Molome takes your already perfect N8 photos to a whole different level. It takes out the guess work and insane costs out of using a standard lomo camera.

 From here.

Gravity
Finally, the point in all taking all these great photos is to share them! With gravity, you can now share photos over facebook and twitter with a click of a button. Keep friends up to date with not just plain text but with photos. It's only fair that you share the beauty that your N8 can capture.

Earthlingorgeous Soda Stream Giveaway!

Earthlingorgeous and Soda Stream are giving away a Soda Stream starter kit valued at a whopping P4,000.00!!!

Besides being able to create your own soda with funky flavors (milo soda anyone?) you help the environment too. Imagine all the plastic bottles you WOULDN'T have to use.  Fun, tasty AND environmentally friendly.  Win for everyone!

Check out her blog post here.

So here's what you have to do for a chance to win:

Option 1: Answer this question at the comment box below her post:

“What are your plans for your Soda Stream this summer?”

Option 2: Tweet this:

” I’m gonna have an absolutely cool summer with my homemade soda from Sodastream.  Thanks to Earthlingorgeous.com! #sodastream #earthlingorgeous ”

Option 3: Update your Facebook Status to this:

“I’m gonna have an absolutely cool summer with my homemade soda from Soda Stream.  Thanks to Earthlingorgeous!” 

(please make sure to like and tag Soda Stream and Earthlingorgeous Facebook pages for your entry to be valid!)

Option 4: Blog about this giveaway!

• Blog about this giveaway
• Make sure to link back to this post
• Post URL of your blog entry in the comment box

Answer, tweet, FB, or blog!  That’s it!

What are you waiting for join now!

This giveaway is open for 3 days only (starting today March 31, 2011 to April 2, 2011 12mn) so join now!  

IMPORTANT!
Because the items have  fragile contents (carbon and syrups) this contest is open for those who can claim their prize in person with me on April 3  at SM Megamall (2-5PM) or April 7 at SM Makati (5-7PM) .

DEADLINE IS TONIGHT SO GET YOUR ENTRIES IN! :D