MAKATI City, Philippines -- Local non-government organizations (NGOs) that want to learn and use Microsoft technology can now access an online resource designed for them, a local executive told INQUIRER.net.

The global website, dubbed NGO Connection, was launched in the United States several weeks ago to help NGOs find more information on how they can get "software grants" from the company, said Mae Rivera-Moreno, PR and community affairs manager of Microsoft Philippines during its third Microsoft NGO Day.

Microsoft Philippines has been holding NGO Day, in collaboration with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), for three years as part of its Unlimited Potential (UP) initiative, Rivera-Moreno said.

The APECⁱ Digital Opportunity Center (ADOCⁱ) project is proud to open three new ADOC Centers in cooperation with local partners AISPPA and Yachay Wasi in Arequipa and Lambayeque in Chicolayo on May 29th, 2008. These ADOC Centers aim to provide training on information and communication technology (ICT) for women and children, and small and medium enterprises (SMEsⁱ) that have encountered difficulty in gaining access to computers and are eager to gain knowledge of e-Commerce. These ADOC centers seek to empower them to take full advantage of the digital opportunities afforded by ICT and the Internetⁱ.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APECⁱ) Digital Opportunity Center (ADOCⁱ) is opening two e-Learning Centers in Temuco Province on May 27th, 2008. These centers are the fruits of the cooperative effort between the Municipalities of Temuco and Padres Las Casas, Chile and the ADOC Secretariat of Chinese Taipei.

In 2006, ADOC established its Partner Office and Digital Opportunity Center at the Chilean Association of Information Technologies (ACTI) and Federation of Chilean Industry (SOFOFA) and the Tele-Centers in the Municipalities of Valparaiso and Peñalolen. Based on this successful experience, ADOC opened an e-Commerce Center the following year in Servicio de Cooperación Téchica (SERCOTEC). The new e-Learning Centers in 2008 will be ADOC's fifth and sixth centers in Chile.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APECⁱ) Digital Opportunity Center (ADOCⁱ) is opening two e-Learning Centers in Jakarta Province on May 22nd and 23rd 2008. These centers are the fruits of the cooperative effort between the Indonesia's Indonesia Information Technology Federation (FTII) and the ADOC Secretariat of Chinese Taipei.

In 2006, ADOC established its Partner Office and Digital Opportunity Center at the Indonesia's Indonesia Information Technology Federation (FTII) and the Tele-Centers in the Bandung City and Yogyakarta Province. Based on this successful experience, ADOC opened an e-Commerce Center the following year in SPC Building. The new e-Learning Centers in 2008 will be ADOC's fifth and sixth centers in Indonesia.

The hoopla surrounding the demise of Windows XP is interesting, or should I say Microsoft's business tactics to terminate XP and boost sales of Vista are interesting.
As far as I know, the move from XP to Vista is the first time that consumers have banded together to petition Microsoft to retain a superseded version of Windows.
The versions of Windows sold in the past had many flaws, and users were quite happy to move on to newer versions. I remember well the Blue Screen of Death that popped up when you least expected it.
After all the trials and errors, we finally ended up with Windows XP, a relatively stable OS. Many applications were developed to run under XP, and as the petition indicates, end-users are quite content with it.
However, if consumers are happy to remain with XP, Microsoft would have trouble selling Vista. Hence the normal process of stopping sales of XP with new systems, and winding down free technical support for it.

Samsung Electronics last week rolled out 26 printing devices and solutions at a regional conference here attended by some 125 dealers, including six from Thailand. The company also sent a strong signal that it was going after corporate business customers by offering customised print solutions rather than just hardware.
The company aims to more than double its revenue to become a 'top two brand in the regional laser printer market,' according to Samsung Asia's President and CEO Sang-Jin Park, who added that the company would enhance its partner network and extend its presence into non-traditional areas.
The approach will be to offer hardware combined with software solutions and Samsung says it recognises a need to strengthen its relationships with corporate resellers.

Officers from the Ecotec division of the Royal Thai Police recently carried out raids at IT malls across the capital, as part of the continued fight against counterfeit and unlicensed software in Thailand.
Although piracy is typically associated with the selling of counterfeit products such as copied CDs or DVDs, it is now also alarmingly common for hardware to be pre-installed with unlicensed software before it is sold to an end-user, according to police.
Common malpractices among vendors included hard-disk loading or the reproduction of unauthorised programs on computers that were then often falsely advertised as fully licenced, encouraging customers to unwittingly purchase illegal goods, putting themselves or their businesses at risk, the police spokesman told Database.

Company eyes growth, offering more do-it-yourself facilities through ATMs .
Soon, people updating their financial affairs will be able to experience more self-service applications following the launch last month of the NCR SelfServ family of products in the Southeast Asian market.
NCR SelfServ is the latest automated teller machine (ATM) family that comes with multiple functions, allowing machine owners to provide a greater range of services beyond the traditional ATM. It allows customers to access more services without service agents.
NCR Corporation financial industry marketing vice president Brian Bailey said the global trend is that people prefer self-services rather than to make use of service agents.
The company has responded to this trend by developing and launching a new generation machine that not only caters to regular ATM transactions, but also provides many applications across industries.

Have you ever felt uncomfortable every time you go to a car showroom and find the persistent salesman shadowing your every move?
Soon, you will feel more at ease as you can spend time on your own looking at cars through a new virtual showroom.
Senior Com, a local software company, has developed a virtual showroom system called Silverlight Car Config to allow people to search for car models, colours and accessories and assemble the choices into a model vehicle with price suggestions on the computer screen.
The company's chief executive Somkiat Ungaree said the system was developed using Microsoft's Silverlight technology and can link directly with the car showroom's database, so customers can check if the parts they are selecting are available.

Alliance will give loans for IT purchases to small-, medium-sized businesses.
In a bid to help the local software industry gain a bigger share of the domestic market, the Association of Thai Software Industry (ATSI) plans to collaborate with other government organisations to roll out the 'ERPⁱ Fund' for the small and medium enterprises (SMEsⁱ) across industry sectors.
The other government organisations include the SMEⁱ Bank and the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP). They will establish the fund to provide long-term loans at low interest rates to SMEs across industries.
Vice president of ATSI Anuntachote Chaovanayotin said that under the plan, the association will work with the SME Bank and OSMEP to set up a fund to help SMEs invest in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from Thai software developers.