My Ultimate Cyber-Experience in SM Cyberzone Summerfest

SM Cyberzone has always been my destination of choice when it comes to looking for the latest gadgets.

As an IT professional and blogger, I always keep myself updated on the latest gizmos and shopping around SM Cyberzone has already become a habit.

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SM Sta.Mesa Becomes a HotSpot w/ Free Wi-Fi

Similar to previous SM Wi-Fi launch events we had before, SM Sta Mesa mall joins the SM family of wi-fi enabled malls.

Rushing on the last day of the second month of the year, SM Sta Mesa, specifically the SM Sta Mesa Foodcourt, hosted a Wi-Fi Bloggers' Event from 1pm to 4pm where we tried to stress test their connection effeciency.

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SM Mall of Asia Sale

The Christmas season is really around the corner! You would observe shopping malls' sale left and right. It seems that they are getting rid of their old stocks to refurbish for the Christmas season.

On of which is the upcoming SM Mall of Asia sale on September 18 to 20 and extended to Sept 21. Up to 70% off with a chance to win any one of the (6) Devant 37" Deluxe Seires LCD TV for every P500 purchase.

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SM Manila Wi-Fi-ized

First was SM Marikina, SM The Block followed, and so on. Now, SM Manila joins the list of SM Malls to be connected online. Also included are The Podium, SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, Megamall Foodcourt, Southmall Las Pinas, Bacoor, and now SM Manila.

SM Manila today has its lower ground floor covered and the whole mall is expected to be fully connected by the end of September 2009.

In terms of speed connection, the result was average to good as per speedtest.net at almost 1MB speeds
And since this was held in the Foodcourt area, food from the SM Manila Foodcourt was also served. Participating sponsors are Lydia's Lechon, Chicken Company, Wok Yon, Kamay Kainan, Pinoy Toppings, Seafood Grill, Bodhi, Ilonggo Grill, and Tropical Hut. And of course, I got to try Sizzling Plate. Photo of their tenderloin steak serving shown below.
The tenderloin was good but the 'yellow' rice (I dare not call it Java rice) was dry and bland. It needs more improvement.

Overall, the Wi-fi testing and foodevent here at SM Manila Foodcourt was ok. Kudos to SM Malls and SM Manila's Free W-ifi connection!

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"Biggest Loser Asia" taps Fitness First for Live Auditions in the Philippines

Fitness First will host the upcoming launch of the Biggest Loser Asia which is coming to Asia for the first time. One of its objectives is to help change the lives of people around the world towards the positive direction.

Live screen test auditions for participants who want to be part of the show will be held in Fitness First gyms around Asia. In the Philippines, live screen test auditions will be held exclusively at Fitness First at SM Megamall on the 15th of August 2009 (Saturday) from 10am-4pm, the same day as the "Let's Go Surfing" event.

Debuting in the US in 2004 with NBC reality television, the Biggest Loser has become a worldwide hit viewed by millions, airing in over 90 countries and produced in 25 countries. This is the first reality show where obese contestants are challenged and encouraged under guided expert supervision to undergo strenuous physical and mental training in order to shed kilos. The contestant who loses the most weight not only wins a grand cash prize of USD 100, 000 but also gains a healthier and better quality life!
Biggest Loser Asia aims tol help change the lives of obese Filipinos who want to take up the challenge of shedding bad lifestyle habits and embracing healthier ones. The Biggest Loser Asia does not only look into the physical challenges of the contestants’ personal journeys but also their emotional and psychological trials and tribulations as they lose the kilos, inspiring and empowering others to do the same.

“We are extremely excited about being a part of The Biggest Loser weight loss reality TV show in Asia. This is a great opportunity for the Filipinos to show their dedication and commitment to staying fit and healthy” quips Fitness First Philippines’ Country Manager, Mark Ellis,

Anyone can apply online from June 22, to August 31, 2009 at www.biggestloserasia.com (click here) and/or turn up at the LIVE auditions and on screen test events at the four selected countries in Asia which are the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

LIVE auditions and screen tests in the Philippines will be held from 10:00am – 4:00pm at Fitness First at SM Megamall, Philippines on the 15th of August.

You may watch The Biggest Loser US version season 6 now on the Hallmark Channel, every Tuesday at 9pm (SIN, MAL, PH, HK), 8pm (TH, WIB).

To join the Biggest Loser Asia or for inquiries, please call 848-0000 or visit www.fitnessfirst.com.ph.

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SM Southmall Las Pinas Rides Wi-Fi Bandwagon

SM Southmall Las Pinas joins SM Supermalls' list of Wi-Fi enabled malls.

And I think they're learning after having wi-fi enabled almost 10 malls of SM as of present. Still supported by PhilCom Corporation ISP, today's bandwidth is very good based from the surfing experience and speedtest.net results:

It is also the writer's first time to be at SM Southmall, Las Pinas. The trip from Makati took about an hour. It's good that there was no traffic at this time.
The activity was initiated with a ribbon cutting for the launching of the Wifi service followed by a set of live band performance by Kenyo.
And finally, we dropped by Beraldi in the area for a cup of coffee and some pastry before we left for home. It took me two hours by bus from Alabang to Balintawak, Quezon City; whew!
SM has previously launched the same Wi-Fi services/technology at other SM malls including SM Megamall, SM Megamall Foodcourt, Podium, SM The Block, and SM North Edsa.

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Harry Potter 6 Broke New Philippine Cinema Record

Harry Potter 6 - the Half-Blood Prince, despite getting mixed reviews from fans and movie-goers, created a new Philippine cinema record.

Posting a grand P104.77-million four-day opening weekend (July 16-19) in 310 movie screens nationwide, Harry Potter 6 is now the all-time biggest four-day movie opening weekend in Philippine history (surpassing 2007’s “Transformers’ at P103.87-million) as announced yesterday by Warner Bros. Philippines general manager Francis Soliven.
It also broke the fastest time (four days) for a “Harry Potter” film to breach the P100-million milestone (outpacing 2007’s “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” which achieved the feat in five days).
The series is now the undisputed most successful franchise ever in local history, with an accumulated gross of a staggering P959-million (surpassing the “Spider-Man” franchise’s P910.32-million overall take).
SM Mall of Asia (including IMAX) led the box-office champion with a magical gross of P8.70-million. Close to its heels are SM North EDSA (including IMAX Digital) at P7.79-M, Trinoma (P5.68-M), SM Megamall (P4.11-M), Glorietta 4 (P3.86-M), Gateway (P3.67-M), Power Plant (P3.14-M), Eastwood (P2.98-M), Greenbelt 3 (P2.74-M) and Shangri-la (P2.54-M).
Completing the Top 20 cinemas are Alabang Town Center (P2.48-M), Robinsons Ermita (P2.33-M), Ayala Cebu (P2.09-M), SM Cebu (P2.08-M), Robinsons Galleria (P1.99-M), Festival (P1.91-M), SM San Lazaro (P1.79-M), Greenhills (P1.75-M), Market Market (P1.59-M) and SM Fairview (P1.57-M).

“...we know the best is yet to come with the final two `Harry’ movies in 2010 and 2011,” Soliven added.

Indeed the last two Harry Potter movies are expected to deliver much.

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Harry Potter and the Half-Baked Ending

If you are a Harry Potter fan and you didn't like my title, let's see how you'd react to my friend Spanky's "Harry Potter and the Half-Asleep Audience". :)

Nonetheless, I didn't fall asleep. I watched and listened so intently as not to skip an important word or phrase uttered by the characters in the story. I was then so thrilled to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince because I think the trailer was made of awesome compared to all the previous series'. It left in me the impression that it was action-packed and full of magic. See the trailer here.
This is aside from the fact that I am watching the movie in the San-Miguel IMAX Theater in SM MOA, a surprising first for me.

Two hours after the movie, I was still expecting a major showdown of magic of some sort. I told myself, ok, they have around half-an hour left to amaze me. :) And suddenly, just when I though it was about to come, the credits showed.
I asked my friend beside me if that was it and am I really seeing the credits! (that the movie was over)!

The others conclude that it was anti-climactic. True, but I guess these are all the reactions one would get from the non-book readers. We didn't know what will happen and we expected much.
The book readers, perhaps, were happy with the results and knew what is to come. The movie stayed true to the book and ended in such manner. Ron and Hermione took the back seat and was not involved in the story in any major aspect. I would like to believe that book 6 was meant to invest in the story and plot build-up for the last, book 7.

The movie's cinematography was outstanding, expectedly dark and 'Harry Potterish.' In IMAX, the first half-hour or so was in 3D Imax mode.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie is the sixth installment in the Harry Potter movie series from Warner Bros. Pictures. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint once again takes on the roles of Hogwarts students Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley.

The movie rendition of the seventh book will be divided into two parts with the first one to be shown on November of next year and the last one on July 2011.

I expect the first part of book seven to push us at the edge of our seats and leave us hanging again similar to what happened in this half-blood prince movie review.

See you again after 16 months for the next Harry Potter movie!

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SM Megamall Wi-Fi Service Redeems Itself

Just last July 5, SM Megamall invited us to beta test their new free Wi-Fi service for its launch and the connection occasionally failed during that 2-hr period of 3pm to 5pm.

They mentioned though that the roll-out of the technology was still only at 80%. We tested it then at the lobby area of Building A.

This time around, it was SM Foodcourt's turn to have us test the same service on the foodcourt area of SM Megamall a while ago.

They passed with flying colors with speeds reaching 1MB/second, and I didn't have to use my baon - Sun Broadband USB. The speed was up to par with my standard basic broadband needs which include sending email proposals with .pdf attachments, plurk, multiply, facebook, and monitoring of my blogs including LetsGoSago.net, Digital Manila, and the very new JumpSHotsPH.com.

However, we have to take into consideration that there were only about 20 concurrent beta-testers for this event; in contrast to that of the july 5 which involved more than thrice this number.

Hopefully, this rate of Wi-Fi speed would be consistent all through out other days and hours in SM Megamall, more specifically the SM Megamall Foodcourt area which was also celebrating its Filipino Food Festival in all SM foodcourts nationwide. :)

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SM Megamall Launches Wi-Fi Service Today

After the prior successful Wi-Fi service launches in other SM Malls in the past few months, SM Megamall follows suit with the rest of its Sy-owned mall family. The earlier ones include SM Marikina, SM The Block, The Podium, SM North Edsa, and SM Bacoor.

However, compared to all the other Wi-Fi service quality, SM Megamall's Wi-Fi service today was not upto par.

Philcom Corporation, SM Megamall's Wi-Fi- service provider, might be having some technical difficulties or the bandwidth simply can't handle the load of today's bloggers/beta testers.

This may also be partly due to the 80% rollout completion of the project.

Whatever it may be, sadly, it had to happen today.
It suffered a measly speed of 100kbps download speed according to measuring site Speedtest.net. Compared to household PLDT DSL999 connections which avergaes 1000kps, one would crawl with a YouTube upload or download.

Hopefully, it would improve as they get some realizations out of this user beta-test session; or after it is already 100% implemented. Nonetheless the common user can be thankful for the technology and SM Megamall's free Wi-Fi service.

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IMAX Comes to SM North Edsa

Is the IMAX Theater in Mall Of Asia too far for you because you are living north of Metro Manila? Then fret no more!

On July 16, 2009, after opening the very first IMAX Theatre in the Philippines at SM Mall of Asia, SM Cinema is opening another IMAX Theatre at SM City North EDSA!

It would be equipped with IMAX's digital projection and theater systems powered by proprietary IMAX technologies that can put you, the audience, IN the movie. It is better than conventional digital systems, just as IMAX's film-based system is superior to conventional ones.
Through IMAX digital projection technology, images are delivered crystal-clear and the digital sound is laser-aligned. The customized theater geometry also maximizes the audience’s field of view.

All these together makes up the moviegoer’s IMAX experience.

Also, catch the following upcoming movies only at the new IMAX Theatre SM City North EDSA:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – July 16, 2009
with exclusive IMAX 3D scenes

Harry Potter begins his 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He then discovers an old book marked mysteriously "This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince." This brought him to learn more about Lord Voldemort's dark past.

Under The Sea 3D – August 2009

The diverse coastal regions of Southern Australia, New Guinea and the Indo-Pacific areas gets an underwater look. The impact of global warming on the oceans are also shown.

A Christmas Carol 3D – November 2009

A retelling in animation of Charles Dickens classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of the three mysterious Christmas apparitions.

Avatar 3D – December 2009

A band of humans are pitted in an adventurous battle against a distant planet's indigenous population.

For 2010

March 2010 - How to Train your Dragon 3D
May 2010 - Shrek Goes Fourth 3D
Hubble 3D

For movie inquiries & reservation of tickets, you may call 929- 5452 or 924-4274.
For inquiries and screening schedule, log on to www.smcinema.com
or you can email SM IMAX at imaxnorthedsa@smsupermalls.com.

In two weeks, the IMAX opens at SM North Edsa!

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