WHEN Heneral Luna came out in 2015, I honestly didn’t expect much. Our historic excursions in cinema has had a “history” of being boring, low-budget and usually forgettable. Personally, I know more about the brush strokes of Juan than the battles of Antonio, and my only recall of the general was his thick mustache from the postcards we were required to bring for our Sibika at Kultura elementary class.
The genius of the Heneral Luna movie was that it was able to mold the narrative into something that’s accessible even to the most clueless of viewers. Suddenly General Luna became everyone’s favorite hero—endearingly brash but virtuous, almost a combination of all our best historical figures. Gen. Antonio Luna’s biopic invoked a mixed emotion of admiration, inspiration, frustration and anger; but, most important, it was entertaining as a movie.
Because of the success of Heneral Luna, everyone was hyped about Goyo—the second part of Jerrold Tarog’s planned historic trilogy. But the bigger budget, grander production values, and Paolo Avelino couldn’t top Luna’s fiery charm. And even if Goyo did get a lot of positive reviews and critics couldn’t stop talking about it, sadly I still couldn’t find any box-office numbers and I don’t think it would have the same lasting effect as Heneral Luna.
I guess that’s the tricky part about history: you can’t change facts, you can only try to make the presentation more interesting—which brings me to the point of this piece, because the Ayala Museum has just launched its second historical virtual-reality diorama.
Last year the Ayala Museum allowed visitors to witness the execution of Jose Rizal via a game-changing immersive virtual-reality experience.
Now, the museum is giving the VR treatment to two more iconic historical figures: Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo.
Ayala Museum once again teamed up with I Am Cardboard Philippines (IAC PH) to recreate one of the pivotal points in Philippines history, this time using the 360 goggles to give visitors a more immersive experience as they witness the defining moments of Bonifacio and Aguinaldo’s stories.
The 10-minute, fully immersive 360º VR experience, titled “Emergence of the Filipino Nation,” is a live-action diorama that leverages innovative technology, combining it with great storytelling and rigorous historical research to deliver a recreation of key historical moments, which includes four major events that led to the country’s independence. It was helmed by Cannes award-winning director Marco Biemann. The diorama can be viewed using a pair of VR goggles provided by IAC PH.
Making virtual reality-based learning accessible to as many people as possible is IAC PH’s goal in the Philippines. By partnering with the Ayala Museum, IAC PH has successfully revolutionized the Philippine museum experience and made it more delightful and interactive for Filipinos. Is VR the future of history? Maybe. But it also needs more quality content that is both accurate and engaging.
BEYOND LIMITS WITH THE HONOR 8X
WHEN Honor first made its debut in the Philippines a few years back, I was among those who made the switch because of the Honor 6Plus. Back then, it was dubbed the “flagship killer” for bringing high-end specs and features to the midrange market.
With the return of the brand to the Philippines earlier this year, it quickly disrupted the local market with the consecutive releases of the Honor 9 lite, the premium Honor 10 and, most recently, the Honor Play.
Now, all eyes are on the brand once again as it is set to release the Honor 8X—a smartphone that boasts of a big screen with a nearly bezel-less display, a dual-rear camera setup powered by AI, and a Kirin 710 chipset all housed in an elegant glass and metal body.
The Honor 8X adopts a refreshing design philosophy that represents a fusion of cutting-edge technology and aesthetics that make it easily stand out. The back of the Honor 8X is made of 15 layers of 2.5D double texture aurora glass with a gradient finish. However, unlike the usual gradient effect you see on other smartphones, the Honor 8X has two separate textures—a parallel gradation body design that reflects light in different ways.
On the front is a 6.5-inch Full View Display (with a “hide-able” notch) and a 2340 x 1080 resolution at 396 ppi. The screen supports full high definition (FHD) resolution and is said to utilize a video-enhancement technology that provides clearer, more detailed views of videos and movies. The Honor 8X impresses with its 91-percent screen-to-body ratio and a chin that is only 4.25mm. This is achieved by the new-generation FullView Display 2.0 that uses an advanced chip-on-film (COF) technology and a patented antenna design.
Since you’ll probably be spending most of the time looking at the bright screen of the Honor 8X, you’ll be glad to know that it’s the very first smartphone to have an eye comfort mode that is certified by the TüV Rheinland. Turn on eye comfort mode to reduce blue light radiation emitted by the screen to prevent eye fatigue.
The Honor 8X is equipped with Huawei’s octa-core Kirin 710 chipset. The chipset is a Cortex-A73 generation-based system on a chip (SoC) that uses 12nm process technology. Compared to the previous generation, the CPU single-core performance has increased by 75 percent, and provides excellent performance to support high-definition video playback, 3D gaming and everyday use.
To meet the needs of even the most demanding gamers, the Honor 8X is equipped with a Mali G51 GPU further enhanced by revolutionary GPU turbo. GPU Turbo is a graphics processing acceleration technology that optimizes the mobile gaming experience, increasing overall GPU performance by 130 percent compared to the previous generation.
Level up your photography game with the Honor 8X’s AI-powered cameras that capture social media-ready photos even without post editing.
The Honor 8X has a dual 20MP + 2MP, F/1.8 aperture rear camera setup with artificial intelligence (AI) allowing it to recognize 22 different categories and 500 scenarios in real time. The AI then automatically adjusts camera settings and enhances photo quality based on your subject in order to achieve the best results.
For those who love to take selfies, the 16MP front camera of the Honor 8X has an enhanced-ISO, with 4 Cell fusion technology and multi-frame image processing to allow two times more light to be captured by the camera.
But perhaps the most noteworthy camera feature of the Honor 8X is its new handheld night mode—a feature that used to be unique to the flagship Huawei P20 Pro. The new Night Mode feature of the Honor 8X again uses AI to eliminate the blurring of photos when taking night shots under a maximum six-second exposure. The Honor 8X’s multi-frame stabilization technology is based upon machine learning allowing you to take those amazing night shots even without a tripod.
The Honor 8X comes with a 4GB RAM and 128GB ROM and supports an expandable microSD card up to 400GB, allowing you to store even more photos and videos. The Honor 8X is powered by a 3750mAh battery, which can last for more than one day on a single charge. It also adopts Intelligent Power Saving technology—increasing the battery life by 33 percent.
For security, the Honor 8X features both Face Unlock and a fingerprint sensor. The face unlock function, enabled by AI, can adapt to some difficult light conditions and small facial changes to make unlocking easier and more secure.
The Honor 8X is now available for preorders at a price of P12,990.
SMART TRAVEL PLANNING
IN my previous trips abroad, the first thing I do as soon as the plane lands is to check my roaming status and make sure that its turned off.
Bill-shock stories may be a thing of the past, but it’s always better to be safe than ludicrously charged. I’ve tried both FlytPack and Smart Travel WiFi, and those are good suggestions if you are traveling with family or friends. The only downside is if there’s a data hog among your group who keeps using it for video calls. It’s also different when I’m with a media junket, as they usually provide us with a local SIM that comes with free data.
But if you are traveling alone for a business trip and you don’t want to bring an additional WiFi device, activating your roaming service may still the most convenient. And with Smart’s new roaming packages, it might even be the most economical, whether you are a prepaid or postpaid subscriber.
At the ongoing Smart Travel Sale Fair happening this weekend at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, the carrier is introducing its groundbreaking pre-booking feature for data roaming packages—a first in the country. This unique feature will allow customers to conveniently buy their data roaming services ahead of their trip, so they won’t have to worry about staying connected online while traveling and exploring the world. When you roam with Smart, you have all the travel information you need at your fingertips. You can also hail a cab using an app, book flights and hotels on the go, track your trip or map out your destinations, translate foreign words in a snap, and, most important, share all your travel experiences with loved ones in real time on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and via top messaging apps.
To easily purchase and monitor their data roaming activities while traveling, a subscriber only need to access Smart’s Data Roaming Manager, a one-stop portal that features all available data roaming products as well as keeps track of data roaming usage while on the go. To access simply go to roam.smart.com.ph and select your preferred Data Roaming Package and click “Subscribe.” More information is available on the web site.
MIRRORLESS REINVENTED WITH THE NIKON Z SERIES
Evolution never ends for high-pixel-count cameras, as Nikon Philippines officially launched its first mirrorless camera: the Nikon Z.
Built and designed to deliver a new standard of optical excellence, the Z 7 has true Nikon heritage and craftsmanship in its DNA. Equipped with a newly designed and innovative mount system, experience incredible images like never before. Enter a world of bold creative possibilities and optical performance.
Featuring 45.7 effective megapixels in a more compact body, the Z 7, Nikon’s FX-format mirrorless camera fully exploits the unprecedented optical performance offered by the new NIKKOR Z lenses and delivers overwhelming edge-to-edge detail in both stills and videos. In addition, its wide, 493-point hybrid AF system with superb focusing accuracy and the new EXPEED 6 image-processing engine contribute to achieving sharper images than ever. The 3690k-dot Quad-VGA electronic viewfinder provides a clear view and an amazingly comfortable shooting experience, thanks to Nikon’s advanced optics and imaging expertise. And with 10-bit N-Log, as well as 4K UHD and 8K time-lapse (requires third-party software) movie, it meets the needs of demanding video creators. Condensing all of this power into a compact yet robust body, the Z 7 promises to take you to a new world of truly amazing images.
Experience phenomenal image quality with color and sharpness that will bring your artistic vision to life. The Z 7 includes a larger mount that exceeds all competitors in the full-frame category1, a full-frame Nikon FX-format CMOS sensor, and the latest image-processing engine that generates unparalleled image quality. A crisp and clear electronic viewfinder (EVF) delivers a new level of precision, and cinema-ready 4K UHD allows you to film your own cinematic masterpieces.
The launch was held at the ballroom of Ascott Bonifacio Global City with representatives of Nikon Singapore including Raoul Bruma, senior manager; Shintaro Nishimura, international sales manager; and Rachel Goh, Sales and marketing executive.
The event also formally introduced the Nikon Mirrorless Trailblazers—professional wedding photographer Jaja Samaniego and landscape photographer, conservationist and traveler Gab Mejia as the face of the Nikon Z mirrorless camera in the Philippines.