| Tech finishes strong month
Jitters about the U.S.economy pushed markets broadly down on the first trading day of November, but faith in the IT sector, especially in tech stalwarts such as Google and Microsoft, appears to remain relatively high in the wake of a strong earnings season. .
Ford Focus in Sync with future
With all due respect to Daimler's nifty Smart two-seater, the 2008 Ford Focus is the real smart car. Smart is the name of the fuel-sipping little European runabout, but smart is how the Focus acts, thanks to Sync, the slickest piece of electronics to hit the market this year. You can have your iPhone. I'll take Sync, which ties your phone calls, text messages and iPod seamlessly into the little Ford's operations. In fact, Sync, which Ford developed with Microsoft, is so good that it obscures the fact that the 2008 Focus is an otherwise average update of an aging compact car. Sync's voice-activated controls for iPod-type devices, phone calls and text messages, however, make the Focus the pinnacle of sophisticated and user-friendly electronics. It's also a significant advance in car safety, removing at least two sources of distraction and making it easier for the driver to focus on the road.
iPhone to hit German, British markets
Apple's iPhone will go on sale in Germany and Britain on Friday, making its European debut four months after its launch in the United States. "We assume that the device will find a very good reception on the market," said Rene Bresgen, spokesman for Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in Germany. In Britain, mobile operator O2 is the designated carrier. The iPhone, an Internet enabled, cell phone-iPod media player, got an enthusiastic reception in the U.S. with sales pushing past 1.4 million since its debut June 29. Consumers in Britain will pay 269 pounds ($566) for the 8-gigabyte model - or about $67 more than what Apple charges in the United States. In Germany the phone will cost 399 euros ($587.41). Both European price tags include value-added tax.
Gloria Romero to carjackers: Please return van
Actress Gloria Romero appealed to carjackers who stole her green Hyundai Starex van (ZGB830) right outside her house in New Manila Wednesday night, to return the vehicle. According to the 74-year-old actress, acknowledged as one of the queens of Philippine cinema, she has fallen ill since the incident. Romero said that she's thankful that no one was hurt in the incident. She suspects that the carjackers tailed her vehicle right after it picked up her grandson Christopher, who had come from a taping at ABS-CBN. Romero's driver was about to park the van inside the actress' house compound on 7th Street, Barangay Mariana at 11:45 p.m. when four gunmen approached the vehicle. The carjackers opened the van's door, hit the driver in the face, and proceeded with the robbery.
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