Haier’s inverter tech brings energy savings beyond standards

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Inverter technology has revolutionized home appliances, bringing greater energy efficiencies that translate to more savings.

How much can you really save on an inverter ref?

In particular, refrigerators—which traditionally consume almost 1,800kwh/year—are now being designed with digital inverter compressors that cut down electricity consumption from about 500 to 380kwh/year.

Digital inverters are fast becoming the standard for modern home refrigerators. However, innovations are pushing the limits of what inverters can do to help households enjoy real savings from their appliances.

Greater efficiency, less power

Inverter compressors adapt to the cooling needs of refrigerators. Unlike conventional counterparts that consume the same amount of energy whether the fridge is frequently used or not, inverter compressors “slow down” when they don’t need to actively decrease the temperature, such as at night. This lessens energy consumption while reducing wear and tear on the compressor.

Haier takes the technology a step further with its FICA Ref Series.

“Our FICA Ref Series is equipped with an FD-Plus inverter compressor, which is integrated into a single conversion chip for better reliability compared with other inverter compressors,” said Haier's Senior Product Manager for Refrigerators and Air Conditioners, Jennifer Samson.

Previous compressors from the brand had frequency plates that consumed 0.6W on standby power. The newer FD-Plus inverter compressor cuts this down further to less than 0.1W when idle—the lowest in the refrigerator industry.

“The chip also runs on a 32-bit operating system, unlike typical digital inverters that run on a 16-bit OS. This greatly enhances cooling performance for better food storage and cost efficiency," Samson added.

All in all, the FD-Plus inverter consumes power from 245 to 310kwh/year.

“The cost of electricity is often a major setback when it comes to modern conveniences like refrigerators,” Samson said. “This is a challenge that Haier wants to address to help families enjoy life at home without the high cost.”

These benefits come on top of other features such as a 360-degree duct that allows pervasive cooling air flow, a brighter LED lamp that saves more energy, tempered glass shelving that can load up to 120kg of food, and anti-odor and anti-bacterial deodorizer that helps preserve food quality.

Haier’s two-door top-mount FICA refrigerators are available in three different sizes: 8.5, 9.3, and 11.1 cubic feet. The suggested retail price for each is P20,998, P23,598, and P26,598 respectively.

All FICA refrigerators come with a two-year warranty on parts and labor, as well as a ten-year warranty for the compressor.

“Home appliances should be designed to enhance the lifestyle of the consumer. That’s why for the Filipino market, Haier combines good quality, affordable cost, and excellent after-sales service to provide every family with the comfort they deserve,” Samson said.

For more details, visit www.haier.com/ph.

Protecting the Future: A Parent's Guide to Getting an Education Plan

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One of the most important things a parent should do is to ensure that their children receive the best education that money can buy. As parents, we must make sure that we are financially stable enough to put our children through school. And we must also acknowledge that our children's dream university or college might be more expensive than we’d expect, especially since education costs have been rising every year. Hence, planning ahead and making investments for our children's education, through an education plan, is very crucial.

As such, getting your children (or your future children) an education plan should be one of the first things parents should aim for, aside from being able to provide for the family. However, before getting one, parents must know and understand the features and benefits of an education plan, as well as the expenses that go along with it.

Every education plan, offered by many different companies, has a different set of benefits. This means that you have many things to consider while shopping for an education plan that fits your budget and your future goals. Do you get the pay-out benefits as soon as your child enters high school? Or is it for a college fund? How much do you need, and how much can the education plan give you? 

Here are some helpful tips on getting the right education plan for your kid: 

• Always make sure that the benefits of the plan you are looking at are aligned with your needs. Better if there are additional features included like life or accident insurance so your children are still guaranteed to receive the education plan benefits in case something happens to you. 

• Research on the companies offering education plans. You’ll want to make sure that the company you are getting an education plan from is financially strong, trustworthy, reliable, and capable of keeping its promises. You want to be assured that you will receive the benefits on-time and in full, without having to worry about the company going bankrupt. 

• Save early: Start saving as early as possible so that you can be sure that you are financially stable enough to pay for your child’s education plan. 

• Find other sources to fund your child's education savings by exploring other resources of growing your money, such as investments, having passive income, and so forth. 

• Divide financial tasks between the two parents. Having mutual spending decisions, and constant communication about money is very important. 

Education plans are something everyone should have for their children. Sometimes, the education we want for our children will cost more than an arm and a leg. A plan helps make that education more affordable. 

Now that you know what kind of education plan you are looking for, you are ready to send your child to their dream university-- even before they've graduated high school.

To know more on how to plan for your child’s education, visit www.philamlife.com

About Philam Life 

The Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company (Philam Life) is the country’s premier life insurance company. Established on 21 June 1947, Philam Life has earned the trust of customers for its financial strength, strong brand name, and ability to deliver on its promises. 

Philam Life has PHP236.4 billion in total assets as of 31 December 2015 and has delivered timely payouts of over PHP10 billion in education benefits (2004-2015) and over PHP131 billion in insurance benefits (1950-2015), while serving close to 600,000 individual policyholders and over 2 million insured group members. 

Philam Life understands the real life needs of its customers and provides the right plans and the right solutions including life protection, health insurance, savings, education, retirement, investment, group and credit life insurance. It also offers bancassurance and fund management products and services through its subsidiaries  – BPI Philam Life Assurance Company (BPI-Philam) and Philam Asset Management Inc. (PAMI). 

Philam Life is a member of AIA Group Limited, the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group.

About AIA 

AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or the “Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, a 97 per cent subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 49 per cent joint venture in India and representative offices in Myanmar and Cambodia.

The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai almost a century ago. It is a market leader in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US$181 billion as of 31 May 2016. 

AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia-Pacific, AIA serves the holders of more than 29 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.

AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “1299” with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: “AAGIY”).

Elementary School Students Use Moverio Smart Glasses as Class Communication Tool

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“Let’s make healthy forests!” and used Epson’s Moverio* smart glasses as a communication tool to make school work even more engaging. 

(Japan) - Takashima Elementary School in Nagano, Japan, has introduced a unique extracurricular activity in which each class decides what to study every year. 

Epson engineers began their activities with the children a year ago (Stargazing using Moverio) with the aim of making learning fun. 

Using the help of the same engineers, the children, who had been studying forests, wanted to communicate using leading-edge information products to ensure that people could understand the importance of nature.

On July 7, the children were divided into nine groups. Based on themes decided through discussions with the engineers, they uploaded to the Moverio photos and videos that they had taken themselves of the forest alongside materials they prepared on a PC.

Using an application on a tablet device, the same images were displayed on multiple Moverio units. With this feature, each group could share their thoughts about the forest among the entire group. The presenting group had created a quiz, and the children wearing Moverio all cheered when the slide appeared before their eyes, as if it were floating on a big screen in front of them.

By participating in the activity, the children clearly identified who they wanted to communicate to, with comments like, “I want my grandparents to enjoy these images of the forest since they can’t go themselves.” They plan to make some changes to the content, and improve the quality of their presentation using the ‘magic glasses.’

*Worn like glasses, Moverio smart glasses offer users the ability to enjoy crystal clear video entertainment, games, music, and web content, anytime and anywhere. It displays what appears as large semi-transparent images floating against the surrounding background. 

The Moverio BT-200 is intended for ages from junior high school and older, but for these extracurricular lessons, our engineers were present to ensure safety, and time limits were set for use of the glasses.

Health News: HCCA changes name to Shearwater Health, relocates to new offices

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HCCA International and HCCA Health Connections (collectively known as HCCA) have consolidated all of their business operations under the Shearwater Health name.

Shearwater Health Executives. From left: Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer Tom Kendrot, Chief Executive Officer David Bartholomew, SVP & Country Manager PH Anshum Sinha, and Chief Strategy Officer Ted Merhoff.

“We have truly evolved as a company, and we felt it was time to express that with a new brand,” said David Bartholomew, President and Chief Executive Officer of Shearwater Health. 

“We offer a much more comprehensive suite of services than we did just a few years ago.”

Additionally, the company moved to its new 6,450-square-meter headquarters at the Net Park building in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

“Philippines continues to be the location of choice for Shearwater Health, and with the expansion to Net Park in Metro Manila, the company will have the capability of approximately 1,400 concurrent seats,”said Anshum Sinha, Country Manager and Senior Vice President for Philippines Operations of Shearwater Health. 

“Shearwater Health is looking at adding another 600 jobs to its existing employee base of over 1,500 in the next 12 months. This will provide an excellent opportunity for nurses and medical coders in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.”

HCCA International has been recruiting and deploying highly experienced nurses and other medical professionals from the Philippines to hospitals and healthcare organizations in the U.S. since 2002. During this time, HCCA International has placed more than 1,000 nurses in over 100 U.S. hospitals.

HCCA Health Connections also offers a full spectrum of URAC-accredited Clinical Process Outsourcing (CPOSM) services to clients in the United States, improving results and efficiency through medical management services, medical coding, and other healthcare-related support services. These services are provided by clinical and administrative support professionals working in the Philippines and the United States.

“We help clients improve outcomes and reduce unnecessary spending while freeing up clinical professionals and administrative staff to focus on objectives that maximize their talents. Plus, our approach is fully scalable—we can grow our relationship with customers as their business grows,”  said Bartholomew.

The new office readily accommodates Shearwater Health’s rapid growth. “Our new operating center is more than 40 percent larger than our previous Manila offices,” said Mr. Sinha. “We are now well-positioned to match the growth of the company while providing a comfortable, state-of-the-art work environment for all of our employees.”

A 48-story corporate tower, Net Park was awarded 5-Star Best Commercial High-Rise Development at the International Property Awards. It was designed by Chad Oppenheim, a Miami-based architect who specializes in green buildings. Net Park is slated to receive a BERDE (Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence Program) certification from the Philippine Green Building Council.

ASUS Ph Presents Zenfone 3 Series Brand Ambassadors : Jason Magbanua, Gab Valenciano and Alodia Gosiengfiao

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ASUS Philippines unveils the three local brand ambassadors of the Zenfone 3 series that perfectly represents each passion points of the premium and powerful flagship smartphones

Jason Magbanua, Gab Valenciano and  Alodia Gosiengfiao

After weeks of anticipation, ASUS Philippines finally unveiled its premium, powerful and game-changing line-up of Zenfone 3 smartphones in the recently concluded Zenvolution local event – led by ASUS global and local executives and the newly launched Zenfone 3 brand ambassadors, master storyteller, Jason Magbanua, ultimate performer, Gab Valenciano and cosplay queen, Alodia Gosiengfiao.

In a grand spectacle, ASUS officially launched its flagship smartphones namely ASUS Zenfone 3 Deluxe, Zenfone 3 Ultra and the exceptional Zenfone 3 to an excited crowd of around 500 fans, 300 media and 200 trade partners, during the Zenvolution local launch held at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza. ASUS likewise unveiled the new ZenBook3 and Transformer 3 which are both considered powerful, elegant and compact machines. The event was attended by top ASUS global executives led by ASUS Global Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jerry Shen.

‘Staying true to the core of the brand, we believe that industry movers such as Jason, Gab and Alodia best embody the passion points of the premium and powerful Zenfone 3 series.

We have full confidence that our ambassadors are a perfect fit with the brand to demonstrate the power, elegance and versatility of our new flagship smartphones, said ASUS Marketing Manager, Christian Jamolod.

Jamolod likewise emphasized that the three personalities are the ultimate persona of power, agility, clarity, and innovation.

“We knew exactly the personalities that would best represent each phone, it was match made in heaven. We are so happy to have three industry leaders on-board as our Zenfone 3 ambassadors,” Jamolod added.

Zenfone 3 Local Brand Ambassadors, Jason Magbanua, Gab Valenciano and Alodia Gosiengfiao at the ASUS Zenvolution Center Stage.

The top-of-the-line Zenfone 3 Deluxe which is the ultimate expression of the ASUS smartphone technology was personified by Jason Magbanua, a celebrated wedding videographer who epitomizes the same unparalleled class of the ZenFone 3 Deluxe.

Newly launched brand ambassadors shares their experience about Zenfone 3

“I nicknamed this phone Sexy Beast, it’s sexy and powerful. And as a profession, I document other people’s events but I also love to document mine, my family, friends, and my travels, and I’m able to take excellent pictures with this camera,” says Magbanua.

The 5.7-inch ZenFone 3 Deluxe is a fusion of premium aesthetics, being the world’s first full-metal smartphone combined with exceptional performance, and on top-off that is an astounding camera that raises the bar for mobile photography with its incredible 23MP camera featuring the latest Sony IMX318 image sensor and the ability to shoot steady 4K UHD videos, which will make anyone madly in love with the ZenFone 3 Deluxe.

Master Storyteller, Jason Magbanua shares his experience using the newly launched Zenfone 3 Deluxe.

The gigantic 6.8-inch Zenfone 3 Ultra was meantime embodied by Gab Valenciano, the master entertainer especially in choreography. A fitting representation of the Zenfone 3 Ultra designed for multimedia and entertainment lovers.

“Sometimes size doesn’t matter, it’s the performance but why not both? And that’s one of the biggest thing that I love about this premium phone. It has an amazing camera, a full HD screen, and the sound is very superb, and watching videos in something this big is quite amazing,” says Valenciano.

Ultimate entertainer and performer, Gab Valenciano tells the crowd how amazing the new Zenfone 3 Ultra is. 

The ZenFone 3 Ultra is the world’s first smartphone to have the ASUS-exclusive Tru2Life+ video-enhancement technology that allows a fervent visual experience; that is complimented with two new powerful five-magnet stereo speakers and a NXP smart amplifier that provides a crystal clear defined sound. It’s also the world’s first smartphone with virtual 7.1-channel surround-sound with DTS Headphone:X™ that’s more than enough to electrify anyone seeking for an incredible multimedia experience.

The feature-packed smartphone ZenFone 3 which boasts premium design and an empowering performance for all walks of life was personified by Alodia Gosingfiao, the reputed cosplay goddess and certified gamer, a fitting embodiment of the ZenFone 3 which radiates agility, beauty, and clarity.

Cosplay queen, Alodia Gosiengfiao shares her insights on why the new Zenfone 3 is the perfect smartphone for gaming, photography and overall entertainment.

“I brought my Zenfone 3 to Japan a few days ago and played Pokemon Go, I was playing the whole day but what I didn’t realize is that I didn’t charge my phone. The battery life was amazing, it lasted the whole day and I got lots of Pokemon!” says Gosingfiao.

The 5.5-inch ZenFone 3 is a gorgeous phone with an amazing performance that delivers an incredible visual experience that makes any apps, videos, and games look their best. It boasts a narrow bezel that provides a 77.3% screen-to-body ratio for a maximized viewing area in a slim and compact body. Apart from that is a sleek 16MP camera that can achieve precise focus in just 0.03 seconds. It’s the world’s first smartphone worldwide to be powered by the new Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 625 octa-core processor – the first Snapdragon 600 series processor with 14nm s FinFET process technology. It also has a PC-grade graphics and up to 4GB ram that delivers an amazing mobile performance. True enough, the Zenfone 3 just doesn’t look and feels twice its price, but it also makes everything exponentially better.

A premium additional to the Zenfone 3 series family

Besides these were also the reveal of the ASUS Zenfone 3 Laser that has an ultra-fast 0.03second laser auto focus which sports a 13MP camera with Sony IMX214 sensor and color correction that delivers stunning photos. Another eye-catching smartphone that was revealed during the launch is the ASUS ZenFone 3 Max, a premium smartphone with an unmatched battery life designed to help users get through the day without worrying about charging in the middle of the day. Its battery capability is so massive to the extent that it can also double up as a power bank to charge other mobile devices.

Once again, ASUS proves its mastery of its craft, a solid proof that its middle name is, and will always be — innovation.