Tagaytay Highlands: Perfect site for Nokia’s presentation

On a picturesque 400-hectare portion of Tagaytay Ridge, just an hour-and-a-half’s drive from Metro Manila, a world-class leisure haven has taken shape – Tagaytay Highlands.

Tagaytay Highlands was envisioned to be a self-contained leisure paradise for the entire family. Indeed, it has become a Shangri-La complete with world-class quality sports and recreation facilities and first-class vacation homes.

Four residential projects, each with its distinct theme, have already been sold out, only to Tagaytay Highlands members: Pinecrest Village, a complex of condominium units much like the Swiss chalets; the Villas, a community of Spanish-Mediterranean style individually designed detached homes; the Belle View, a hillside condominium development built on a ridge overlooking Taal Lake, and the Woodlands, site of luxury log homes made of solid Western Red Cedar logs imported from the United States.

Here, journalists covering the DOTC and IT, including this writer, enjoyed the best when Nokia presented their latest mobile phones which features various functions envisioning the company’s concept of the mobile phones as the individual “personal trusted device”.

Present were Parikshit Bhasin, Nokia Country general manager, Philippines; Mike Smith, product manager; Menchu Ambrosio, Marketing manager; and Mitzi Sibugan, AVP, Lexington International.

Bhasin said the short messaging service (SMS) popularly known as text messaging will be replaced soon by the multi-media messaging services (MMS) with the coming of the new models of Nokia mobile phones.

MMS will allow consumers to send and receive not only text and picture messages or graphics but also capture and exchange digital images, audio and video clips and create their own content, among others.

Nokia recently launched in Hong Kong; Barcelona, Spain; and Australia its new generation of mobile phones – 7650, 5210; 6510, 8855 and 3350 – that will take consumers to the next stage from SMS to MMS.

Here in Manila, Nokia has just offered its 8310 mobile phone which is a packet data service (GPRS) cable and allows better connection to the Internet.

In presenting the 7650, Smith said the model is a unique mobile phone which has an integrated digital camera for image-taking and storing. Images taken with this camera may then be sent through email or MMS.

It also has a photo album application for storing images and a large 176 x 208 pixel color display.

“The multi-media messaging capability of Nokia 7650 allows users to combine audio, graphic text and imaging content in one message,” Smith said.

Aside from the 7650, Smith also presented several mobile phones, which features various functions envisioning Nokia’s concept of the mobile phone as the “individual’s personal trusted device”.

The 5210 is designed with a combination of soft and hard materials for those with active and trendy life-styles as well as a built-in stopwatch, a countdown timer, and interval timer for exercise cycles and a thermometer to measure the temperature of the surroundings.

The 6510 has a wallet application which enables users to make convenient and secure online transactions via the phone’s wireless application protocol (WAP) browser.

On the other hand, the Nokia 5510 is a phone with digital music player that supports AAC/MP3 format and an FM radio with 10 pre-set radio channels in memory. It also comes with QWERTY keyboard for text input; equipped with an ergonomic keypad designed for two-hand gaming experience.

The minimalist 8855 is aimed at users described by Nokia as those who “appreciate the finer things in life”.

The 3350 comes in cool and trendy colors and has unique personalization features such as the picture editor which allows users to create and personalize picture messages. (PNA)

[ Tagaytay Highlands Wiki ]