BusinessWeek article: The Philippines: Competing with China and Vietnam

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MAKATI CITY -- After keeping it under wraps for months, the group of young Filipino engineers and designers have unveiled a prototype of what it claims to be the next generation interactive device.
It is called the "Ilumina" interactive television and it already has one patent pending for its curved design.
Inovent (inoventrevolution.wordpress.com) showed an "ultra-alpha prototype" of the Ilumina last Sunday in a simple gathering with the goal of highlighting the concept of research, development and design (RDD) in the Philippines.
Inovent is composed of no more than eight people, some graduates from the University of the Philippines, Ateneo De Manila and De La Salle University.
The Ilumina is a television panel integrated with computer components installed in a handmade fiberglass bezel. It is the bezel's inward curved design that Inovent has patented with the Intellectual Property Office Philippines.
The Ilumina's basic component is its 32-inch LCD TV panel. Inside it are computer parts that run a scaled-down version of Ubuntu Linux operating system.
With a flick of a button, the TV interface changes to the Iluma's user interface that provides access to features, such as video and music playback and Internet.
While the TV source still requires a physical cable, the Internet connectivity only requires a wireless fidelity (Wifi) access point, as the Ilumina has a built-in Wifi receiver. It also has a web camera that will allow users to do video chat while accessing the web or watching TV.
Apart from the regular TV remote, the Ilumina also uses wireless keyboards and mouse for computer applications.
It also has a USB (universal serial bus) port for connection to other external peripherals.
The Ilumina concept has not been used in other commercial products. Inovent Chief "Inoventor" Brian Quebengco said the idea is not new. Some of the parts used in the Ilumina are off-the-shelf electronic components that were pieced together to fit in a slim casing.
"You will be surprise at how our developers made these components fit together. The parts had to be modified to make them work well," Quebengco said.
Quebengco said the main highlight of the Ilumina is its design, which the local company has filed for patents early this year, as well as its software.
The bezel design, which is curved inwards, allows the unit to stand on its own, removing the need for a removable stand normally used in many LCD TVs.
While still in its "ultra-alpha" prototype stage, the developers will be adding new features in the Ilumina, which Quebengco declined to describe.
"It's not something new as well but when you see it in a well--packaged product, it becomes an innovation. There's still a lot we're working on but this is to just highlight what we can achieve," he added.
Quebengco said they are looking at a six- to eight-month period for the launch of a commercially ready Ilumina model. He is hoping that the price of the device will not go above five digits.
"What's to be proud here is that we have people who are innovating and designing things for a global market. We also hope to encourage and inspire others to do the same," Quebengco said.