The Celebrate Life Cancer Fair 2014

CEBU, Philippines -  More than 400 cancer patients and survivors, doctors, nurses, healthcare providers and supporters participated in the Celebrate Life Cancer Fair 2014, held last January 18 in the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce multipurpose hall.

With the third week of January slated as the National Cancer Consciousness Awareness Week, the event was timely presented by the Philippine Society of Medical Oncology (PSMO) and the Department of Health Region VII, in cooperation with the Philippine Oncology Nurses Association Cebu Chapter, the Eduardo J. Aboitiz Cancer Center (EJAAC) and the iCANSERVE Foundation Inc. Cebu.

Cancer survivors and family members hailing from different parts of the Visayas were present during the occasion, which showcased pocket events and lectures delving into cancer nutrition and on cancer screening.

With the theme "#CelebrateLife", the occasion also had its share of surprise presentation numbers and guests, apart from highlighting fun and creative activities for adult and pediatric cancer survivors.

While set as a half-day event, the Celebrate Life Cancer Fair 2014 managed to prove to one and all that cancer patients and survivors are well in the position to celebrate life to the fullest.

Riding Good & Bad Luck in 2014!

This year's International Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las Vegas from January 7 to 10, showcased the newest innovations in the consumer electronics scene, from demo prototypes to scheduled-for-release products.

Since its debut in 1967, the annually staged event has seen its share of product presentations, announcements, unveilings and introductions, the most notable of which would include the video cassette recorder in 1970, the camcorder in 1981, the compact disc in 1991, and the Plasma TV in 2001.

Popularly known as CES, here's a quick look at some of the head turners of this year's CES.

Curved Screens and 4K TVs

Last year's rumors talking about "curved" and "bendable" television sets making an appearance in CES 2014 proved to be spot on, what with brands like Samsung and LG presenting some of their more high profile TVs and prototypes.

Both brands presented demo units whose screens could "bend" upon issued commands, apart from boasting ultra high screen resolution rates.

Ultra HD TVs—popularly referred to as 4K TVs—also made a splash in CES 2014, paving the way for the coming of higher than high resolution TVs into the market.

From Sony to Samsung and to LG, brands like Vizio and Polaroid also presented demo UHD TV units next to a number of upcoming 4K TV offerings, saying something about UHD TVs future in the home entertainment products space.

Wearable Tech: Beyond Smartwatches

This year's CES proved to everyone that there is more to "wearable tech" than "smartwatches".

Oculus Rift's prototype virtual reality headset—the Crystal Cove—managed to stand out in this regard, as the demo unit's overall being stands to cause significant shifts in the gaming and entertainment arenas in the coming days.

In the lifestyle and fitness monitoring areas, Sensoria presented a number of interesting tech-enabled fitness products.

The brand's "fitness socks", made with high-tech running friendly fabrics, would be one, designed as a Bluetooth-capable wearable tech that's capable of monitoring on-track performance stats.

Sensoria's fitness sports bra would be another, designed to work with different types of heart rate monitors.

Functional and Stylish Accessories

As with last year's CES, functional accessories for smartphones and tablets were also presented this year.

Mophie's new Space Pack would be one example, set on doing more than afford iPhone users with a nifty battery case, but also arms users with an additional 16 GB or 32 GB external storage drive.

While it can be argued that storage space isn't all that big a deal these days (what with smartphones designed with large internal storage volumes and the popularity of cloud storage options), the battery/external storage case does come with an extra functional edge that resolves concerns that covers issues revolving around locally storing digital content.

Another interesting smartphone accessory would be Pebble's Steel smartwatch, designed as an alternative input/control device for Bluetooth-enabled handhelds.

Though the smartwatch is essentially an update of last year's model, the Steel's leather/aluminum straps gives it a look that's more "natural" when talking about the de facto design aesthetic of wristwatches.

Visit www.cesweb.org for more information on the different presentations, product demonstrations and announcements that happened in CES 2014