‘Twister’. Tokyo University professor Susumu Tachi stands inside his brainchild, TWISTER (Telexistence Wide-angle Immersive Stereoscope), a device that provides 3D images in color without wearing special glasses, at his lab in Tokyo Thursday. The TWISTER works as a cylindrical display by rotating 36 display units around the observer while presenting time-varying patterns. Each display unit consists of two LED (Light-Emitting Diode) arrays mounted onboard with a bus-connected controller. Tachi is working to develop the technology to use for 3D telephone. --AP

SOME $679 million were added to the country’s outstanding foreign debt in the first three months—even though both the national government and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas undertook separate prepayment programs made possible by copious foreign inflows—to bring the end-March total to $54 billion.

THE Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) offered to local exporters Thursday two dollar-hedging options to shield them from further losses resulting from the continued peso appreciation.

HAVING received many orders for new vessels from around the world, a South Korean shipbuilder said it will expand its Philippine facilities, which will soon make it the world’s fourth-largest shipyard.

Postal Bank eyed for remittances

THE over 2,000 branches of the Postal Bank presents an attractive conduit for the remittances of Filipinos working abroad, according to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri, who thus recommended to President Arroyo to allow the Postal Corp., the privatized post office operations of government, to handle the remittances.

INFLATION, which ironically aggravates the plight of exporters and the families of more than eight million overseas Filipinos, is forecast to rise higher in June than in May when this averaged 2.4 percent.

MARKETING beach destinations abroad among Filipinos is no easy task, considering the Philippines has some of the best beaches in the world. For the world’s fifth largest airline, the way is to offer potential travelers from the Philippines niche destinations and activities.

THE US Senate’s Committee on Veterans Affairs headed by Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) approved Wednesday morning (Wednesday evening in Manila) the much-awaited bill that will give full benefits to Filipino World War II veterans.

GENUINE Opposition senatorial candidate Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III suffered a major setback in his bid to capture the last remaining slot in the senatorial race after the Supreme Court (SC) junked his plea to stop the Commission on Elections from recanvassing the votes from Maguindanao province.

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CONTINENTAL Airlines staff vice president Walter B. Dias strikes a “ready-for-challenge” pose at his office. Dias concedes that marketing beach destinations abroad among Filipinos is no easy task, with the country already boasting some of the best beaches in the world. But the airline, he says, is ready to sell Guam, one of the hubs of Continental Airlines in the Western Pacific, to Filipino travelers.