Ang Galing Pinoy! Hi-Tech Inventions


Being proud Filipinos, the bloggers featured the Top 10 Pinoy Hi-Tech Inventions to make the readers proud to be a Filipino. Through the years, Filipino inventors have come up with some of the most amazing and imaginative inventions… from a videophone to a moon buggy! Name it… the Pinoy inventors have done it!


Here are the top ten amazing Filipino technological inventions that made it to their list.





10. One-chip video camera


The inventor of the one-chip video camera was Marc Loinaz, a Filipino resident of New Jersey who works with Lucent Technologies. He was featured in the July 1999 issue of Discover Magazine.


The 1-chip camera uses a single computer chip to process the colors the camera sees. Most videos for a Web site used with a 1-chip camera mainly because the video is compressed in one-chip camera so it transmits more quickly.





Diosdado Banatao, a native of Iguig, Cagayan and an electrical engineering graduate from Mapua Institute of Technology in Manila is credited for eight major contributions to the Information Technology. Banatao is most known for introducing the first single-chip graphical user interface accelerator that made computers work a lot faster and for helping develop the Ethernet controller chip that made Internet possible.


In 1989, he pioneered the local bus concept for personal computers and in the following year developed the First Windows accelerator chip. Intel is now using the chips and technologies developed by Banatao. He now runs his own semiconductor company, Mostron and Chips & Technology, which is based in California's Silicon Valley.





8. Iron Mate 
It is a device that automatically shuts off electricity when a flatiron is rested on it. It was designed by Rodolfo Biescas Sr. of Albay, Philippines.

It can save you an astonishing amount of 50% of electricity. It is used in conjunction with your regular iron and you place it on top of the Iron Mate. The Iron Mate itself will automatically turn off your iron when it is not being used. This is excellent because then there is less of a risk for something happening such as a fire.





7. I-Charj Coin Operated Cell Phone Charger

In 2008, Engr. Aquilino Tubigan Jr. bagged the Gold Medal at the International New Product Expo (INPEX) held in Pennsylvania USA last August. His invention, the "I-Charj Coin Operated Cell Phone Charger" was honored for showcasing technological innovation while satisfying a need.

The I-Charj is coin operated; for Php5.00, it will charge your dying phone for a good 10 minutes. It could be really be a lifesaver if you really need to make a call on a dying phone-- and you don't have a charger or there are no outlets in sight.

The I-Charj Cellphone Charger also works on ALL cellphone models out in the market today.



6. Nutec Lamp Fixing System

A Filipino inventor has developed a technology, which could revive a busted lamp (pundido) and give it more years of functional life than those of new ones. Acclaimed by the Filipino Inventors Society as timely and revolutionary, the Nutec system can prolong the life of fluorescent lamps up to seven years.

Nutec was developed by New World Technology, headed by president Eric Ngo and chosen as the "Product of the Year" at the Worldbex 2000 Building and Construction Exposition held at the Manila Hotel. Engineer Benjamin S. Santos, national president of the Inventors Society, called Nutec a timely invention.





5. W
ater-powered car

Filipino inventor Daniel Dingel started working on a water-powered car and prototype in 1969. His hydrogen reactor uses electricity from a 12-volt car battery to transform ordinary tap water with salt into deuterium oxide or heavy water. 

Dingel’s car has never been patented and commercialized because of what he suspects as an anti-Dingel car conspiracy by multinational oil companies.



Roberto del Rosario who developed a sing along system in 1975 and patented it in the 1980s called his sing-along system "Minus-One", now holds the patent for the device now commonly known as the "karaoke machine". He is posthumously awarded under G.R. No. 115106, March 15, 1996 of the Philippine Supreme Court.

Roberto del Rosario, a Filipino, is claiming the right for the invention of the Sing-Along-System (SAS) that eventually led to the development of Karaoke, a Japanese term for "singing without accompaniment". Among del Rosario's other inventions were the Trebel Voice Color Code (VCC), the piano tuner's guide, the piano keyboard stressing device, the voice color tape, and the one-man-band (OMB). The OMB was later developed as the Sing-Along-System (SAS).





Gregorio Zara of Lipa City and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology invented the two-way television telephone or videophone in 1955 patented as a "photo phone signal separator network."









2. Lunar Rover


Filipinos consider Eduardo San Juan as the inventor of the Lunar Rover, or more popularly known as the Moon Buggy. The Moon Buggy was the car used by Neil Armstrong and other astronauts when they first explored the moon in 1969.

Eduardo San Juan, a graduate of Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), worked for Lockheed Corporation and conceptualized the design of the Moon Buggy that the Apollo astronauts used while in the moon. As a NASA engineer, San Juan reportedly used his Filipino ingenuity to build a vehicle that would run outside the Earth's atmosphere. He constructed his model using homemade materials. In 1978, San Juan received one of the Ten Outstanding Men (TOM) awards in science and technology.




San Juan, however, was not listed as the inventor of the Moon Buggy in American scientific journals. It said the vehicle was designed and constructed by a group of space engineers. In Poland, the Moon Buggy is attributed to a Polish inventor.




1. Incubator


An incubator is an apparatus used to maintain environmental conditions suitable for newborn baby. It is used in pre-term births;or for some ill full-term babies.


Fe del Mundo, the first Asian to have entered the prestigious Harvard University's School of Medicine, is also credited for her studies that led to the invention of incubator and jaundice relieving device. Del Mundo, an International Pediatric Association (IPA) awardee, is an alumna of the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine. Since 1941, she has contributed more than 100 articles to medical journals in the U.S., Philippines and India. In 1966, she received the Elizabeth Blackwell Award, for her "outstanding service to mankind". In 1977, she was bestowed the Ramon Magsaysay Award for outstanding public service.

Your World... at Your Fingertips

Daniel Bulaong enjoys using his Sony Ericson K610i with its slim, elegant with a back-lit keypad and large screen. Daniel also commends the easy accesibility the most used phone's functions with just one or two steps. Through this phone, Daniel thinks that when he deserves a break, his enjoyment is at his fingertips to entertain him with the music, video, and 3D games features of his phone.


He uses the media player of his phone to groove in to the pop and alternative music. Video calling feature of this phone gives him the ease of communicating with his girlfriend and family.








A simple touch is all it takes for Jerico Dela Cruz to communicate with family and friends. The finger-friendly Sony Ericson G700 is all about simplicity and ease of use with its touch-screen operation. Jerico just have to touch the screen to navigate his phone. Its one amazing feature also is the handwriting recognition wherein you just input a text using a stylus on touchscreen and it will transform into a corresponding letters on a keyboard.


As a camwhore person, Jerico enjoys taking photos of himself and others as well with his phone's 3.2 megapixel camera. When the picture needs improving, he can use Photo Fix. As a fan of RnB, Soul, and Pop Music, his phone's media manager consists all of these kinds of songs.









For Michael Angelo Elefante, there's no better way to keep in touch with his friends than with Nokia 2600 classic with its 1000-entry phone book and large message storage. He also keeps in contact with SMS, MMS, email, and Nokia Xpress Audio Messaging.


It also captures images and videos in dazzling color with the digital VGA camera and video recorder. He enjoys music and news on the move with its FM radio. He can also share pictures, ringtones, and video clips with his friends and family using Bluetooth.



Carmelo Rei Santos also has the same phone as Michael. Carmelo isn't much of a chatter in personal but he is talkative.... through texting.

Carmelo isn't a camwhore. The VGA camera and video of his phone are seldom used. But... there are times that he feels taking a photo of himself for his Facebook account. In fact, his picture here is taken using his Nokia 2600 classic.



The LG CE110 allows Kimberly Supan to talk handsfree with the latest full-duplex speakerphone feature of the phone. She communicates with buddies using instant messaging or mobile email. Also, she can capture great close-ups shots using the VGA camera with 4x zoom, then send these photos to family and friends using multimedia messaging and Bluetooth technology.