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Philippine wireless leader Smart Communications, Inc. is on a roll, winning big at the 2012 Asia Communication Awards at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel in Singapore last night. The Philippine carrier won three awards, tying with Huawei for the most number of awards received that night. Smart was named Operator of the Year for the second straight year, beating out heavyweights SingTel, StarHub, Telstra Global, and Unitel. Smart also won the Innovation Award for its Smart Netphone , while its m-health platform SHINE (Secured Health Information Network and Exchange) nabbed the award for Emerging Market Initiative. Perry Bayani (middle), Sales and Customer Service Group Head, and Gio Bacareza (left), Telco Plus Product Managemet Department Head, receiving the awards of Smart from Paul Michael Scanlan, Huawei Vice President for Solution, Sales & Marketing. Smart was also shortlisted in three other categories and is the only Philippine carrier to figure out in the list. Ea...

Coming hard on the heels of its recent triple victory at the Telecom Asia Awards , Philippine wireless operator Smart Communications  has just earned six nods at the Asia Communication Awards 2012, the most of any operator. Smart is a finalist in the categories for Customer Service Initiative (for Jump Experience Center), Emerging Market Initiative (for Secured Health Information Network and Exchange, or SHINE ), Green Technology Award (for Smart Green Merchandising), Innovation Award (for Smart Netphone), Social Media Initiative (for SmartCares), and Operator of the Year. ( For the full list of nominees, click here . )

Philippine mobile operator Smart Communications set a record three wins at the 15th Telecom Asia Awards last night (April 19, 2012) in Bangkok, Thailand. This is reportedly the first time in Telecom Asia's history that a single carrier bagged three trophies in one night. ( Axiata may have also won three in 2010 but its third win was by its Malaysian subsidiary Celcom, technically a separate carrier. ) Napoleon Nazereno (center), Smart's President and CEO Shortlisted in four categories, Smart won for Best Emerging Market Carrier while its President and CEO, Napoleon Nazareno, was named Telecom CEO of the Year. Nazareno also gave the opening keynote at Telecom Asia's Telco Strategies conference yesterday. Smart also won in the Best Community Telecom Project for its mobile health platform SHINE (Secured Health Information Network and Exchange; read more about SHINE here ).

So the cute one trumps the doberman at the inaugural Golden Collar Awards, which honors canine actors in film and television. Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier of "The Artist" fame, claimed the trophy for Best Dog in a Theatrical Film last Monday (Feb. 13), edging out last-minute nominee and fierce rival Blackie, the doberman from "Hugo." Uggie at the Golden Collar Awards ( Photo source ) Just last month Martin Scorsese, Blackie's director in Hugo, successfully campaigned for the doberman's nomination ( see related post here ). Since then, Blackie and Uggie were constantly pitted against each other as frontrunners for the award, with their "rivalry" heating up as the ceremonies drew close. Scorsese even had to defend Blackie from rumors that the doberman's performance was a product of CGI. Very Hollywood! But all in good fun, I suppose. Although Blackie skipped the ceremony, fans were in full support where at least two Blackie lookalike...

Yes, acclaimed director Martin Scorsese's campaign worked! I'm not talking about the 11 Oscar nods his film Hugo received but the late inclusion of his canine star Blackie the Doberman in the list of nominees for Best Dog in a Theatrical Film in the inaugural Golden Collar Awards. Yes, there's an acting awards derby now for dogs, and rightfully so. Blackie, essaying the role of Maximilian in Scorsese's Hugo . It was in an LA Times op-ed that Scorsese lamented the snub and rallied for the canine's recognition. He pointed at all the fuss over Uggie , that Jack Russell terrier who stole the show at the recent Golden Globes, and who received two nominations, one for the Oscar contender The Artist and another for Water for Elephants starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson.