Archive for April, 2012

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New portable hard drive: WD My Passport Studio 2TB

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Western Digital has introduced My Passport Studio – its first 2TB portable drive dedicated for Mac users. It is available now at S$369.

Western Digital My Passport Studio 2TB portable hard drive, S$369 for Macs.

Western Digital My Passport Studio 2TB portable hard drive, S$369 for Macs.

The new My Passport Studio portable drive maintains its elegant and protective all-metal casing to complement the MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.

All-metal casing to match MacBooks.

All-metal casing to match MacBooks.

It is compatible with Apple Time Machine for quick and easy automatic backup of Mac hard drives, allowing Mac users to use one drive for the protection and transport of virtually all their digital content, everywhere they go.

In addition to the USB 2.0 interface, My Passport Studio has two high performance FireWire 800 ports.

The dual FireWire ports provide blazing fast upload and transfer speeds while also allowing users to daisy chain additional drives or other peripherals such as HD camcorders.

My Passport Studio also features hardware-based encryption and password protection software, and an all-metal design constructed for scratch resistance and a sturdy feel in your hand.

WD had just launched its My Passport 2TB portable hard drive last week.

 

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Posted in Accessories, Availability, Gadgets, Mac OS, storage drive, Western Digital | 4 Comments »

Can’t afford a Leica S2? Rent one!

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

The Leica S2 comes with a hefty price-tag: S$32,550. Now you can rent one from the Camera Rental Centre, at S$588 per day, together with a choice of two lenses.

The medium format professional camera system - Leica S2.

The medium format professional camera system - Leica S2.

The available lenses are the Elmarit-S 30mm f/2.8, Summarit-S 35mm f/2.5, Summarit-S 70mm f/2.5 and the APO-Macro Summarit-S f/2.5.

“This rental program offers photographers a chance to test-drive the S2 under their preferred time and desired duration,” said Sunil Kaul, Managing Director of Leica Camera Asia Pacific.The retail prices for these lenses range from S$6,560 to S$9,630.

Special arrangements can be made to cater time for photographers who wish to get acquainted with the 37.5-megapixel camera before using it for a shoot.

Upon request, Leica lens adapters for the Mamiya 645, Pentax 67 and Hasselblad V system are available too, at no extra charge.

Camera Rental Centre
email: info@camerarental.biz
tel: +65 9650 4158

The medium-format Leica S2 is built with a weather-sealed body that ensures that photographers can shoot even in the most extreme conditions.

High-speed, accurate autofocus aids photographers to nail the perfect shot, frame after frame.

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Posted in Announce, Availability, DSLR, Gadgets, Leica, Lens, Photography, Prices, Specifications | No Comments »

Facebook to buy Instagram photo app for US$1 billion

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

US$100 billion Facebook Inc has agreed to fork out US$1 billion in cash and stock to acquire the photo-sharing application for smartphones. The deal is expected to be completed this quarter.

Is Instagram worth one-hundredth of Facebook?

Is Instagram worth one-hundredth of Facebook?

Facebook is probably looking at attracting the users of mobile devices through its acquisition of Instagram – its biggest acquisition yet.

“Instagram, owned by San Francisco-based Burbn Inc, was valued at $500 million after raising about $60 million last week from investors,” Bloomberg was told.The idea is to attract the advertisers interested in reaching the mobile users.

Instagram started out as the top free photo-sharing app on Apple’s App Store with more than 30 million users.

Only last week, the company introduced the app for Android devices as well.

Instagram has only 13 employees so the offer works out to some US$76 million per employee, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“We need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook. That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently,” – Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook fanpage.Instagram was launched in October 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger with a seed funding of about US$500,000.

It subsequently raised US$7 million in 2011, when it had 1.75 million users, according to Bloomberg.

California-based Facebook is the biggest social-networking service today and intends to raise US$5 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) – which is to date the biggest IPO for an Internet company, valuing it at US$100 billion.

Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said it plans to let Instagram retain its independence, in an effort to reassure Instagram users and potential advertisers.

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Posted in Android, Announce, App, Facebook, Facebook, Figures, Internet, iOS, Opinion, Photography, Software, Tech news, Tickers | No Comments »

Event: I AM NIKON DAY

Monday, April 9th, 2012

Nikon Singapore will be organising “I AM NIKON DAY” on the weekend of 28-29 April at the Raffles City Convention Centre. The event is free and open to all photography enthusiasts.

Walk-in auditions for The Big Shot Season 3 will also take place at the same venue during the photography weekend.

I AM NIKON DAY - 28 and 29 April 2012 (Raffles City Convention Centre)

I AM NIKON DAY - 28 and 29 April 2012 (Raffles City Convention Centre)

Online registration of seats begins today (here) and is based on a First-come-first-served basis. Registration closes on 25 April.

Event I AM NIKON DAY
(Talks & Workshops)
Date 28 & 29 Apr 2012
Time 11 am to 7 pm
Venue Raffles City Convention Centre
Location Level 4, Atrium Ballroom

Nikon’s Professional Photographers (such as award winning photographer Stefen Chow) and guest photographers will be speaking at the photography weekend, sharing their experience and expertise on a range of topics for beginner photographers and seasoned amateurs.

Speakers include past winners of “The Big Shot Season 1” (Liew Tong Leng) and “The Big Shot Season 2” (Affandy Razak).

Check out the list of speakers and the detailed programme here.

The Big Shot Season 3 (Audition)

Event The Big Shot Season 3
(Audition)
Date 28 & 29 Apr 2012
Time 10 am to 8 pm
Venue Raffles City Convention Centre
Location Level 4, Orchard Ballroom

Auditions for “The Big Shot Season 3” will also be held during the weekend. This third installment of the photography reality television series will air in 2012.

The competition is open to the public for photographers aged 18 and above. Detailed requirements can be found here.

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Posted in Cameras, Contest, DSLR, Nikon, Photography, Seminars | 1 Comment »

Photos: iLight 2012

Sunday, April 8th, 2012

I brought the kids down to the Merlion Park last Sunday to catch the last day of the iLight Marina Bay 2012. The lighting display was beautiful, while the kids enjoyed the “DIY” light-painting of the Merlion – despite the hour-long queue.

The lasers were not out yet because it was still early. The rainbow lights from the boats provided its own light display.

The lasers were not out yet because it was still early. The rainbow lights from the boats provided its own light display.

The iLight Marina Bay 2012 lasted from 9 March to 1 April 2012 this year.

This was the second edition of the sustainable light art festival, which was first organised last year.

Merlion during iLight Marina Bay 2012It was organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in collaboration with Smart Light Singapore.

The lighting festival had the photography community in Singapore abuzz with excitement as photographers, both professionals and amateurs, flocked to the vicinity to snap beautiful pictures of the light.

Children loved the Merlion light-painting.

Using a large touch-screen monitor, they could select parts of the Merlion and then paint it with a colour of their choice from a colour palette.

Brightly-garbed Merlion spewing its blessings onto the Esplanade.

Brightly-garbed Merlion spewing its blessings onto the Esplanade.

As they filled in the colours, coloured light was projected onto the actual Merlion statue, according to their selections.

The Merlion has never been more spoilt for choice when it came to choosing his party clothes.

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Posted in Exhibition, Photography, Photos | No Comments »

I tried out Cooklet on the BlackBerry PlayBook

Saturday, April 7th, 2012

The free Cooklet app was released on BlackBerry App World on Wednesday, 4 April. I downloaded the 35MB app for my wife who has tried it over the long weekend.

The free Cooklet app can be found in App World on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

The free Cooklet app can be found in App World on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Cooklet App is part of the Cooklet culinary platform, which includes their Facebook page and website which offers recipes, cooking-related utilities.

“I find Multitimer and Converter very useful. I used to use a separate timer, either a mechanical one or my smartphone for timing, and Google for units conversion. Now I can do all that on my PlayBook” – Chef-at-large of the Tan family.Favourite recipes, Cookbooks and Shopping List can be synchronised and are available on all the elements of the platform (Cooklet.com, Cooklet.mobi, Cooklet App).

Cooklet aspires to build a community for food lovers from around the world to exchange cooking experiences and encourage others to improve their skills.

Installation was easy and fast. Go into App World on the PlayBook, do a search for Cooklet, click the Download button.

The app's home screen offers various ways of looking up recipes.

The app's home screen offers various ways of looking up recipes.

Once the app is downloaded and installed, you’re good to go.

The home screen of the app comprises four panes, offering different ways to search for recipes: based on ratings, recently added, picture thumbnails based on a them (eg Easter 2012) and Quick Pick search based on which meal you want to prepare for and how much time you have to prepare the meal.

The Converter tool is very useful when perusing the recipes.

The Converter tool is very useful when perusing the recipes.

Swiping downwards from the top edge of the PlayBook reveals the options for the app.

Amongst these are tools such as “Multitimer”, units “Converter”, and “Shopping List”.

From any recipe, you can send the ingredients to the shopping list with the click of a button.

There is a large repository of recipes available.

There is a large repository of recipes available.

There is also the traditional keyword search for recipes.

Results can be sorted by Relevancy, Rating, Difficulty, Time needed etc.

For those with a free user account with Cooklet.com, you can access saved recipes from “My Cookbooks” after logging in.

Quick Pick search makes it easy to find the right dish for any meal.

Quick Pick search makes it easy to find the right dish for any meal.

The recipe has a large collection, and the various ways of searching/browsing for recipes makes it easy to look for an appropriate dish for any occasion.

Just a word of caution though, keep the PlayBook well clear of all the flour and raw materials, as well as the oven, unless “PlayBook Cordon Bleu Au Gratin” is part of the menu.

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Posted in App, BlackBerry, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Food, Gadgets, PlayBook, RIM, Software, Tablets | No Comments »

RIM becomes Premier Sponsor for Echelon 2012

Friday, April 6th, 2012

Research In Motion (RIM) will be giving BlackBerry PlayBook tablets and BlackBerry smartphones as prizes for the startup winning team and participants.

Echelon 2012 in SingaporeWinners will also receive free membership into the BlackBerry Alliance Program, which includes technical and marketing benefits.

Sponsors for the startup entrepreneur's competition.

Echelon 2012 is a two-day, double-track event on 11 and 12 June 2012 at NUS with over 1,100 delegates, and a demo pit of up to 50 regional startups per day and various workshops.

It is organised by e27, a media organisation focused on the Asian technology startup community.

Representatives from RIM will also be speaking and judging at some of the Echelon
2012’s upcoming Satellites – shortlisting sessions for selecting the finalists for the actual event.

Other sponsors for the event includes Global Brain venture capital, Amazon Web Services, and Lenovo.

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Posted in Amazon, Contest, Lenovo, RIM, Tech news | No Comments »

New portable hard drive: WD My Passport 2TB

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Western Digital has announced the first 2TB portable drive in its My Passport line. It is available now at S$319. Review here. (Update: WD has also launched the My Passport Studio 2TB for Mac users for S$369.)

Western Digital My Passport 2TB portable hard drive, S$319.

Western Digital My Passport 2TB portable hard drive, S$319.

With a new enclosure design, the 2TB My Passport portable drive has an outer shell that is resistant to scratches and fingerprints.

My Passport portable drives come in many colours.

My Passport portable drives come in many colours.

My Passport portable drives feature fast USB 3.0 connectivity; USB 2.0 compatibility; continuous, automatic backup software; and password protection with hardware encryption.

The included software offers the flexibility to customize the drive to a user’s storage preferences: installing all features, only the components needed, or using the drive without the software.

Below is the fact sheet for the hard drive.

(more…)

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Posted in Announce, Gadgets, Prices, Specifications, storage drive, Western Digital | 2 Comments »

US$1million for complete access to your computer?

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Norton has unveiled the findings of its latest survey which provides insights into Singaporeans’ Internet dependence, the importance of their personal information and their level of understanding when it comes to Internet security.

Say it with numbers - from Norton's survey of Internet Security.

Say it with numbers – from Norton’s survey of Internet Security.

Last year, Norton did an interesting survey that revealed that phone owners in Singapore were willing to pay an average of S$148 to get their lost/stolen phones back, in order to alleviate the stress and inconvenience losing their mobile phones.

This year, Norton found that 76 percent of Internet users in Singapore would rather forgo US$1million than give strangers unlimited access to their computers.

The key findings are highlighted in the info-graphic above, while the details are at the end of this post.

Protection

So what does Symantec have to protect the multitude of PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets in the modern household?

Norton will be offering Norton 360 Everywhere in the first half of 2012 (Pricing and systems requirements to be announced at launch).

Norton 360 Everywhere promises to be an easy-to-manage, all-in-one security solution that delivers a multi-platform solution for PCs, Macs, Android-based phones and tablets.

Users can customise their security to meet their specific needs, be it against online threats, data loss, and device loss or theft.

The details of the survey is excerpted below.

(more…)

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Posted in Desktops, Figures, Gadgets, Internet, Norton, Notebooks, Phones, Security, Study, Tablets | 1 Comment »

New voice recorders: Olympus WS-811 and WS-812

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

The new WS-811 (S$158) and WS-812 (S$188) incorporate newly-developed, high sensitivity, low noise directional microphones ensuring the human voice is captured in optimal stereo quality. Available now.

The new Olympus WS-811 (S$158) and WS-812 (S$188) voice recorders are available now.

The new Olympus WS-811 (S$158) and WS-812 (S$188) voice recorders are available now.

The Olympus WS-811 and WS-812 promise a high signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio for pure-sounding recordings.

Olympus WS-811

Olympus WS-811

The two models also allow recording levels to be set manually to ensure complete user control.

Files can be saved in mp3 or WMA format

These multi-function devices combine a stereo recorder with USB stick and mp3 player functionality.

Playback speed can be adjusted to allow for quick and easy perusal of file contents to boost efficiency.

Files can now be located more easily due to the Calendar Search function.

This allows recordings to be found via the date they were created.

Scanning through and listening to the files is also made more comfortable and fast due to playback speeds up to 3.5x quicker than normal on the WS-812 (2x speed on the WS-811).

These slender, lightweight audio recorders require only one AAA-type battery and deliver up to 27 hours of recording time (in LP mode).

Calendar search screen

Calendar search screen

The internal memories of the Olympus WS-811 (2GB) and WS-812 (4GB) can be extended with a microSD Card slot enabling up to 32GB of additional storage capacity.

An integrated USB port provides USB stick functionality and facilitate the fast and easy transfer of files directly to and from a computer, without the need for cables.

Battery life has been extended. The new sub-CPU and audio codec, power consumption is reduced by around 8% allowing 27 hours or more of recording with a single AAA-type alkaline battery.

Olympus WS-812

Olympus WS-812

Additional features of the WS-812

The WS-812 incorporate CD-quality 44.1k/16bit PCM (WAV) recording.

Sound recording levels can be set manually.

Voice Playback technology distinguishes the human voice from other sounds so that non-voice portions are skipped and only those with voice are played back.

Fluctuating sound levels because of soft or loud voices, or due to people speaking from various distances from the microphone, are balanced out by the Voice Balancer function.

Recordings may also be played back using the Voice Changer feature (WS-812) that lets the frequency and playback speed of voice to be adjusted to suit individual needs and preferences.

Files can also be simply moved between folders for better organization.

Main features of the Olympus WS-811 and WS-812 are listed below.

(more…)

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Posted in Availability, Gadgets, Olympus, Prices, Recorder, Specifications | 1 Comment »

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