Archive for the ‘Brands’ Category

Dell offers end-users power to do more

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

Dell tackles current trends of workforce mobility and consumerisation of IT by offering a complete end-to-end ecosystem of end-point devices, solutions and services – to bestow maximum productivity to end-users in our fast-paced environment.

Chue Chee Wei, Marketing Director, South Asia and Korea Marketing for Dell.

Chue Chee Wei, Marketing Director, South Asia and Korea Marketing for Dell.

I was invited by Dell to listen to how the computer maker envisages the technology landscape and how it plans to cater to different end-users with very different needs.

Slide 1: Changing technology landscape and end-user profile.

Slide 1: Changing technology landscape and end-user profile.

Chue Chee Wei, Marketing Director, South Asia and Korea Marketing for Dell, gave a quick rundown of how the technology landscape and user profile are trending (see Slide 1).

Slide 2: Transformation of computing

Slide 2: Transformation of computing.

As a result of the changing landscape, work computing is undergoing transformation from the traditional highly-controlled and rigid framework – to one in which employees are given much more flexibility in terms of the devices they can use, the level of access, and the ability to access corporate IT anytime, anywhere (see Slide 2).

The organisational challenges to change and adapt current entrenched enterprise IT frameworks and practices are giving many a CIOs sleepless nights, worrying about potential security compromises on the road to recent phenomenons such as BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices).

Organisational challenges facing the CIO.

Slide 3: Organisational challenges facing the CIO.

Chue sees two main tracks in tackling these organisational challenges – managing technology and managing people (see Slide 3).

Chue’s vision for Dell end-user computing

“End-user computing is about delivering open, capable and affordable solutions for an evolving workforce,” says Chue Chee Wei, Marketing Director, South Asia and Korea Marketing for Dell.

To help enterprises and end-uses surmount these challenges, Dell is also placing much emphasis in enabling this transformation.

The company has taken on a customer-inspired design approach across a complete portfolio of systems, services and solutions.

It strives to ensure a seamless experience across multiple devices, operating systems and applications.

And it aims to provide tailored solutions optimised for management, security and productivity.

Simplify technology & people management, improve productivity.

Slide 4: Simplify technology & people management, improve productivity.

As a result, technology and people management are simplified while productivity is improved (see Slide 4).

Chue emphasised that Dell does a lot more than making computers.

Dell’s solution continuum.

Slide 5: Dell’s solution continuum.

It delivers a solution continuum that spans desktop virtualisation, mobility & collaboration, management, security and cloud, service and support (see Slide 5).

Some of these are provided by companies that were – leaders in their areas of expertise – that Dell has acquired over the years.

Dell’s updated line-up.

Slide 6: Dell’s updated line-up.

Dell’s updated computing line-up

Dell also set up and briefed on its updated line-up of computers (see Slide 6). These comprises a whole range of notebooks and desktops that cater to the computing needs of different end-users.

Of note is that Dell is positioning its high-end XPS ultrabooks – which has traditionally been targeted towards consumers – to attract corporate users looking to use their personal high-spec’ed notebooks for work as well.

This is indeed a shrewd cross-over move by Dell to exploit the BYOD phenomenon.

(Slides provided by Dell. Click to enlarge.)

New Android smartphones: Samsung Ace 2 and beam

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

Samsung has launched two new Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) smartphones. Both the GALAXY Ace 2 (S$438) and GALAXY beam (S$648) will be available in July. Prices include GST but excludes line contract.

GALAXY Ace 2 (left, S$438) and the GALAXY beam (right, S$648).

GALAXY Ace 2 (left, S$438) and the GALAXY beam (right, S$648).

You’ve seen the Nikon compact camera that comes with a built in projector. Now there is a smartphone that comes with a built-in projector – the GALAXY beam.

GALAXY beam

The built-in projector of the GALAXY beam lets users spontaneously share photos, videos or other digital media with family or friends by beaming content stored on the device directly onto walls, ceilings or improvised flat surfaces.

The GALAXY beam comes with a built in 15 lumens projector.

The GALAXY beam comes with a built in 15 lumens projector.

No need to huddle around a tiny smartphone or tablet screens. Project full-screen video clips at up to 50 inches wide with the GALAXY beam’s bright 15 lumens projector.

Both smartphones run on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and will ship in July.

Both smartphones run on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and will ship in July.

Other than that, the GALAXY beam has a 4-inch (480×800 WVGA) TFT display, 5-megapixel AF rear camera with flash, and a 1.3-megapixel front camera.

A large 2,000mAH battery feeds the projector. Despite having a built-in projector, the GALAXY Beam is only 12.5mm thick, and comes with a USB 2.0 port and 8GB of internal memory, as well as a microSD slot for up to 32GB of external memory.

The GALAXY beam will be available from 7 July at S$648.

GALAXY Ace 2

The GALAXY Ace 2 is the affordable successor to the GALAXY Ace from last year.

With a 3.8-inch (480×800 WVGA) PLS TFT display, it has a 5-megapixel AF rear camera with flash, and a VGA front camera.

The GALAXY Ace 2 has a 1,500mAH battery and comes with a USB 2.0 port and 4GB of internal memory, as well as a microSD slot for up to 32GB of external memory.

The GALAXY Ace 2 will be available in July at S$438.

Samsung rolls out locally developed edutainment apps

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

Samsung has rolled out more than 40 new interactive edutainment apps in partnership with Singapore developers. These apps will be available on Samsung smart mobile devices.

Overview of content strategy and edutainment apps by Winston Goh, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Communications, Samsung Asia

Overview of content strategy and edutainment apps by Winston Goh, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Communications, Samsung Asia

The 40 new apps are entertaining, intuitive, social and visual in nature and allows users to engage in self-learning experiences, whether at home or on-the-go.

The suite of edutainment apps includes:

  • Mandarin Speaking Skills for Kids: comprises speech interactive exercises to build Mandarin speaking skills for kids from Primary 1 to 6.
  • Zalairos Adventures: comprises 25 e-books for kids aged between 5-10 years old to improve vocabulary, reading and comprehension skills.
  • Skoolbo Core Skills: comprises more than 50,000 questions designed for kids aged between 4-10 years old to improve mathematics and language skills.
  • PREPTEST: standardized self-assessment modules and admission guidelines for GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test), SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and more.

Samsung is working with the developer community to promote the creation of interesting educational content.

The company commits the tools, resources, technical content and support that app developers require, to create rich applications optimised for its GALAXY range of tablets and smartphones, as well as the GALAXY Note.

The local app developers that Samsung is working with for this range of edutainment apps are B-Secure Technologies, Prep Zone, iQ-hub and Skoolbo.

Some of these apps, such as those developed by B-Secure Technologies and Prep Zone will be made exclusively available on Samsung mobile devices.

The launch was held at Samsung’s store at Vivocity.

I tried out some of the apps during the launch and it’s quite impressive what our local developers are capable of.

Also launched at the event were Samsung’s two new GALAXY smartphones.

These are the GALAXY beam (S$648) and the GALAXY Ace 2 (S$438).

Both are based on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and will be available this month.

The list of Edutainment Applications and their availability date are listed below.

(more…)

Microsoft showcases a New World of Work

Monday, July 2nd, 2012

I call it N Wow! Microsoft Singapore demonstrated how it has transited from a traditional fixed-room-and-desk office layout, to a Starbucks-style working environment where employees can work at ANY available desk in its six floors of office space at One Marina Boulevard in Singapore.

No more assigned desks. Click to enlarge to see more of the new way of work.

No more assigned desks. Click to enlarge to see more of the new way of work.

What happens to the personal paraphernalia that adorn the typical office cubicle or room?

Well each employee, including Managing Director Jessica Tan, gets a locker to store their personal effects.

Plenty of collaboration spaces.

Plenty of collaboration spaces.

Each desk comes with power-sockets, a wireless mouse and keyboard, and a Samsung monitor that comes with a privacy screen.

Nothing else – not even a phone.

A single cable from the monitor plugs into the employee’s laptop.

In addition to connecting the display to the monitor, the same cable also provides Internet connection to the laptop, as well as control over the wireless mouse and keyboard.

Every floor has a "landing area" at the entrance - a convenient rendezvous point.

Every floor has a “landing area” at the entrance – a convenient rendezvous point.

Why isn’t there a phone?

Employees rely on Microsoft’s Lync telephony and collaboration solution which allows them to communicate using the Internet.

It is now as easy to work from home as it is to work in the office.

Yet more employees prefer to come physically to the office than to work from home – because of the more open and spontaneous collaborative environment the revamp has facilitated.

For a start, there’re no walls and cubicles between employees.

Workers can choose a private booth to dock-in if they really need to work on or discuss about something really confidential.

But by-and-large, most work in the open, at one of the docking desks.

Overview of rooms and workstations. Reminiscent of Metro UI?

Overview of rooms and workstations. Reminiscent of Metro UI?

Microsoft Singapore invited the regional media to walk around their operational offices to see this concept live.

I suppose this is Microsoft’s way of demonstrating how their technology can help enterprises and businesses adapt to the latest trends of work, where people tend to collaborate more in the course of work.

Instead of a concept demo, Microsoft is showing how they walk the talk – in fact, they’ve been working this concept in Amsterdam for the past five years..

And it was an impressive walkabout – to see what many organisations have only talked or dreamed about.

Samsung SUR40Pixelsense. Seen at Microsoft Technology Centre at One Marina Boulevard in Singapore.

Achilles Formula Drift Series in Singapore

Sunday, July 1st, 2012

An action-packed weekend at the Changi Exhibition Centre as more than 9,000 drift-racing fans attended the two-day competition sponsored by Canon. The event was telecast on ESPN.

Achilles Formula Drift Singapore 30 June & 1 July 2012

Achilles Formula Drift Singapore 30 June & 1 July 2012

32-year-old Daigo Saito from the Achilles Drift Team defended his title from last year, beating Indonesia’s 20-year-old Rio Saputro Budihardjo in an exciting final.

Daigo Saito finishes the final run of the competition in style. Recorded with an HTC One S smartphone.

Malaysia’s Hanizam Hamzah took the third place on the podium after beating fourth-placed Robbie Nishida from the US.

The japanese drove a Lexus IS-C which has already won him the Malaysian leg of the Formula Drift Asia series.

Daigo Saito on his way to the final. Recorded with a Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone.

The next leg of the Achilles Formula Drift Series will take place in September in Bangkok, while the final leg will be in Jakarta in November.

Saturday also saw the first Canon Nations Cup which was won by Nishida and Ken Gushi of Team USA.

Adventurer Khoo Swee Chiow to climb K2

Monday, June 25th, 2012

Singaporean adventurer and motivational speaker Khoo Swee Chiow will attempt to scale the summit of K2, the world’s second highest mountain, with the support of title sponsor Seagate Technology.

Khoo Swee Chiow will climb K2, one of the most notorious mountains in the world. Photo by Kevin Mayea.

Khoo Swee Chiow will climb K2, one of the most notorious mountains in the world. Photo by Kevin Mayea.

The Seagate K2 2012 expedition, from 20 June to 20 August, will see Khoo Swee Chiow join an international team of 13 climbers from China, South Korea, USA, Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, Spain, Nepal and Singapore.

“Swee Chiow has shown incredible tenacity and determination in realizing his dreams. His expeditions have made it possible for him to instill confidence, leadership and excellence in thousands of people through motivational talks,” said BanSeng Teh, senior vice president and managing director for Asia Pacific & Japan, Seagate Technology.Khoo Swee Chiow and his team will be climbing the mountain along the Abruzzi Ridge, otherwise known as the Southeast Ridge, from the Pakistani border.

On this climb, Khoo Swee Chiow is taking Seagate Backup Plus hard drives to store and backup his photos, videos and journal files for him to share his story when he returns.

Seagate’s newly designed external storage – Backup Plus hard drives – deliver easy setup, one-click backup and the ability to save and share content on Facebook and Flickr.

In addition to Seagate Technology, they will be supported by other sponsors including Microsoft, Canon, Millet, Adventure21, Iridium, Energizer, Oakley, Touch&Print, Banana Boat, Powertraveller, GoPro and Meteorological Service Singapore.

“K2 will be the hardest climb of my life, much harder than Everest. After more than 20 years of climbing, I feel the time has come for me to give it a go,” said Khoo Swee Chiow, who first climbed Everest in 1998.Standing at an elevation of 8,611 metres above sea level, K2 is known for its high level of difficulty and notoriously high casualty rate.

It has a daunting death rate of 26 percent per ascent, six times higher than that of the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest.

To date, only 302 climbers have successfully reached K2’s peak, a number that pales in comparison to Everest’s 3,500.

TomTom expands mapping footprint in Asia Pacific region

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

Here are some CommunicAsia2012 highlights of TomTom’s latest map products for the Asia Pacific region, which includes new coverage and features for automotive, enterprise and government customers.

TomTom expands mapping footprint in Asia Pacific region with map updates

TomTom expands mapping footprint in Asia Pacific region with map updates

But TomTom is gearing up for something big come July. And I mean BIG – literally! Check in on 5 July to find out more.

In the meantime, here are more details of TomTom’s latest map update release.

  • The introduction of Voice Maps in Thai and Bahasa Indonesian; the first Voice Maps product supporting tonal languages where different tones distinguish different meanings of a word.
  • Visualization enhanced with additional 3D Landmarks for important buildings, 2D building footprints and Junction Views for complex intersections throughout the region.
  • The debut of lane and signpost information added in inner-city areas of central Bangkok, enabling easier, more efficient and safer routing.
  • The street network in over 100 cities in India and nearly 83,000 km in China upgraded to full attribution, supporting the most demanding navigation applications.
  • Continuous coverage and content expansion and improvements in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Viet Nam.
  • The addition of nearly 1 million Address Points throughout the region to support accurate geocoding and navigation.

Photo Contest: Home Without Walls (Open Category)

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012

SingTel has launched the Open Category of the “Home Without Walls” photo contest. The contest is open to all Singaporeans from today to 5 August, 2012; and has a top prize of S$2,500.

SingTel "Home Without Walls" campaign photography contest Open Category

This contest is part of a series of activities under the “Home Without Walls” campaign.

The campaign aims to inspire Singaporeans to connect with their families and forge stronger bonds with their loved ones.

The Grand Prize winner for the Open Category contest will walk away with S$2,500, and the individual winners for each of the four category themes will enjoy S$500 in cash prize.

This photo contest is open to all Singaporeans and submission is done through the SingTel FaceBook page.

Photographs can be taken with any camera, including mobile devices. Selected entries will be collated into a set of limited edition postcards which will be distributed at a later stage.

Winning photographs from each category will be published by SingTel.

Judging panel

  • Mr Lim Soon Hock
    – Chairman of National Family Council and the Centre for Fathering
  • Ms Daphne Ling
    – Winner of the ‘Best Parenting Blog’ at the Singapore Blog Awards 2011
  • Mr Suhaimi Abdullah
    – Grand Prize Winner of the Professional Category photo contest

TODAY! Canon EOS-1D X available in Singapore

Friday, June 22nd, 2012

Canon’s flagship DSLR is now available in Singapore at S$9,299 (body only).

Canon EOS-1D X is available in Singapore from today at S$9,299 (body only).

Canon EOS-1D X is available in Singapore from today at S$9,299 (body only).

First announced in October last year, the Canon EOS-1D X is now available in Singapore from today.

Key features include:

  • Record-breaking continuous shooting speed of 12 frames-per-second, making it the world’s fastest full-frame DSLR
  • New Dual DIGIC 5+ image processor
  • 18.1MP full-frame (35mm) sensor
  • Image noise control improved by 2 stops
  • Next generation high-density reticular 61-point AF system

Find out more about the Canon EOS-1D X here.

Preview of Windows Phone 8

Thursday, June 21st, 2012

Windows Phone 8 will get a Start screen facelift; share technology core with Windows 8; support for NFC, in-app purchases and eWallet; more developer tools; and better security for enterprise use.

But existing Windows Phone 7.5 users will only get the revamped Start screen through an upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8.

Microsoft gave a preview of what Windows Phone 8 will be at the Windows Phone Summit in San Francisco.

Windows Phone 8 will probably arrive end of the year although it’s anybody’s guess when Windows Phone 7.8 will be available.The immediate cosmetic change to the user-interface is the Start screen.

In addition to the current square tiles and rectangular (twice the width of the square tiles) tiles, there is now a third size for tiles.

This is what I call the “mini-square” tile. Each of these is a square tile a quarter the size of the original square tile.

Microsoft gave a preview of what Windows Phone 8 will be at the Windows Phone Summit in San Francisco.Whereas Windows Phone 7.5 does not allow users to specify which tile to use for an app – Windows Phone 8 will let users specify which tile size to use for each app.

Bigger tile for more frequently used apps (or to display more live information), and smaller tiles for less used apps.

The smaller tiles also allows more tiles/apps to be displayed on each screen to minimise scrolling.

The future of Windows Phone: Windows Phone 8Existing Windows Phone 7.5 users will get this revamped Start screen through an upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8 (no date given), but that’s pretty much all they’ll get – they will NOT be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 8 when it becomes available end of the year.

Yes, some who have just bought spanking new Windows 7.5 phones are complaining that they’re now landed with “obsolete” handsets.

Microsoft says that Windows Phone 8 is a generation shift in technology so it will not run on existing hardware.

Read more details about Windows Phone 8 on the official Windows Phone Blog.