The new LG G Flex2 is curved along its length and width, with a 5.5-inch curved screen. Available in Singapore on 14 March 2015 at S$998. Pre-order from M1, Singtel and StarHub from 27 February 2015.
The LG G Flex2 (S$998) comes in two colors: Platinum Silver and Flamenco Red. I prefer the red version.
Compared to its predecessor (the 6-inch G Flex), the G Flex2 has a smaller 5.5-inch display, but with increased resolution to 1080p Full HD at 403ppi.
The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive has a Lightning and USB connector and easily increases the memory storage for your iPhone or iPad. Available now in Singapore in 16GB (S$88), 32GB (S$128) and 64GB (S$188).
The iXpand Flash Drive is a powerful, yet simple-to-use solution that quickly transfers photos and videos from an iPhone or iPad to a Mac or PC — all without cables, Internet connections, or bandwidth limitations.
The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive is the storage company’s first USB flash drive designed specifically for the iPhone and iPad.
“According to IDC, nearly three-quarters of all images are now captured on smartphones and tablets. With this significant increase in mobile-generated content, consumers are looking for easy ways to manage it all,” said Mark Eng, Country Manager, Singapore and Malaysia, SanDisk.
First released in the US at the end of 2014, the iXpand is now available in Singapore.
The USB flash drive makes it easy to offload content from your iPhone or iPad to free up the storage of the device, and to upload additional media or documents to the mobile device.
You can also playback music, video and photos; or read documents directly from the device while it is plugged into the Lightning connector of the iPhone/iPad.
On the desktop/notebook, the flash drive has a USB 2.0 port to plug in like any USB thumb drive.
Samsung has launched in Singapore its GALAXY A Series of Android smartphones. The mid-range smartphones include the 4.5-inch A3 (S$448), 5-inch A5 (S$598) and the 5.5-inch A7 (S$TBA).
The A3 and A5 will be available in Singapore on 16 January while the A7 will be available this quarter.
The new GALAXY A series comes in three sizes (from left) – the 5.5-inch A7 (S$TBA), 5-inch A5 (S$598) and the 4.5-inch A3 (S$448).
The A3 and A5 were launched in Korea on 31 October, 2014 while the A7 was launched on 12 January, 2015 in Korea.
I like the thin metallic body of the A-series.
The GALAXY A3 4G will be available from January 16 in Pearl White and Midnight Black, at $448 without contract. The Platinum Silver, Champagne Gold (24 January), and Soft Pink (February) versions will be available later.
The beauty face feature is really interesting.
This offers three ways of enhancing your selfies – skin retouch, eyes enlargement and face-slimming.
There are sliders to let you control how much of the effect to apply, and you can preview the effect as you drag the slider to the left or right.
The skin retouch effect is nothing new and is basically the run-of-the-mill skin blurring functionality which produces instantly-recognisably fake blurred skin.
So it’s good that you can use a slider to limit how much of the effect to apply to avoid appearing too amateurish.
The GALAXY A7 4G will be available this quarter in Pearl White and Midnight Black.
The eyes enlargement effect is really interesting but you have to try-and-error, as the effect can be either flattering or downright weird.
I was most impressed with the face slimming feature. I can see how it’s going to be flattering for many to see their face slimmed slightly.
All three models come with SUPER AMOLED screen for a vivid and colourful display.
The A-series GALAXY smartphones are priced more affordably than Samsung’s two flagship smartphones – the Note and S series.
A dual-SIM phone allows you to stay contactable to your regular contacts yet enables you to take advantage of more affordable local data/voice rates to avoid expensive overseas roaming charges – without having to carry two separate mobile phones.
The Motorola Moto G (2nd Generation) is one of the increasing number of smartphones that support a dual-SIM capability.
Nowadays, it is increasingly easy to get a local SIM card when one travels overseas for work or leisure.
The local SIM allows you to make/receive calls at affordable local rates and more significantly, to stay connected via mobile broadband – without chalking out a huge bill.
But most mobile phones allow only one SIM card to be installed – so if you put in the local SIM card, you’ll have to remove your regular SIM card and become uncontactable to those who call you on your regular number, unless you forward those calls to your local number.
Otherwise, you’d carry a second single-SIM card phone, which is a hassle.
I remember in the early days of smartphones, people were selling dual-SIM card adaptors the size of regular sized SIM cards that you could place two micro SIM cards in.
You’d have to cut your regular sized SIM card yourself into micro SIM card size and it was a daunting proposition for most people to risk damaging your SIM card in the process.
These adaptors only worked for certain models of mobile phones, and you need to switch off and on the phone to switch between the SIM cards.
Fortunately, smartphones have evolved and nowadays, you have dual-SIM card phones that enable you use both SIM cards at the same time.
I brought along a Motorola Moto G (2nd Generation) dual-SIM card phone during my short break to Thailand and it was such a blessing.
There are two micro-SIM card slots so I could keep my regular SIM card in one slot and plug in the prepaid local SIM card that I bought at Suvarnabhumi Airport in the other.
The guy at the True Move counter did all the set up for me.
So after five minutes of queueing and five minutes of installation and payment, I was as connected in Thailand as I was at home back in Singapore.
I could receive roaming calls on my regular number from my friends back in Singapore and other parts of the world, while at the same stay connected on email and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram via the mobile broadband on the local SIM card.
First thing I did when I exited the gates in the Arrival Hall in Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok was to get myself a pre-paid SIM card that gave me a local number for voice calls and seven days of mobile data broadband at 299 THB.
The truemove shop is one of the first things you come across when you exit the gates at the Arrival Hall at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.
Immediately after exiting the gates in the Arrival Hall, you’ll come upon this telco shop that sells pre-paid SIM cards, as well as other mobile plans.
The 7-day prepaid SIM card offered by True Move is one of a few pre-paid mobile plans available in Thailand. This package bundles 7 days of unlimited data, free call credits of 100 THB and incoming call, your own local number, attractive international call rates – all for 299 THB or approximately S$12.
Here’s where you can grab an affordable and convenient pre-paid SIM card that gives you mobile broad band as well as voice calls, and a local number.
I’m here for seven days, so I was delighted to grab the 7-day SIM card that costs 299 THB, or S$12.
You get seven days of free broadband mobile data as well as 100 THB of free call credits, which gives you 100min of local talk time at 1 THB/minute.
The seven days are calendar days and includes the day you bought the card, ending at 2359hrs on the seventh day.
What I found useful was not only the free call credits but having a local number that you can give out for others to contact you via local calls.
My wife can now call me at local rates, through her autoroam.
Otherwise, she would have to make an overseas call just to get me on my Singapore mobile number – you know sometimes we get separated in crowded places, or we deliberately split up to visit different shops etc.
It’s the year-end school holidays and the family decided to take an impromptu short break to Thailand for a week.
Welcome to the Land of Smiles. Here the welcoming facade of our hotel in Hua Hin, Thailand.
We’d initially thought about going to Krabi but it looked so crowded in photos on the Web that we decided to choose somewhere that’s more “off the beaten track”.
So we settled on Hua Hin, a popular weekend getaway for the local Thais in Bangkok.
Time for relaxation. Laidback sculpture in the gardens of our hotel in Hua Hin.
It’s a two-and-a-half hour drive from Bangkok and four-plus-hour journey by train or bus.
Microsoft Devices offers the 5-inch Windows Phone 8.1 phablet at an affordable S$199. The budget phablet comes with a 5-megapixel front camera and dual SIM.
The Lumia 535 Dual SIM will be available in a range of colours including orange, white, cyan and black. Bright green and dark grey are not available for Singapore.
First announced on 10 November in the US, the Lumia 535 will debut in Singapore on 5 December, at an affordable price of S$199.
Lumia 535 sports a 5-inch qHD (960 x 540 pixels, 16:9) IPS made of Gorilla Glass 3 with capacitative touchscreen at resolution of 220ppi.
HTC hopes to reinvent mobile photography and imaging with the HTC Desire EYE “double exposure” smartphone, the RE fun camera, EYE Experience imaging software, and enhanced Zoe video editor.
The HTC Desire EYE will be available in Singapore from 27 November at SITEX 2014 at S$728 S$628, through StarHub and M1.
Errattum:
HTC has updated that the price of the HTC Desire EYE in Singapore during SITEX 2014 to S$728 from the S$628 in the original press release.
HTC Desire EYE (left, in White and Coral Red duotone) phablet and HTC RE (in green) camera.
HTC has announced two new innovative gadgets which I had the chance to preview last week – the RE fun camera and Desire EYE Android phablet – both of which are water proof.
The RE camera will be available from late December onwards. HTC has yet to announce its price tag in Singapore.
As a pioneer of 2-in-1 mobile devices, ASUS offers with the PadFone S the portability of the smartphone and the larger screen of a tablet by selling both at the price of one device.
Two colours are available for the ASUS PadFone S – Dark Ruby (shown above) and Pure White. Photo: ASUS Singapore.
The PadFone S was launched in Singapore on 14 October, 2014 together with 11 other new mobile and computing products.
The PadFone S is a 5-inch Android smartphone that comes with a PadFone S Station.
The PadFone S I reviewed was the Pure White version. Normal retail price: S$449.
You can use the PadFone S on its own like any smartphone or you can slot it into the back of the PadFone S Station and use the combination as an 8.9-inch tablet, leveraging the larger backlit Super IPS display of the Station.
The PadFone S retails for S$449 normally but until 2 November, you can purchase it at S$399 and receive a 1-year Screen Replacement Warranty free.
There is also a Facebook contest by ASUS Singapore with a PadFone S up for grabs.
Simply Like, Post, Tag and Share by 4 November.
You can’t use the PadFone S Station on its own though, because it is simply a dumb display with no computer processors within.
Actually, the Station has more – it also includes a 4990mAh Li-Polymer (non-removable) battery to provide the larger energy demands of powering a larger display.
The larger battery can also be used to charge the PadFone S to extend its battery life from 22 hours talk-time (3G) to 64 hours.
The combined PadFone S in the Station felt a little bit hefty though, at a combined weight of 664g.
The GALAXY S3 Neo smartphones will be used in a UN project for the three worst-hit African countries. The donated smartphones are worth about US$1 million.
LG Electronics is also contributing 2,000 smartphones to the United Nations’ response to the deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa.
“We hope that our contribution will make a difference as the UN and NGOs fight on the front lines to improve healthcare, food security and sanitation in areas affected by the Ebola epidemic. This endeavor is representative of LG’s ongoing mission to use its technology to contribute toward resolving global issues,” said Choong-hak Lee, senior vice president and head of LG’s corporate social responsibility efforts.
The donated smartphones from LG will be provided to healthcare and other key personnel dispatched by the UN in the affected areas where they are urgently needed.
The smartphones will allow for fast and seamless communication between the teams on the ground, focusing on medical data gathering, monitoring and planning.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) will facilitate the distribution of the mobile devices.
According to OCHA, almost one billion dollars will be needed to address the immediate humanitarian needs caused by the Ebola virus.
Almost 5,000 people have been infected with Ebola since the outbreak started in West Africa in March with more than 2,400 individuals having died across the region.
Support from LG and other international partners are critical to the UN’s efforts to stabilize the outbreak.
All donated smartphones will be destroyed once the virus outbreak has subsided.
The smartphones, to be donated through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA), will be used in the Humanitarian Connectivity Project, the UN’s IT project that utilises mobile devices to provide humanitarian support in disaster areas.
By installing the UN’s Smart Health Pro mobile application, medical staff can utilise the smartphones to treat patients and collect medical data, while quarantined patients can contact their families using the devices.
