Archive for February, 2014

New arrivals: WD My Cloud secure personal cloud solutions

Friday, February 28th, 2014

WD’s new My Cloud gives consumers a cloud of their own, enabling home users to easily save, access and share all of their photos, videos and files from any devices, anytime – without sacrificing privacy.

Prices: S$239 (2TB), S$289 (3TB) ,S$399 (4TB).

WD My Cloud lets you set up your personal cloud storage in the security of your own home.

WD My Cloud lets you set up your personal cloud storage in the security of your own home.

WD introduced the My Cloud personal cloud solutions as a complete solution for users to organise, centralise and secure the digital content from all of their computers and mobile devices and access those files from any device, from anywhere in the world.

By simply connecting a My Cloud personal cloud drive to the Internet, consumers get the anywhere, any-device access they can get from the public cloud, without having to pay monthly fees to an online cloud service provider.

More importantly, they do not have to give up control of their personal data.

Streamlined Setup and Backup

WD provides a rich web-based user interface for a web-guided setup, helping usersto get their personal cloud up and running in minutes

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IT Fair: IT Show 2014 (27 Feb – 2 Mar) @ Marina Bay Sands

Thursday, February 27th, 2014

From today till Sunday, the first of the four large annual IT exhibitions in Singapore takes place for four days (27 Feb – 2 Mar) at the Marina Bay Sands, Levels 1 & B2. IT Show 2014 will open daily from 12 pm to 9 pm (Admission FREE).

The first of four large annual IT exhibitions in Singapore.

The first of four large annual IT exhibitions in Singapore.

For IT Show 2014, I’ll be compiling selected promotions and flyers from the exhibitors in a photo album on the tech4tea.com Facebook page.

Promotions/Flyers in alphabetical order

You can browse the album or directly access a specific flyer via the list of links above.

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Samsung unveils three new GEAR smartwatches at MWC 2014

Tuesday, February 25th, 2014

Samsung has just unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona its GALAXY S5, as well as the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit.

Worldwide release on 11 April 2014 in almost 150 countries. Prices TBA.

Samsung has just unveiled the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit together with the GALAXY S5 at the MWC 2014 in Barcelona this morning.

Samsung has just unveiled the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit together with the GALAXY S5 at the MWC 2014 in Barcelona this morning.

All of the new Samsung GEAR smartwatches have foregone the Android OS used in the original Gear and gone for the Tizen – the Linux-based operating system by Intel and Samsung.

Samsung GALAXY GEAR 2 comes with camera, microphone and speaker on the phone itself instead of the strap, allowing the latter to be interchangeable.

Samsung Gear 2 comes with camera, microphone and speaker on the phone itself instead of the strap, allowing the latter to be interchangeable.

And they come with a HOME button to get back to the start screen.

Samsung claims the new smartwatches last 3 times as long, with 3 days of typical usage and six days of low usage.

The Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo have 1.63-inch, 320 x 320 Super AMOLED displays and run on 1GHz dual-core processors.

Screen size has therefore remained the same, with a slightly faster processor, viz the 800MHz in the original Gear.

The 2-megapixel camera, speaker and mic are now on the bezel of the smartwatch so you can change the straps, which comes in six colours.

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Samsung unveils GALAXY S5 at MWC 2014 in Barcelona

Tuesday, February 25th, 2014

Samsung has just unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona its GALAXY S5, as well as the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit.

Worldwide release on 11 April 2014 in almost 150 countries. Prices TBA.

The new Samsung GALAXY S5 comes in 4 colours: charcoal Black, shimmery White, electric Blue and copper Gold.

The new Samsung GALAXY S5 comes in 4 colours: charcoal Black, shimmery White, electric Blue and copper Gold.

New features of the GALAXY S5 include a heart rate monitor, fingerprint scanner and IP67 water resistance.

The GALAXY S5 has a 5.1" Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

The GALAXY S5 has a 5.1″ Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

It has a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, runs on a 2.5GHz Snapdragon quad-core processor with 2GB RAM, powered by a 2,800 mAh battery and ships with Android 4.4 KitKat.

The GALAXY S5 now has a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

It will also come with NFC, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0 and 16GB or 32GB storage.

The smartphone will come in four colours: charcoal Black, shimmery White, electric Blue and copper Gold. It now comes with “perforated” plastic covers.

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Extreme Sailing with SAP is Easy – 세일링은 쉽다

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014

The Extreme Sailing Series has just completed the races at its first venue for 2014 in Singapore. There will be seven more venues coming up before the eventual winner is decided.

멀라이언쿠기 (Merlion Cookie) was invited to be the sixth sailor on the catamaran of the SAP Extreme Sailing Team during one of the races. She shares her experience and understanding of how SAP data analytics contribute towards the rigours of extreme racing.

* All the pictures in this article were provided by Merlion Cookie. This journal is dedicated to the Korean readers out there 🙂

A day out with SAP Extreme Sailing Team

A day out with SAP Extreme Sailing Team

세일링은 쉽다. 응? 세일링이 무엇인지도 잘 몰랐던 내가 이제 세일링이 쉽다. SAP Extreme Sailing팀과 경험한 세일링은 그렇다.

“We are committed to transforming the sport of sailing globally by developing tools that help sailors optimize their performance, bring fans closer to the action and enable media and broadcasters to provide better informed commentaries,” said Stefan Lacher, head of Technology, SAP Sponsorships.

2014년 2월 20일에서 23일까지 나흘동안 싱가폴 마리나베이를 배경으로 전세계에서 온 11개 팀의 카타마란 경주를 펼치는데, 경주는 하루에도 몇 개의 라운드를 걸쳐 진행되며 결과적으로 각라운드의 점수합이 가장 높은 팀이 승리를 하게 된다.

나는 이 중 세번째 라운드 경주에 직접승선하여 바람을 가르는 세일링의 짜릿함을 온몸으로 느끼고 돌아왔다. 카타마란이 뭔지도 모랐었던 내가 어떻게 세일링과 친한게 되었을까?

우선 카타마란이 무엇인지 알아야겠다. 카타마란은 두 개 선채가 연결된 모양을 하고 있으며 그 위에 세운 돛으로 풍력을 이용하여 진행하는 배를 말한다. 즉, 돛을 세우고 바람을 받아가는 배 인 것이다.

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SAP data analytics empowers teams in Extreme Sailing Series

Thursday, February 20th, 2014

The Extreme Sailing Series is in Singapore as the first of 8 international venues for some 260 races this year. 12 teams will be vying to be leaders over four days from today till 23 February, at the Marina Bay.

I joined the SAP Extreme Sailing Team as a guest in their 40 Catamaran during one of the races on the opening day to experience the thrills and challenges of extreme sailing.

The participating multihulls racing against the backdrop of the Singapore skyline at Marina Bay, as the sun sets at the end of a successful first day. Taken with a Samsung GALAXY Note 3. Photo credit: John Tan.

The participating multihulls racing against the backdrop of the Singapore skyline at Marina Bay, as the sun sets at the end of a successful first day. Taken with a Samsung GALAXY Note 3. Photo credit: John Tan.

With things happening so fast and with so many variables changing at the same time, it is easy to see how SAP’s data analytics is an invaluable tool in helping the teams and the coaches squeeze as much performance as possible out of every race.

As in other complex competitive sports such as Formula One racing, a multitude of factors contribute to the success of a participating team.

These variables can also make it confusing and daunting for the spectator to follow and fully appreciate how the race is unfolding.

This is because there is simply too much information assaulting the brain of anyone trying to fully understand why a team they support is falling behind or why a rival is pulling ahead.

The SAP Extreme Sailing Team, with the Singapore Marina Bay Sands hotel in the background. Taken with a Samsung GALAXY Note 3. Photo credit: John Tan.

The SAP Extreme Sailing Team, with the Singapore Marina Bay Sands hotel in the background. Taken with a Samsung GALAXY Note 3. Photo credit: John Tan.

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Breaking news: Xiaomi to debut in Singapore with Redmi on 21 February

Friday, February 14th, 2014

Okay, just received the invite to the Chinese smartphone manufacturer’s official launch event in Singapore. The Redmi Android smartphone will come with 1.5 GHz Quad-core processor, 4.7-inch IPS display, dual SIM.

The best part – you can grab one for only S$169!

You can see Xiaomi's debutante for the Singapore market: Redmi on the website of the Chinese smartphone maker.

You can see Xiaomi’s debutante for the Singapore market: Redmi on the website of the Chinese smartphone maker.

The launch event will be on 19 February.

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POTD: Valentine’s Day 2014

Friday, February 14th, 2014

It’s Valentine’s Day today. This year, it coincides with Chap Goh Meh – the fifteenth and final day of the Chinese New Year – which many consider the Chinese Valentine’s Day. Here’s wishing all lovers a most romantic day/night!

Lots of lovey-dovey couples here, in the form of hugging salt and pepper bottles. I took this photo at the Hakaniemi Market Hall in Helsinki, Finland in summer. There were plenty of such charming craft stores for tourists and local Finns. Taken with a Nikon D600 with AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens. Photo credit: John Tan.

Lots of lovey-dovey couples here, in the form of hugging salt and pepper bottles. I took this photo at the Hakaniemi Market Hall in Helsinki, Finland in summer. There were plenty of such charming craft stores for tourists and local Finns alike. Taken with a Nikon D600 with AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens. Photo credit: John Tan.

In many places in the world that celebrate Valentine’s Day, boys buy flowers, chocolates and gifts for their girlfriends, wives, mistresses or lovers.

Sometimes the girl reciprocates.

In Japan, it is the girl who buys for the guys.

I know – because I received plenty on Valentine’s Day when I was in Japan.

The tradition in Japan is for girls to buy white chocolates (called giri-chocos – 義理チョコ) and give them to the guys.

This does not happen just between couples that are in a relationship.

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Infographic: SAP crunches the numbers on Valentine’s Day

Thursday, February 13th, 2014

SAP wishes you a happy Valentine’s Day!

SAP's infographic for Valentine's Day.

SAP’s infographic for Valentine’s Day.

Below are six interesting findings highlighted by SAP.

  1. Singapore is the biggest importer of flowers in comparison to 8 other markets, topping the list with an average spend of USD6.85 of flower imports per capita.
  2. Singapore tops the list again for the highest cocoa imports for chocolate and food preparations, with an average spend of USD 12.60 per capita. Separately, did you know that SAP customers produce 70 percent of the world’s chocolate and distribute more than 71 percent of the world’s food?
  3. Korea consumes 14.8 liters of alcohol per capita, the highest in the region ahead of Australia (10 liters) and New Zealand (9.6 liters). Also, SAP customers produce 64 percent of the world’s ice cream and 72 percent of the world’s beer.
  4. Hong Kong residents are the biggest spenders on tourism per capita ahead of 9 other markets.
  5. Korea has the highest divorce rates per person (2.2%), followed by Australia (2.2%), Singapore (1.9%) and New Zealand (1.9%).
  6. 62% of Indonesians have started retirement planning while only 29% of Japanese started retirement planning.

This infographic is created with the generation Y consumers in mind who are more inquisitive than ever before.

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Samsung KNOX commercially available in Singapore

Wednesday, February 12th, 2014

The secure Android platform for Enterprise customers is offered by all telecommunication carriers in Singapore, and offers a comprehensive enterprise mobility platform for work and play.

The Samsung KNOX is now commercially available in Singapore.

The Samsung KNOX is now commercially available in Singapore.

Key mobile operators and partners in Singapore that offer Samsung KNOX are SingTel, StarHub, M1, Qool Labs, M.Tech, Malifax and Trusted Source.

Samsung KNOX is available on Samsung GALAXY S4, GALAXY Note 3, GALAXY Note 10.1 2014 Edition (LTE version) devices, as well as the upcoming GALAXY NotePRO and TabPRO line of tablets.

The Samsung KNOX license and technical support options are now available via key mobile operators and partners in Singapore.

Samsung KNOX is an end-to-end Android security platform for companies that require a secure and robust mobility solution by striking a fine balance between enterprise control and employees’ personal data privacy.

An integrated security platform, KNOX provides security hardening from the hardware through to the operating system (OS) and application layer, making KNOX a strong security proposition.

What Samsung KNOX offers

  • Offers high level of integrated mobile device security from hardware to application and operating system layers.
  • Addresses security requirements for enterprise mobile applications and data protection without invading personal privacy.
  • Provides better control and ease of manageability for IT departments to implement secure Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies.

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