Archive for September, 2014
Tuesday, September 30th, 2014
BlackBerry officially launched the new Passport smartphone in Singapore tonight. It has actually gone on sale with the three main Telcos in Singapore for S$938 (incl. GST but excluding line contract) on 26 September.
First impressions: Overall, the BlackBerry Passport is a handsome and sturdy smartphone that puts greater productivity on the fingertips of road warriors.
The square-screen design is really unique and gives a beefy look to the phone.
The build looks sturdy and with the squarish aspect ratio, is probably less bendable than the usual longish form factor of regular smartphones.
The BlackBerry Passport with a square screen.
The wider screen makes reading documents a lot easier, without having to scroll left-right in addition to scrolling up and down.
The Passport is definitely too wide for one-handed operation – but who uses a BlackBerry with one hand anyway?
And since people expect to use two hands when using the Passport, ladies with smaller palms may not object too much to the increased girth of the new smartphone.
As expected, the physical QWERTY keyboard makes typing so much easier than on a virtual keyboard onscreen, especially for ladies with long nails.
(more…)
Tags:Amazon Appstore, availability, BlackBerry, BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry World, Blend, first Look, launch, Passport, Singapore, smartphones
Posted in App, BlackBerry, BlackBerry 10, Events, Gadgets, gadgets, Launch, newArrivals, Phones, Prices, RIM, smartphones, Software, Specifications | No Comments »
Monday, September 29th, 2014
Intel and Mitsubishi Electric has announced a new collaboration to develop next-generation factory automation (FA) systems with Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and a pilot program at Intel’s backend manufacturing facility in Malaysia.
“The collaboration between Mitsubishi Electric and Intel on this IoT project has enabled field data from semiconductor manufacturing lines to be collected and analyzed to improve operational performance, yet also contribute energy savings for a more sustainable society,” said Masayuki Yamamoto, group senior vice president, Factory Automation Systems, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.
The pilot demonstrates the benefits of IoT in a factory setting with a focus on delivering productivity enhancement through innovative functions, such as predictive failure, by combining Intel’s expertise in developing solutions for IoT and Mitsubishi Electric’s “e-F@ctory” automation capabilities.
Intel realized a savings of US$9 million over the course of the pilot.
“We believe that other manufacturers can benefit from this joint Intel-Mitsubishi Electric solution, which combines big data analysis, optimized data capture and processing to deliver improved performance and optimized maintenance,” said Yamamoto.
IoT and Big Data in Action
(more…)
Tags:analytics, Atom, Big Data, data, e-F@ctory, Factory Automation, Intel, Internet of Things, IoT, Malaysia, Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Electric, Revolution, Revolution Analytics, Revolution R Enterprise
Posted in Announce, Big Data, Business IT, Enterprise IT, Figures, infographics, Intel, Technology | No Comments »
Sunday, September 28th, 2014
Photo of the Day: The Salzburger Dom overlooks the Residenzplatz in the centre of Salzburg Altstadt (old town). It contains the baptismal font in which Mozart was baptised.
According to Wikipedia, during the second World War, single bomb crashed through the central dome over the crossing. Repairs and restoration were only completed in 1959.
* All photos in this article were taken with a Sony A7 full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, with Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS full-frame E-mount zoom lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
The Salzburg Cathedral – called the Salzburger Dom in German – is dedicated to Saint Rupert and Saint Vergilius.
The interior of the Salzburger Dom.
(more…)
Tags:A7, Austria, Austria 2014, Carl Zeiss, Europe, full-frame, photography, photos, potd, Residenzplatz, Salzburg, Salzburg Cathedral, Salzburger Dom, Sony, travel
Posted in A7, Austria 2014, Cameras, Holiday, MIL, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Sony, Travel, travel | 1 Comment »
Saturday, September 27th, 2014
OtterBox has launched new protective cases for Apple’s iPhone 6 – Commuter (S$49), Symmetry (S$49), Symmetry IML (S$65), and Defender (S$69) series.
New OtterBox protective cases for the iPhone 6: Commuter (S$49, top right), Symmetry (S$49, top left), and Defender (S$69, bottom) series.
The new cases offer varying levels of protection and designs for different tastes and occasions.
(more…)
Tags:Apple, cases, iPhone, iPhone 6, OtterBox, Singapore
Posted in Accessories, Apple, Gadgets, gadgets, iPhone, Launch, newArrivals, Phones, Prices, smartphones, Specifications | No Comments »
Friday, September 26th, 2014
Form teams of 1 to 5 members and compete against contestants from 33 countries for cash prizes of up to US$85,000. Deadline for registration and submission of ideas is on 15 November, 2014.
20 teams from those who entered will be selected to enter the Semi-Finals, out of which 10 will make the “Finals”. The top 5 teams will be selected for the ultimate Winners Round where the top three winners will be decided.
Contestants will have access to Plantronics APIs, SDKs, and product concept prototypes and work in teams to build new applications and business models in one of the following categories:
- Business applications for mobile devices
- Applications for people with limited mobility
- Personal applications for mobile devices
The winners will be announced on 9 May, 2015.
Plantronics will loan the 20 Quarter-Finalists teams a prototype device, to build and test their application.
Prize money for the top three teams:
- 1st place: US$50,000
- 2nd place: US$25,000
- 3rd place: US$10,000
Teams will use this prototype device to further develop their idea and submit a sample code and design of the application interface.
The Plantronics Judges will select the top 10 teams as Semi-Finalists to proceed to the Finals round.
(more…)
Tags:Apps, competition, enterprise IT, mobility, Plantronics, smartphones, software, tablets
Posted in App, Apps, Contest, Software | No Comments »
Thursday, September 25th, 2014
BlackBerry Passport targets productivity for professionals with square (1440 x 1440 pixels) touch screen and QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard. Available from tomorrow, 26 September, 2014 (M1, SingTel, StarHub) at S$938 (incl. GST).
Inspired by actual passports, the universal symbol of mobility, the size and form factor of BlackBerry Passport is portable enough to easily tuck into pockets and use wherever you go.
BlackBerry has launched its new smartphone in Singapore – the Passport, targeted towards business professionals looking for greater productivity.
The smartphone utilises Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for the display and forged stainless steel for added strength and durability.
The large square screen is designed for viewing and creating content, and everyday tasks like reading and writing emails, reviewing and editing documents, web browsing, and map navigation.
The BlackBerry Passport includes the first touch-enabled keyboard with gestures that make typing, editing and navigating more efficient and accurate.
According to a BlackBerry user study, BlackBerry Passport’s new QWERTY keyboard is almost four times more accurate than BlackBerry 10 virtual keyboards – the error rate is on average 74% lower – so there are fewer typos.
The BlackBerry Passport and the Porsche Design P’9983 smartphone from BlackBerry are the first devices to launch on BlackBerry’s latest OS platform, BlackBerry 10.3.
They come preloaded with new productivity-enhancing features including BlackBerry Blend and BlackBerry Assistant, as well as the BlackBerry World storefront and Amazon Appstore, offering access to apps for work and play.
Highlight features of the BlackBerry Passport include:
- High-Resolution Square Screen – The BlackBerry Passport includes a 4.5 square-inch screen with a 1:1 aspect ratio, 1440 x 1440 pixel (453 dpi) HD display and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for added strength.
(more…)
Tags:Amazon Appstore, availability, BlackBerry, BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry World, Blend, launch, Passport, Singapore, smartphones
Posted in Announce, Availability, BlackBerry, BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry OS, Gadgets, gadgets, newArrivals, Phones, RIM, smartphones, Specifications | 1 Comment »
Thursday, September 25th, 2014
Microsoft today announced the availability of the Lumia 830 in Singapore for S$529 from 27 September, 2014 (M1, SingTel, StarHub).
The Lumia 830 will be available in a range of colours including bright orange, bright green, white and black.
The Lumia 830 comes with PureView imaging, integrated Microsoft services, wireless charging, optimised image stabilisation and SensorCore.
It has a 10-megapixel PureView camera with ZEISS optics, Rich Recording, and the thinnest optical image stabilisation system to date for Lumia phones.
(more…)
Tags:Lumia, Lumia 830, Microsoft, Microsoft Devices, Nokia, Singapore, smartphones, Windows Phone, Windows Phone 8.1
Posted in Announce, Availability, Gadgets, gadgets, Lumia, Microsoft, Microsoft Devices, newArrivals, Nokia, Phones, Prices, smartphones, Specifications, Windows Phone | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 24th, 2014
The new ASUS MeMo Pad 8 (S$499) and Fonepad 8 (S$299) tablets feature the next generation 64-bit Intel Atom ‘Moorefield’ quad-core processor and ASUS ZenUI interface. Avaialble in Singapore from 10 October, 2014.
Both the ASUS MeMo Pad 8 (Left, S$499) and Fonepad 8 (Right, S$299) run Android 4.4 KitKat operating system and ASUS ZenUI interface, which features more than 200 software tweaks over previous ASUS interfaces.
The interface sports a new visual design with modern ‘flat’ icons, customisable vivid colour themes that match the tablets’ colour, as well as a cleaner layout that clearly presents all necessary information at one glance.
Despite its larger display, the ASUS Fonepad 8 has almost the same width as the previous generation 7-inch Fonepad.
Weighing at just 299g, ASUS boasts that the 8-inch MeMO Pad 8 (ME581CL) is the world’s lightest 8-inch tablet with Long-Term Evolution (LTE).
It features the next generation 64-bit Intel Atom Z3560 1.8GHz quad-core processor, and ultra-fast connectivity with 802.11ac Wi-Fi and wireless Near-Field Communications (NFC).
The ASUS Fonepad 8 (FE380CG) delivers powerful mobility with the next generation 64-bit Intel Atom Z3530 1.3GHz quad-core processor and 3G phone functions.
With its narrow bezel measuring just 5.06mm and a 72.2% screen-to-body ratio, ASUS claims that the 8-inch ASUS Fonepad 8 has the largest viewing area for any 8-inch phablet in the market.
(more…)
Tags:Android, Android 4, Android 4.4, Asus, Atom, dual SIM, Fonepad, Intel, KitKat, LTE, MeMO Pad, Moorefield, tablets, ZenUI
Posted in Android, Asus, Events, gadgets, Launch, newArrivals, Prices, Specifications, Tablets, tablets | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 24th, 2014
HP has launched the Pavilion x2 tablet/notebook hybrid, ENVY Beats All-in-One desktop and three wireless inkjet printers – ENVY 5640 eAiO, ENVY 5530 eAiO and ENVY 7640 eAiO. Price and availability below.
(Left) The ultra-portable HP Pavilion x2 detachable PC/tablet (S$499) is designed for customers who want to simplify their life with a single device that transforms from tablet to laptop. (Right) The HP ENVY Beats All-in-One (S$1,599) is equipped with quad speakers and quad subwoofers all in a sleek desktop design.
HP’s new slew of consumer products are targeted towards the millennials – young working adults from their mid-twenties to the mid-thirties.
Pricing and availability is tabulated below.
| HP Products |
Starting prices |
Availability |
| Pavilion x2 |
S$499 |
6 October |
| ENVY Beats All-in-One |
S$1,599 |
October |
| ENVY 5640 eAiO |
S$199 |
1 November |
| ENVY 5530 eAiO |
S$159 |
1 November |
| ENVY 7640 eAiO |
S$299 |
1 November |
The new HP Pavilion x2 is a full-featured 10-inch diagonal Windows tablet that transforms into a full-featured laptop with a detachable dual-purpose keyboard/cover that both protects the screen and serves as a multi-position stand.
“Customers have told us they want devices that offer flexibility and performance while reflecting their personal sense of style. The products we are announcing today include innovative designs, vibrant color options, choice of operating system and computing power to enable the way that customers communicate, play and live,” said Serena Yong, general manager, Printing and Personal Systems, HP Singapore and Malaysia.
The HP Pavilion x2 is a portable, versatile, highly affordable 2-in-1 PC powered by the latest-generation Intel Atom processor, and features front-firing speakers with DTS sound and a battery that lasts up to 11.45 hours.
The HP ENVY Beats All-in-One provides music lovers and movie fans with good sound quality with quad speakers and quad subwoofers.
It has a 23-inch diagonal Full HD IPS 10-point touchscreen display that tilts up to 30˚ so that users can sit comfortably while using it.
HP’s three new ENVY printers enable direct printing from smartphones and tablets.
The new HP ENVY 7640 and 5640 e-All-in-One printers will feature a new WiFi Direct feature, allowing users to maintain a simultaneous connection with both the printer and the Internet.
Print direct from smarthones and tablets: ENVY 5640 eAiO (left, S$199), ENVY 5530 eAiO (top, S$159) and ENVY 7640 eAiO (right, S$299).
The new devices can also be set up quickly and easily with a smartphone or tablet.
(more…)
Tags:Beats, consumer, ENVY, HP, hybrid, millennials, notebooks, Pavilion, printers, Singapore, tablets, transformers, wireless
Posted in All-in-One, Desktops, Events, events, Gadgets, gadgets, HP, Hybrid, Inkjet, Launch, Multi-function printer, newArrivals, Notebooks, notebooks, Prices, Printers, printers, Specifications, tablets, Windows 8 | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 24th, 2014
Our phone numbers are something we hand out readily to our contacts, yet we would like to protect them from misuse. StitMe is a service that enables users to control who can call you and when, without divulging your real number.
StitMe allows you to keep your mobile number private and control who can call you and when.
I was having tea the other day with Gurtaj Singh and he caught my interest with this app that he had launched just recently in the US.
Clean break
Is your kid going to college and you’re worried that he/she will end up bullied and harassed by calls from friends or ex-boyfriends/girlfriends?
Get him/her to use StitMe instead.
That way, should/when they break up, the other party would not be able to harass your kid through calling.
It’s called StitMe and is not available outside of US yet but it sounded like it had great potential to solve one of the biggest dilemmas of the modern age.
You want as many friends, colleagues and potential contacts to be able to contact you, but you don’t want to receive calls from unwarranted telemarketers because your telephone number had been harvested and compiled in some call list that are being sold or circulated without your consent.
Worse still, in the US, anybody can use your telephone number to do a reverse number lookup (the equivalent of a Whois query) and get personal information about you like your residential address etc.
StitMe is compatible with iOS and Android devices.
Currently it is only available in the US.
This is where StitMe comes in – users of the free service need not hand out their real telephone numbers anymore.
Between two StitMe users, all you give out is your StitMe User ID.
(more…)
Tags:Apps, service, smartphones, StitMe, Tech Focus, technology
Posted in Android, App, Brief, Business IT, Enterprise IT, Events, iOS, Phones, smartphones, Software, Tech Focus, Technology, Tickers | No Comments »
