Archive for November, 2014

LG CSR – Creating smiles one photo at a time

Friday, November 28th, 2014

Earlier this year, LG Singapore worked with three individuals – a photographer, a doctor and a pharmacist – to provide Pocket Photos, LG’s smart mobile printers, for a self-directed medical mission where they provided free medical care to the people living in the slums in Chennai, India.

The delighted looks on the faces of the kids were priceless when they saw the prints of their photos.

The delighted looks on the faces of the kids were priceless when they saw the prints of their photos. Photo credit: LG Electronics.

How did the the Pocket Photos help?

The LG Pocket Photo 2 (PD239) was a huge attraction and helped to break the ice with the local people and keep them entertained as they queued to seek medical treatment.

The photos served as ice-breakers to help remove the reserve of the locals towards the volunteers.

The photos served as ice-breakers to help remove the reserve of the locals towards the volunteers. Photo credit: LG Electronics.

The locals loved to be photographed and were mesmerised that something as small as a portable battery pack was able to print photos instantly.

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New arrivals: Casio EXILIM EX-MR1 with mirror for selfies

Wednesday, November 26th, 2014

The Casio EXILIM EX-MR1 (S$429) is available in Singapore at SITEX 2014 and selected Casio authorised retailers from 27 November 2014.

The front surface is mirrored with the lens directly behind it.

The front surface is mirrored with the lens directly behind it.

The 14-megapixel EXILIM EX-MR1 is the latest in Casio’s EXILIM range of compact digital cameras.

Designed to optimise the user experience when taking self-portraits, the EX-MR1 has a novel front-facing mirror so that ladies can adjust their appearance to their liking when taking selfies.

The Casio EXILIM EX-MR1 comes in Green, Pink and White (shown here).

The Casio EXILIM EX-MR1 comes in Green, Pink and White (shown here).

The mirrored front surface of the EX-MR1 is has special coating that allows light to pass through to the lens while also reflecting it out to the user.

With the camera lens directly behind the mirror, ladies are able to snap away while looking directly at their reflection and maintain eye contact with the lens.

Subjects are able to check their appearances and experiment with different poses while the photographer views the image through the LCD monitor.

Weighing ony 133g, the EX-MR1 is simple, chic and ergonomically designed to fit nicely in a lady’s palm.

The shutter button is placed along the side of the camera.

The EX-MR1 has a 21-mm wide angle lens suited for ‘selfies’ and an Auto Rotation function to easily preview both landscape and portrait images.

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New arrivals: Lumia 535 Dual SIM @ only S$199 from 5 Dec in Singapore

Tuesday, November 25th, 2014

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.

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.

The Lumia 535 offers five free integrated Microsoft experiences:

  1. Make memorable Skype video calls and seamlessly switch between voice and video with built-in Skype integration. Fit more memorable backgrounds or add more friends into Skype video calls and selfies with the 5 MP wide angle front facing camera.
  2. With Microsoft Office Mobile, you can now access, edit and share Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and OneNote notebooks wherever you are, with the pre-installed Microsoft Office suite.
  3. Save and sync photos, videos and Office documents securely with 15GB of free OneDrive cloud storage.
  4. Connect with work and personal e-mail while on the go, with built-in Microsoft Outlook.
  5. Add a whole new dimension to your console entertainment with Xbox One SmartGlass, the perfect companion app if you want the best of your Xbox One from both in your living room and on the go. Connect and control your Xbox One and stay connected with the games and gamers you like.

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.

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New arrivals: HTC Desire EYE phablet and RE camera

Monday, November 24th, 2014

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 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.

HTC RE camera

The RE camera will be available from late December onwards. HTC has yet to announce its price tag in Singapore.

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N.E.mation! 9: Introduction to the Elemonators (#NE9CO5)

Sunday, November 23rd, 2014

The Elemonators is one of three teams from CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls’ School that made it into the Top 10 Teams in this year’s installment of the N.E.mation! competition. The storyline for their animation is both heartwarming and inspiring.

“We are the Elemonators! We eliminate the sourness and bring sweetness to your day!”

The Elemonators registered for N.E.mation! 9 back in August and have not looked back since.

Comprising four sprightly young ladies in the second year of CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School, the Elemonators were among a staggering 11 teams from the school that made it into the Top 100.

Team leader Melissa Anne Lim performed the mesh-up during the pitching stages with her guitar and sang in the final recording as well.

Team leader Melissa Anne Lim performed the mesh-up during the pitching stages with her guitar and sang in the final recording as well.

For those familiar with N.E.mation!, you may be aware that CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School is a powerhouse in the series of competitions, regularly boasting multiple teams that make it to the Top 10 and frequently represented in the eventual Top 3 winners.

While some schools field teams from their IT clubs/CCA, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School opens the participation to all students in the school.

Which was how Melissa, Esther, Leanne and Sabrina came to form the Elemonators.

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N.E.mation! 9: Introduction to wasd (#NE9C10)

Saturday, November 22nd, 2014

wasd is the team from Commonwealth Secondary School that never expected to make it to the Top 10. But made it they did and they’ve got an exciting animation story idea to vie for the top prize.

wasd is one of two teams from Commonwealth Secondary School that entered this year’s installment of the N.E.mation! competition, and the lucky one to make it to the Top 10.

wasd is one of two teams from Commonwealth Secondary School that entered this year’s installment of the N.E.mation! competition, and the lucky one to make it to the Top 10. The fourth member, Niger Lim is not in this photo as he was not present during the visit.

The N.E.mation! competition is a yearly inter-school animation competition for students from secondary schools, junior colleges and centralised institutes to express their thoughts on Total Defence.

Lim Xun Yi from wasd. The team's motto is

Lim Xun Yi from wasd. The team’s motto is “Expect the unexpected”.

This year’s competition is the ninth iteration since the inauguration of the series in 2007.

More than 11,500 students have participated in N.E.mation! thus far with participants comprising mostly secondary school students aged between 13 to 16 years old.

These students form teams of 3-4 members and have to go through multiple rounds of pitching and selection to beat hundreds of teams from other schools to make it into the Top 10.

wasd registered for N.E.mation! 9 some three months ago in August and it has been an incredible journey for them ever since.

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Events: Intel Future Showcase at Singapore Carlton Hotel

Friday, November 21st, 2014

The Intel Future Showcase puts Asian innovation in the spotlight and offers visitors a behind-the-scenes look at Asia’s role in driving the company’s innovation and technology development.

The Intel Education 2 in 1 Reference Design, offering the flexibility and mobility of a tablet plus the performance and productivity of a laptop - offering versatile learning for students. The ruggedised device is drop, water and dust resistant - suitable for outdoor learning as well as within the classroom. I first saw this design in Singapore during the Intel Solutions Summit back in April this year.

The Intel Education 2 in 1 Reference Design, offering the flexibility and mobility of a tablet plus the performance and productivity of a laptop – offering versatile learning for students. The ruggedised device is drop, water and dust resistant – suitable for outdoor learning as well as within the classroom. I first saw this design in Singapore during the Intel Solutions Summit back in April this year.

The Intel Future Showcase is being held in Singapore for the first time, offering a glimpse into the innovation that goes on inside Intel’s Asian and global operations.

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Research: GlobalWebIndex finds mobile networking booming with WeChat users

Thursday, November 20th, 2014

WeChat has the youngest demographic out of all competing social communications apps, with one third of its global users aged 16 to 24. Andrew Ng attended the media brief for tech4tea.com.

Jason Mander, Head of Trends, GlobalWebIndex, briefing on major trends of the social media scene. To the left is Jowie Law, Director of Global Communications at Tencent, the parent company of WeChat. Photo credit: Andrew Ng.

Jason Mander, Head of Trends, GlobalWebIndex, briefing on major trends of the social media scene. To the left is Jowie Law, Director of Global Communications at Tencent, the parent company of WeChat. Photo credit: Andrew Ng.

A recent research by GlobalWebIndex (GWI), a market research company specialising in online consumer behaviour claims that 80% of WeChat’s young users said it was critical for them to be contactable at all times.

“WeChat has witnessed a remarkable growth rate during this period especially among the youth generation, with WeChat’s efficient and entertaining platform continuing to attract users on a massive scale. We are excited about WeChat’s strong growth momentum both globally and throughout Singapore, and expect to see it adding more users in the coming quarters,” said Jason Mander, Head of Trends at GlobalWebIndex.

GWI is a multi-market research company, covering 32 markets and representing 89% of the global Internet population.

Focusing on Singapore specifically, WeChat is most popular with 16 to 34 year olds, with this age group dominating nearly half of the WeChat user base.

According to GWI, WeChat had experienced significant growth with an active user base increase of 156% globally, and a staggering 499% in Singapore between Q1 2013 to Q3 2014.

Nearly a quarter (23%) of the world’s Internet users and 39% within the APAC region now actively use the app.

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Events: Salesforce Essentials in Singapore Marina Bay Sands

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014

Simon Davies – Vice President for ASEAN, Greater China and Korea, Salesforce – brought the latest updates and insights from one of the leading companies in cloud computing and CRM.

Salesforce Essentials was held at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Photo: Andrew Ng.

Salesforce Essentials was held at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Photo: Andrew Ng.

Newly launched solutions were also showcased during a Cloud Expo tour, while local Asian customers shared how Salesforce had transformed their business and helped them connect with their customers in new ways.

“It was great to hear some of the latest updates on CRM and their customised “Wealth Management” module. What I found interesting was when Simon Davies briefly chatted about some innovations where Siam Bank used their cloud to bring financial apps direct to the end customers,” recalls Andrew Ng – tech4tea.com – who attended the media briefing.

Talking points included updates, innovations and initiatives from Dreamforce 2014, as well as how Salesforce had grown exponentially to become one of the top 10 fastest growing software companies in the world.

Also discussed were tech trends that Salesforce saw affecting businesses in the future, including the internet of customers, wearables and increased mobility.

The company also shared how Singapore and Asia as a whole was important to Salesforce’s global business, and what Singapore/Asia customers look for in their cloud, social and mobile solutions.

For reference, at the end of this post is the press release for Dreamforce 2014 last month in San Francisco, US.

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IT Fair: SITEX 2014 (27 – 30 Nov) @ Singapore EXPO & promotions flyers

Sunday, November 16th, 2014

From 27 November, the final of the four large annual IT exhibitions in Singapore will take place for four days (27 –  30 Nov) at the Singapore EXPO, in Halls 5 & 6. SITEX 2014 will open daily from 11 am to 9 pm (Admission FREE).

SITEX 2014 @ Singapore EXPO (Halls 5 & 6) from 27 - 30 November. Admission FREE, daily 11am to 9pm.

SITEX 2014 @ Singapore EXPO (Halls 5 & 6) from 27 – 30 November. Admission FREE, daily 11am to 9pm.

Established in 1988, SITEX 2014 will see more than 500 brands of infocomm and consumer electronic products spread over more than 200,000 sq ft of exhibition space.

For SITEX 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

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