Here is a round-up of Sony’s new electronic gadgets for 2013, as released today during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013 in Nevada, Las Vegas, USA.
Imagine a Sony Bravia KD-65 LED TV in your living room.
This year’s line-up includes new models to Sony’s Cyber-Shot, Handycam, Walkman, Xperia and BRAVIA range of products, as well as wireless speakers.
Spanning from the Tanjong Pagar Rail Station to the old Bukit Timah Rail Station, the ‘Green Corridor Run’ presented by BlackBerry’ aims to raise awareness of this historical stretch of greenery and woodland.
Green Corridor Run on Sunday 27 January 2013, presented by BlackBerry. Photo from www.greencorridorrun.com.sg.
BlackBerry today announced it will be the lead supporter for Singapore’s inaugural 10.5 km ‘Green Corridor Run’, taking place on Sunday 27th January 2013 at 7.00am.
| Date | 27 Jan 2013 (Sunday) |
| Time | 7 am |
| Venue | Tanjong Pagar to Bukit Timah Rail Stations |
The ‘Green Corridor Run presented by BlackBerry’ is the first race to be held entirely on the ‘Green Corridor’ taking participants through a green oasis within the heart of the city.
The event, which has already confirmed over 4,300 runners, aims to raise public awareness of this green pathway formerly known as the ‘Rail Corridor’.
Early bird discounts
With limited spaces available, those interested in participating in this historic event are encouraged to register now.
The first 1,000 people to register using the discount code ‘ACTION’ will enjoy 25% off the normal $55 entry fee.
The route will allow runners to experience one of Singapore’s least known natural wonders and show their support for keeping the area as natural as possible, benefiting many generations to come.
The Green Corridor Run follows the course of the old rail line, starting at the historic Tanjong Pagar Rail Station.
It runs parallel to the AYE before heading North via Buona Vista, passing near Holland Village and through the lush Clementi Woodlands, before finishing at the old Bukit Timah Rail Station.
Why conserve the Green Corridor?
Even before the Malaysian government handed back ownership of the rail line to Singapore in July 2011, the Nature Society Singapore (NSS) had put forward a proposal and initiated a campaign to keep the railway lands as a continuous green corridor.
The campaign has so far been successful and the rail line has been removed and replaced by turf to enable the community to exercise and commute along this natural corridor through the city.
Once the beginning of a rail network that was planned to extend all the way to Russia, this uninterrupted stretch of ecological and culturally significant land has been re-surfaced to allow the community access to a ‘Green Corridor’ through the city.
The rail corridor was once home to the KTM rail line that connected Singapore to Malaysia and was the beginning of the Oriental Express for those journeying into the heart of Asia.
It has been out of use for many years and this has allowed the surrounding area to flourish with greenery and natural habitat.
Now the line is an uninterrupted stretch of ecologically and culturally significant land.
So we decided that there was a 2-week window to grab a quick break. But that’s like one-week away. Is it possible to plan the usual DIY self-drive holiday at such short notice?
Aerial view of Fukuoka, our gateway to Kyushu.
The answer is yes, with the advent of the Internet. Here’s a recap of what I did for my own holiday.
Cutting it close
I booked the air tickets the day we decided to go for the break, the car rental the next day, 3 hotels on the third day, and the remaining 3 on the fourth day.
The remaining days were spent planning the itinerary for each stop.
It’s as close to the date of departure as I’ve ever tried going on a self-planned, self-drive vacation.
First the obvious, decide how long you’ve got and where you want to go. In my case, we’ve long wanted to visit Kyushu in Japan, and the window of opportunity available was roughly two weeks.
If you’re thinking of visiting Japan, I recommend this site called japan-guide.com. It has comprehensive descriptions of popular tourist spots all over Japan, as well as travel tips for Japan.
Even more useful is its forum where vacation planners get their queries answered in detail with advice from a community of fellow travelers, as well as useful links to resources – such as timetables, rates etc – outside of the website.
Next book the air tickets. The availability and price of last-minute tickets usually determine whether your vacation destination will become a reality.
Cameras of choice
For this vacation, I’m entrusting our memories to the Nikon D800, with the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and the AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II lenses.
That’s almost 4 kg of camera gear but for the sake of image quality, I believe the 36.3-megapixel full-frame camera and two FX lenses from Nikon are worth every ounce of their weight.
Besides, we have the rental car to carry the gear between sights.
For a second camera, my wife will be carrying our trusty Olympus E450 with the ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens.
I use Zuji.com to get a feel of the airlines plying Singapore and the possible stops and the price range, then if there’s time, check competing sites or the airline’s website for better rates.
For Kyushu, it was pretty straightforward, only Singapore Airlines fly directly there from Singapore – to Fukuoka. It’s straightforward until you hit the SIA website. For a premier airline, it sure has a terrible website for bookings and reservations – plenty of long waits.
Next is the car rental. I use ToCoo car rental. It helps you check the rates for multiple car rental companies with cars available in the cities where you intend to pick up and drop off the car. But you’ve got to compare rates manually yourself.
Computing on the go
For computing, I’m bringing along the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook, a BlackBerry PlayBook, and the Seagate 1TB Backup Plus.
The X1 Carbon is sleek in design, wonderfully thin and light, yet powerful enough for surfing Web and running Photoshop and Dreamweaver CS6 for photo-editing and blogging back in the hotel room.
The 7-inch PlayBook keeps the children entertained with game apps, and serves as an e-book reader. Its biggest bugbear is that it’s the Wi-Fi version and does not have 3G, but I don’t use 3G data in Japan anyway.
To store and back up the 40MB RAW photo files generated by the D800, I brought along the 1TB Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive. The 2.5-inch plug-and-play drive constantly backs up the hard disk and makes posting photos online a breeze.
Usually, I pick up the car at the airport, drive off to the first destination and return the car at the airport I’m flying off from. If the pick-up and drop-off locations are different, check if a surcharge is levied and how much it is.
Fuss-free music
For music in the hotel room, we’re bringing along the Jabra Solemate portable speaker. Instead of lugging stacks of CDs around, simply download your favourite tracks onto an SD card and plug it into the Solemate.
What I like most is we can play our song collections and playlists wirelessly from our smartphones, tablet and Ultrabook via Bluetooth. It’s portable, easy to use and the sound quality is superb.
Finally, book the hotels. I know some Japanese so I used to browse Japanese booking websites and hotel websites directly, calling them on the phone for enquiries and reservations.
This time round, I discovered that my favourite accomodation-booking website for Europe holidays – booking.com – now has quite extensive list of hotels in Japan. Enough to find hotels that fit your budget in most places in Japan.
I like booking.com because of its clear information and easy booking. So even if you don’t know ANY japanese, you can still find and book accommodation easily.
Smartphones
We don’t use smartphones an awful lot, but for the record, we’re bringing along the Android Sony Xperia ion and an aging iPhone 3GS.
I’ve left the Nokia Lumia 900 at home because Nokia maps does not have the navigation map for Japan, and I’m renting an English GPS with the car anyway.
Another website that I tried last year – hotels.com – seems to be only beginning to move into Japan, with poor selection and high prices. I’m hoping there coverage and pricing will improve over time.
Once you’ve gotten the flight, car and hotel bookings out of the way, what remains is the physical packing for the big day.
Almost three months after they were unveiled by Nokia and Microsoft CEOs in New York, Nokia’s first Windows Phone 8 smartphones will debut in Singapore.
The Lumia 920 (S$899) and Lumia 820 (S$699) hits Singapore shelves next Saturday on 8 December 2012.
Nokia Lumia 920 (S$899) and Lumia 820 (S$699) arrives in Singapore next Saturday, 8 December 2012.
The two new handsets will be available at Nokia retail stores, while mobile operators in Singapore are slated to announce their respective data plans for the two models.
Accessories
Accessories for the two smartphones include the Nokia Lumia Purity Pro headset, JBL PlayUp Portable Wireless Speaker and JBL PowerUp Wireless Charging Speakers, as well as the Nokia Wireless Charging Pillow by Fatboy, Nokia Wireless Charging Stand and Nokia Wireless Charging Plate.
Nokia Singapore launched the two smartphones at Harry’s Bar at Millenia Walk and handed out the devices for guests to try out the new features, as they made their way around the city on an open-top bus.
The Lumia 920 boasts Pureview imaging technology that produces sharp pictures even in low light. The optical image stabiliser (OIS) further reduced the blur.
I was rather impressed with the Lumia 920’s imaging performance. Photos were indeed bright and sharp, while videos of moving/vibrating objects appeared less jerky when compared to videos taken on the Lumia 820 and other smartphones.
JBL PowerUp Wireless Charging Speakers
The Lumia 820 is the more affordable sibling of the two, with a smaller and lower-resolution screen, smaller battery, and the run-of-the-mill camera.
It is however, more compact and lighter than its bigger brother. (Check the quick comparison here).
You can also change the back cover of the Lumia 820 to vary the colour of the phone.
Both smartphones come with the same imaging apps that were quite interesting.
Nokia Smart Shoot is for group photos – shooting multiple exposures with a single click to choose the best from each exposure.
Nokia Wireless Charging Stand
Cinemagraph takes short videos where certain parts are frozen as a still shot while portions defined by you moves like regular video.
Panorama helps you do a sweep panorama shot of the landscape.
City Lens adds an augmented reality overlay over the screen when the camera is pointed at buildings and places of interest.
The idea is novel but not new, and in the short span of time that I tried it out, I found the augmented info sketchy at times while the resolution was not good enough to “lead” you to a particular place. At best, it tells you a place of interest is in a particular direction.
For really pragmatic and effective turn-by-turn navigation and search for places of interest, head back to the Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive apps, both of which have been updated with features such as indoor maps.
ASUS will be at SITEX 2012 at Hall 5 (Booths 5A18, 5B10 & 5B40) and Hall 6 (Booths 6C01, 6C10, 6D30 & 6E30) in the Singapore EXPO.
Click to view or download ASUS promotions for SITEX 2012. (Caution: Large 13MB PDF file with 20 pages)
Check out ASUS’ promotional offers for tablets, notebooks, ultrabooks, convertibles, AIOs, desktops, Alienware gaming machines, and monitors.
ASUS ROG – built for gamers.
These include the slew of recently-launched Windows 8 computers such as the ASUS TAICHI Ultrabook-tablet convertible, Transformer Book, ZENBOOK, VivoBook, VivoTab, All-in-One PCs.
My favourite is the ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers) gaming desktop PCs which are debuting in Singapore during SITEX 2012.
There’s also the innovative PadFone 2 smartphone-tablet hybrid.
StarHub will be at SITEX 2012 in Hall 5 at the Singapore EXPO.
Click to view or download StarHub promotions for SITEX 2012. (Caution: 3.7MB PDF file with 2 flyers).
Check out the Telco’s smartphones, tablets and broadband deals here, as well as their cable TV and bundled packages.
M1 will be at SITEX 2012 at Hall 5A in the Singapore EXPO.
Click to view or download M1 promotions for SITEX 2012. (Caution: 2MB PDF file with 2 flyers)
Check out the Telco’s smartphones, tablets and broadband deals here, as well as their bundled packages.
Sony Mobile will be at SITEX 2012 at Hall 5, Booth 5A01. There will be discounts for their smartphones, including the latest Xperia SL.
The new Xperia SL and Xperia ion are among the Android smartphones that Sony Mobile is retailing at SITEX 2012.
Purchase either the Xperia J (S$398) or Xperia acro S (S$698) and get a pair of Raine Yang concert tickets (worth S$156) free.
| Sony Mobile | SITEX 2012 | Usual | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xperia SL | SG$498 | SG$598 | SG$100 |
| Xperia neo L | SG$298 | SG$368 | SG$70 |
| Xperia tipo dual | SG$198 | SG$198 | SG$0 |
| Xperia go | SG$368 | SG$468 | SG$100 |
| Xperia ion | SG$598 | SG$798 | SG$200 |
Above are the discounts for other Sony Mobile Android smartphones. Follow the links to read the details for each model.
EpiCentre Pte Ltd will be at SITEX 2012 in Hall 6, Booth 6E01. They will be retailing Apple products as well as third party products, some at more than 70% discounts.
Click to view or download Nikon promotions for SITEX 2012. (Caution: 5MB PDF file with 5 flyers)
EpiCentre’s full range of Apple products includes the latest MacBook Pro with Retina display, iPad with Retina display, iPhone 5 (with SingTel contracts) and iPods
Purchases of laptops or tablets from EpiCentre’s SITEX booth or at any of the eight EpiCentre stores located islandwide will come with gifts worth more than S$400.
Below are EpiCentre’s promotions for SITEX 2012.
Nubox will be at SITEX 2012 in Hall 6. They will be retailing Apple products and accessories at up to 70% discounts.
Nubox is an arm of Newstead Technologies with Apple Premium Reseller (APR) and Apple Authorised Reseller (AAR) stores in Singapore.
Nubox will be offering the complete range of Apple products from the new iPod touch and iPod nano to the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, fourth-generation iPad and iPad mini.
Nubox will be sellings accessories from:
iHome, Jays, Tucano,Incipio, Klipsh, Tunewear, Innergie, Patchworks, UE, Jabra, Skech, Uniq, Jaybird, Synaps, Xdoria
Purchase any Mac from Nubox at the show and enjoy savings of up to $258.
There’ll be discounts of up to 70% on accessories including audio products, covers and electronic items as well as exclusive star buys.
Nubox will also be conducting hourly workshops on OSX and Mountain Lion during SITEX 2012.
