Archive for the ‘Specifications’ Category

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New BlackBerry Curve 9360 arrives in Singapore

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Unveiled some two months ago, the Curve 9360 has now been launched in Singapore. The sleek, fast and easy-to-use smartphone from Research In Motion (RIM) promises to deliver smooth social experiences wherever you go.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 was first unveiled in late August 2011.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 was first unveiled in late August 2011.

The BlackBerry 9360 features the new BlackBerry 7 operating system and is now available in Singapore from authorised BlackBerry partners and carriers. The main specs can be found here.

The new BlackBerry Curve smartphone retains the iconic QWERTY keyboard and an optical trackpad for easy, one-handed navigation. GPS and Wi-Fi support are also included, as well as a 5MP camera with flash and video recording that can be shared instantly on social networks. The microSD/SDHC slot supports up to 32 GB memory cards for additional media storage.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 smartphone features an upgraded processor and display, more memory, and built-in support for NFC (Near Field Communication) – a new technology that enables the ability to pair accessories or read SmartPoster tags with a simple tap of the smartphone.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 focuses on providing a smooth social experience.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 focuses on providing a smooth social experience.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 promises to provide the world’s “best mobile communications and social experiences” with a highly refined and integrated suite of phone, email, messaging and social apps to keep users connected and productive throughout the day.

The latest release of BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) is pre-loaded, and users can interact with other ‘BBM connected’ apps. The social experience includes an updated Social Feeds (2.0) app, Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones (2.0) app, and Twitter for BlackBerry.

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Posted in BlackBerry, BlackBerry OS, Curve, Gadgets, Launch, Phones, RIM, Specifications | No Comments »

New Mac portable hard drives: My Passport Studio and My Passport for Mac

Sunday, October 16th, 2011

Western Digital has launched two new portable hard drives designed for use with Mac computers and Apple Time Machine, with capacities of 500GB, 750GB and 1 TB.

Western Digital My Passport for Mac

Western Digital My Passport for Mac

The Mac-inspired designs of the compact portable hard drives feature matches the external designs of Mac computers.

Powered through the USB 2.0 or Firewire connection, these portable drives allow convenient quick connect external storage without the hassle of lugging additional power adaptors and cables.

My Passport for Mac features a USB 2.0 interface and is an easy way to increase the minimal local storage on MacBook and MacBook Air notebooks.

Western Digital My Passport Studio

Western Digital My Passport Studio

My Passport Studio sports an all-metal design, with two FireWire 800 ports and a USB 2.0 interface. The FireWire ports provide fast upload and transfer speeds and can be used to daisy chain up to five additional drives or peripherals such as HD camcorders.

“The speed of the fifth device at the end of the daisy chain is only slower by less than 10% of the first device on the chain,” according to Sheraine Chua, Regional Sales Manager of Branded Products at Western Digital.

Capacity My Passport Studio My Passport for MAC
500 GB S$169 S$119
750 GB S$189 S$129
1 TB S$219 S$159

My Passport Studio also features encryption and password protection software.

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Posted in Accessories, Events, Gadgets, Launch, Mac OS, Notebooks, Prices, Specifications, storage drive, Western Digital | 1 Comment »

New wireless streaming media player: WD TV Live

Saturday, October 15th, 2011

The S$189 WD TV Live is an easy to use Wi-Fi enabled media player that can stream media either from a network attached storage drive in the local network, or directly from the Internet – via an Ethernet connection or the high performance 802.11n wireless connectivity.

Western Digital WD TV Live wireless streaming media player

Western Digital WD TV Live wireless streaming media player

If you don’t already own an Apple TV or Google TV, check out WD TV Live from Western Digital.

Western Digital WD TV Live streaming media playerThe Wi-Fi enabled media player comes with its own apps to stream media from Internet video, radio and social networking sites such as YouTube, Dailymotion, Facebook, Picassa Web Albums, and TuneIn Radio directly to your TV in Full-HD 1080p resolution. Dailymotion video service is now included to offer video

WD TV Live also includes Fun Spot Games, a casual gaming service that offers arcade, strategy, and card games, puzzles, and quizzes. Some of these games include Sudoku, Black Jack and Poker.

WD TV Live allows users to enjoy personal media such as photos, video and music on their home entertainment systems.

Access Internet media content using WD TV Live in Full-HD 1080p resolution.

Access Internet media content using WD TV Live in Full-HD 1080p resolution.

It supports a wide range of file formats for streaming content from any connected USB drive, digital camcorder or camera, network drive such as the My Book Live personal cloud storage, and any networked PC or Mac computer in the home.

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Posted in Accessories, Cloud, Events, Gadgets, Launch, Media player, Music, Photos, Prices, Specifications, TV, Video, Western Digital | 2 Comments »

Personal cloud from Western Digital

Friday, October 14th, 2011

Western Digital offers an easy way to set up a personal private cloud to share documents and media – using the WD My Book Live network drive and mobile apps for Android and iOS smart phones and tablets.

The drives comes in 1TB (S$209), 2TB (S$239), and 3TB (S$299) capacities and are priced roughly US$50 more than non-network external drives with the same capacity.

Western Digital CorporationI’d posted not long ago about setting up a home shared network hard drive in order to share documents and media – photos, music and video – in a private personal cloud in the comfort of the home.

That was followed with a case study of setting up and using the Seagate GoFlex Home storage system – a similar network attached storage (NAS) drive.

My Book Live is a network attached storage drive from Western Digital

My Book Live is a network attached storage drive from Western Digital

The WD My Book Live network drive from Western Digital is also connected directly to the wireless router to plug into the home wireless network. Both Macs and PCs can store, access and share documents, as well as stream media from the drive.

With all the buzz about consumer public clouds and enterprise private and hybrid (private/public) clouds, the WD My Book Live makes it simple to set up your personal private cloud with the hard-disk and data physically sitting in the security of your home.

Access to this personal cloud can be extended beyond the home to the Internet. Any computer given the access rights can access the shared documents and media on the WD My Book Live through www.WD2go.com.

My Book Live comes in capacities of 1TB, 2TB and 3TB

My Book Live comes in capacities of 1TB, 2TB and 3TB

In addition, Android and iOS mobile devices (both smart phones and tablets) can get mobile access to the files stored on the drive via the WD2go apps from Western Digital. The WD Photos and basic WD2go app are free and allows viewing files and streaming media from the WD My Book Live.

For US$2.99, the WD2g Pro app adds the ability to “clip” files – basically download a local copy of files and media to the mobile device; and allow users to share files by emailing either a copy of the files or a link to the WD My Book Live.

Note that once the link is sent out, anybody with the link will have access to that file. There is no expiry date for the sharing, like in Seagate’s GoFlex Home. The only way to stop sharing that file is to either remove that file or rename it – but that affects everybody to whom you’ve sent that link to.

Naturally, both the network drive and the router must be connected and powered up for access. And access from mobile devices is only via the apps over the Internet – instead of direct access over the local home wireless network.

That means that even if you’re at home, the app in your smart phone or tablet will still have to go to the Internet (via wireless or 3G) and come back into the home wireless network to access the files on the WD My Book Live. This is similar to the GoFlex Home.

But Western Digital does not limit the number of users or computers that can share the WD My Book Live. The GoFlex Home limits the number of users/computers that can be set up to connect with it to just 5. GoFlex Home customers need to subscribe to pay to enjoy unlimited connections.

Capacity WD
My Book Live		 Seagate
GoFlex Home
1 TB S$209 S$179
2 TB S$239 S$239
3 TB S$299 S$339

WD My Book Live features a built-in media server that streams music, photos and movies to any DLNA-certified multimedia device such as a WD TV Live network media player, Blu-ray Disc player, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and connected TV.

My Book Live comes in capacities of 1TB, 2TB and 3TB and is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS, as well as DLNA/UPnP enabled devices.

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Posted in Android, App, Cloud, Events, Gadgets, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Launch, Phones, Prices, Specifications, Tablets, TV, Western Digital | 1 Comment »

Western Digital envisages a connected lifestyle

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Western Digital launches a slew of media storage, networking and playback products for the connected lifestyle.

Western Digital My Book Live personal cloud storage

Western Digital My Book Live personal cloud storage

The premise of the Connected Life solution from Western Digital is the simple set-up of a private personal cloud where media can be accessed and shared from any computer at home.

This personal cloud can also be extended into the Internet so that mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet computers can also access data and media in the cloud using apps, while computers can use a browser interface.

The centrepiece of the Connected Life solution from Western Digital is the My Book Live network attached storage. With capacities ranging from 1TB to 3TB, these network capable external hard drives are connected directly to the wireless router at home so that any computer – be it a Mac or a PC – can store and access the media in the drive.

Western Digital WD TV Live streaming media player

Western Digital WD TV Live streaming media player

The WD TV Live media player that is connected to the wireless network can then stream media from My Book Live and play photos, music and videos on a large TV screen. It can also stream media directly from Internet services such as YouTube.

Outside home, data and media on My Book Live can be accessed on mobile devices using WD apps WD 2go (free), WD 2go Pro (US$2.99), and WD Photos (free).

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Posted in Accessories, Android, Cloud, Events, Gadgets, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Launch, Media player, Phones, Prices, Specifications, storage drive, Tablets, Western Digital | 1 Comment »

TomTom maps extends coverage to 35 million km

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

TomTom has added some 400,000 kilometres of coverage globally to its maps. This extends its navigable map database to 35.2 million kilometres of roads in 104 countries with 3.4 billion people worldwide.

TomTom, Europe's largest maker of portable navigation devicesTomTom has enhanced its road network database and improved key features throughout Europe.

In Western Europe, 74,000 km of roads were added or realigned, including routes that are being built to accommodate the London 2012 Summer Olympics. A new low emission zone feature was added throughout “With the latest map release we are adding significant coverage in emerging countries like Brazil, Russia and India, … to a truly global offering” said Maarten van Gool, Managing Director of TomTom Licensing.Western Europe to support environmental driving. In Eastern Europe, over 36,000 km of roads were updated in key markets in Russia, Poland and Turkey.

In the Americas, TomTom expanded coverage in growth markets like Brazil where over 100,000 km of roads were realigned – for increased accuracy – and 600,000 Points of Interest were added, ensuring users can easily find businesses, places and people.

Users now benefit from features including specialized lane information and back road designation, which will lead to safer navigation. Having an up-to-date postal information available in the US and Canada is especially important for Enterprise and Business customers.

This latest release resulted in an Address Point uplift totaling more than 1.5 million throughout Asia Pacific, enabling more accurate routing and geocoding in this important region.

3D Landmarks, Landmark Icons, 2D City Maps and Junction Views were also updated, resulting in better visualization with a more realistic map display.

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Posted in Gadgets, GPS, Specifications, TomTom | No Comments »

Let’s talk iPhone: Executive Summary

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Tim Cook delivered his first major product launch since taking over from Steve Jobs as the CEO. The main anticipation for an iPhone 5 did not come through. Instead an iPhone 4S with changed out innards was offered. By the way, Steve Jobs was absent from the event

Let's talk iPhone launches iPhone 4S instead of iPhone 5

"Let's talk iPhone" launches iPhone 4S instead of iPhone 5

The headline for the launch was the iPhone 4S. Identical to the iPhone 4 in terms of external design and appearances, the innards have been completed changed out with much better components. These include a more powerful A5 dual-core CPU promising 2x the previous computing speed and 7x graphics performance, new 8 megapixel camera, full HD video, and iOS 5.

Other highlights inlcude Siri, the voice-activated intelligent assistant and iCloud, a set of cloud services that works and syncs with all the Apple devices a user owns.

New apps and iPod Touch and nano devices were also presented.

Here’s a quick executive summary of the various products launched, their prices (in the US and in Singapore), as well as when they would be available.

Product / Availability Prices

iPhone 4S

(black & white)

Oct 14:
US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan & UK
Oct 28:
22 countries including Singapore
Dec 2011:
Rest of the world

 US prices (w 2 yrs contract):
16GB: US$199
32GB: US$299
64GB: US$399 

Singapore prices (incl GST):
iPhone 4S: TBA
iPhone 4: S$788
iPhone 3GS: S$548

Siri voice-activated intelligent assistant

Comes as Beta on iPhone 4S

 Free

iOS 5

Available on Oct 12

 Free software update via iTunes 10.5

Cards App

Available on Oct 12

 US: US$2.99
Elsewhere: US$4.99

iCloud

Available on Oct 12

 5GB: free
10GB: US$20/yr
20GB: US$40/yr
50GB: US$100/yr

iPod nano

(black & white)

Available today

 US prices:
8GB: US$129
16GB: US$149  

Singapore prices (incl GST):
8GB: S$180
16GB: S$208

iPad Touch

(black & white)

Available on Oct 12

 US prices:
8GB: US$199
32GB: US$299
64GB: US$399  

Singapore prices (incl GST):
8GB: S$288
32GB: S$428
64GB: S$588

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Posted in App, Apple, Cloud, Events, Gadgets, iOS, iPhone, Launch, Phones, Prices, Specifications | No Comments »

Adobe Touch Apps

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Adobe announced its slate of six new apps for Apple iPads and Android tablets during the MAX 2011 conference in Los Angeles. Here’s a brief description of what each of the apps does.

Each of the six apps has an introductory price-tag of US$9.99. The Android version is will be available in November 2010 while the iOS version will only be available in 2012.

Adobe Touch App Description of App

Adobe Photoshop Touch 

Adobe Photoshop Touch

Adobe Photoshop Touch

Adobe Photoshop Touch

 Transform images with core Photoshop features in an app custom-built for tablets. With simple finger gestures, users can combine multiple photos into layered images, make popular edits and apply professional effects. The tablet-exclusive Scribble Selection Tool allows users to easily extract objects in an image by simply scribbling on what to keep and then what to remove.

With Refine Edge technology from Adobe Photoshop, even hard-to-select areas with soft edges, such as hair, are easily captured when making selections. Additionally, the app helps users quickly find images, share creations, and view comments through integration with Facebook and Google Search. Using the syncing capabilities that are a component of Adobe Creative Cloud, files can be opened in Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Collage 

Adobe Collage

Adobe Collage

 Capture and refine ideas and concepts by combining inspirational images, drawings, text and Creative Suite files into modern, conceptual mood boards.

Features include importing of images, four customizable pen types for drawing, adding text, and applying color themes. A virtually unconstrained canvas grows as needed to accommodate more assets. Files can be shared or transferred for access in Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Debut 

Adobe Debut

 Present designs to clients and stakeholders virtually anywhere. Adobe Debut quickly opens tablet-compatible versions of Creative Suite files for convenient and beautiful viewing on the tablet, including Photoshop layers and Illustrator art boards. Feedback is gathered using a markup pen tool to add notes and drawings on top of the work.

Adobe Ideas 

Adobe Debut

 Easy-to-master, vector-based tool for drawing. By using a stylus or finger, strokes appear smooth at any zoom level. Starting with a blank canvas, users can choose color themes, and pull in tablet-compatible image files that can be controlled as separate layers. Finished results are easily accessed in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop.

Adobe Kuler 

Adobe Kuler

 Generate color themes easily to inspire design projects. Color can be explored and discovered, with hundreds of thousands of Kuler themes already available via the creative community. Social engagement in the community is enhanced by rating and commenting on themes, which can be exported as color swatches for Adobe Creative Suite projects.

Adobe Proto 

Adobe Proto

Adobe Proto

 Develop interactive wireframes and prototypes for websites and mobile apps on a tablet. Ideas are communicated and shared with teams and clients using a touch-based interface.

Gestures quickly express a design concept, explain website structure or demonstrate interactivity. The wireframe or prototype then can be exported as industry standard HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and shared in popular browsers for immediate review and approval.

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Posted in Adobe, Android, App, iOS, iPad, Launch, Prices, Software, Specifications, Tablets | 1 Comment »

New storage products: 7 SanDisk memory devices

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

SanDisk launched seven new memory storage devices today, targeted mainly at consumers who are photographers/videographers, smartphone/tablet and general computer users.

SanDisk Corporation produces flash memory storage solutions.The new products feature higher capacities and higher speeds and include SDXC SD and micro SDXC cards, USB thumbdrives, a USB 3.0 card reader, and two SSD drives for daily and long term storage.

Note that the SDXC memory cards will require SDXC compatible devices to use their full capacity beyond 32GB. They can be used for non-SDXC devices but can only be formatted to a maximum capacity of 32GB for SDHC devices.

The new devices are tabulated below.

Memory device Price & Description
64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I Card S$529 64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I Card
(S$529) 

  • Double the performance and capacity, targeted at photo/video pros.
  • Up to 90 MB/s write speed and 95 MB/s read speed.
  • Good for Full HD videos and burst mode photography recording to RAW + JPEG.
  • 8GB – 64GB: S$69 – S$529
  • Available Q4 2011
64GB SanDisk Mobile Ultra microSDXC Card S$285 64GB SanDisk Mobile Ultra microSDXC Card
(S$285) 

  • Double the capacity of smartphones and tablets
  • Up to 30 MB/s transfer speeds.
  • Good for Full HD videos
  • Available Q4 2011
Cruzer Fit USB Flash Drive Cruzer Fit USB Flash Drive
(4 GB – 16 GB: S$12 – S$36) 

  • Tiny and compact.
  • It’s only the size of a 10 cents coin.
Cruzer Switch USB Flash Drive Cruzer Switch USB Flash Drive
(4 GB – 16 GB: S$12 – S$36) 

  • No more worries about losing the cap.
  • Good for computers and tablets with USB ports.
SanDisk Memory Vault SanDisk Memory Vault
(S$ TBA) 

  • 8GB and 16GB capacities available – not for large scale file backup.
  • Preserve files for up to 100 years. Good as photo albums.
  • Available Q4 2011
SanDisk Ultra SSD SanDisk Ultra SSD
(60GB: S$230)
(120GB: S$415)
(240GB: S$790) 

  • Solid State Drive (SSD) for the retail market instead of OEM.
  • Up to 280/270 MB/s in read/write speeds.
  • Offers low power consumption, silent and quick launch.
  • Good for replacing ageing internal hard-disks of old laptops/desktops.
ImageMate All-in-One USB 3.0 Reader/Writer ImageMate All-in-One USB 3.0 Reader/Writer
(S$65) 

  • USB 3.0 interface offers up to 500 MB/s performance.
  • Four card slots for all major card formats.
  • Backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices.
  • Good for intensive photo and video transfer.

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Posted in Accessories, Cameras, Desktops, Events, Gadgets, Launch, Notebooks, Phones, Prices, SanDisk, Specifications, storage drive, Tablets | 2 Comments »

New smartphone: Samsung Omnia W

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Samsung’s first Mango-based smartphone features a vivid Super AMOLED display as well as People Hub – which provides enriched content and social communication experience.

The Omnia W will be available in Singapore by the end of the year for S$498 (incl 7% GST), without line contract.

Samsung Omnia W, based on Windows Phone 7.5 Mango.

Samsung Omnia W, based on Windows Phone 7.5 Mango.

Based on the latest release of Microsoft’s Windows Phone, code-named Mango, the phone sports a 3.7” Super AMOLED display, a 1.4 GHz processor and 14.4 Mbps HASPA connectivity.

The design thrust of the Omnia W is to put people at the centre of everything, with emphasis placed on social networking and sharing. Internet Explorer 9 and Bing are integrated into the entire experience.

Windows Phone 7.5

Mango’s unique and intuitive user interface lays out applications in mosaic ‘Live Tiles’ which flow and move in response to users’ touch on the screen. Six specialized Microsoft applications provide an engaging content and communication experience.

Samsung Electronics Co LtdWindows Phone People Hub is integrated with built-in social networking services like Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, for users to stay connected with their social community constantly.

Office Hub provides enhanced productivity on-the-go and includes access to Windows Live Sky Drive, which provides 25GB of free storage and allows documents and media files to be easily stored and accessed. Users can also create and edit documents through mobile versions of Microsoft Office Excel, Word and PowerPoint, as well as utilize One Note, a note-taking platform that allows easy sharing and storage of voice memos, images and text-based notes.

Stylish, slim metal finish for the Samsung Omnia W

Stylish, slim metal finish for the Samsung Omnia W

Seamless access to entertainment is enhanced by the integration of a Picture Hub, Music & Video Hub – powered by Microsoft Zune – and Game Hub, which provides the latest in social gaming experiences through Xbox live, for friends to chat with each other while gaming. Windows Phone Marketplace provides access to over 30,000 apps to meet customer needs across entertainment or productivity.

Samsung differentiation

The overall Windows Phone experience is significantly enhanced with the inclusion of Samsung-exclusive productivity apps. This includes Samsung AllShare, which provides seamless content transfer between the smartphone and other DLNA-enabled devices such as HDTV’s, monitors and digital cameras.

The Samsung Omnia W tries to put people and social networking at the centre of its experience.

The Samsung Omnia W tries to put people and social networking at the centre of its experience.

Video Call is an easy-to-use app which allows ultra-fast vivid 3G video conversations with friends and family. Additionally, Mini Diary enables users to capture their experiences in multimedia formats and create their own personalized digital journal while on the go. An upgraded Samsung eBook client is also available from Samsung Zone.

Users can stay up-to-date with the latest news and events with Now 2.0 app, which provides up-to-the minute current affairs, stock market and weather information. RSS Time allows RSS feeds for newspapers, magazines and blogs to be downloaded onto the device and read in an easily digestible format, while eye-catching articles can be instantly shared via email or Facebook.

The device features enhanced social network integration, with Twitter and LinkedIn weaved throughout the Omnia W in addition to Facebook, for photos and videos to be instantly shared across a variety of social networking sites hassle-free.

Detailed specifications of the Omnia W are tabulated below:

(more…)

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Posted in Gadgets, Launch, Phones, Prices, Samsung, Specifications, Windows Phone 7 | 1 Comment »

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