Samsung launches “GALAXY S III mini” smartphone in Singapore

February 1st, 2013

Samsung has launched the compact version of its flagship smartphone GALAXY S III in Singapore.

The 4-inch compact Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) smartphone will be available in Pebble Blue and Marble White from tomorrow, 2 February 2013 (Saturday) at S$568 (without contract).

The GALAXY S III mini will be available in Pebble Blue and Marble White from 2 February 2013 at S$568 (without contract).

The GALAXY S III mini will be available in Pebble Blue and Marble White from 2 February 2013 at S$568 (without contract).

The GALAXY S III mini sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED display (480 x 800), 5-megapixel camera that records movies at 720p@25fps, 8GB internal memory (microSD slot for up to 32GB ext memory), and a 1,500mAh battery.

Running on a 1 GHz Dual-Core processor, the compact smartphone features Samsung’s “Smart Stay” and “S Voice” features.

“Smart Stay” recognizes how the phone is being used – the front camera identifies the eyes and maintains a bright display for continued viewing – as long as the user is eyeballing the screen.

“S Voice” is the natural language user interface, to listen and respond to words, allowing information search and basic device-user communication through voice commands.

Below are the specifications for the GALAXY S III mini I8190N.

Read the rest of this entry »

RIM launches BlackBerry 10 – unveils Z10 and Q10 smartphones

January 31st, 2013

Research In Motion (RIM) President & CEO – Thorsten Heins – launched the new QNX-based BlackBerry 10 operating system and unveils the full-touchscreen Z10 and physical keyboard-equipped Q10 smartphones.

RIM is also renaming itself as BlackBerry from today.

Shareholders’ response to the launch inside. All images in this article were screen-grabbed from webcast of the event.

The first manifestation of the new BlackBerry 10 - the full-touchscreen Z10 (left) and physical keyboard-equipped Q10 (right).

The first manifestation of the new BlackBerry 10 – the full-touchscreen Z10 (left) and physical keyboard-equipped Q10 (right).

The basic premise of the new “BlackBerry experience” is about extending connectivity to everything around users – connecting the phone to the car, sound system, healthcare system etc.

Three overarching innovations to enable this are the BlackBerry Hub, Peek and Flow.

Hub is akin to the People Hub of Microsoft Windows Phone operating system and consolidates all people related and social network information and updates in one place.

Read the rest of this entry »

128GB for Apple iPad with Retina Display – from 5 Feb 2013

January 30th, 2013

Apple is increasing the maximum memory of the iPad with Retina Display to 128GB (from the current max. of 64GB).

The 128 GB versions of the iPad with Wi-Fi (SG$1,048) and iPad with Wi-Fi+Cellular (SG$1,218) will be available from 5 February 2013. Prices include GST.

Apple increases the memory of the iPad with Retina Display to 128GB (from the current max. of 64GB).

Apple increases the memory of the iPad with Retina Display to 128GB (from the current max. of 64GB). This photo is from Apple’s website.

Who needs so much storage?

Read the rest of this entry »

New prices for Microsoft Windows 8 from February 2013

January 23rd, 2013

Microsoft has released prices for Windows 8 after 31 January 2013 – when the current promotional prices expire.

The new prices are much higher, so if you’re planning on upgrading to Windows 8 – get it before the end of this month.

An auspicious 88 days for Windows 8. Click to enlarge.

An auspicious 88 days for Windows 8. Click to enlarge.

88 days have passed since the global launch of Windows 8, with 60 million licenses sold, (as of 8 January).

Since the opening of the Windows Store the number of apps has quadrupled and globally Microsoft recently passed the 100 million app download mark – just two months after general availability.

In Asia-Pacific, the number of locally-developed apps is currently being added to at a rate of 50 per day and the developer community itself has swelled by 82% since the October launch.

In Singapore, more than 4,000 developers have been trained to develop apps for Windows 8 since launch.

Below are the prices for the various upgrade editions for Windows 8 from 1 February 2013.

Read the rest of this entry »

New Android smartphone: HTC Butterfly to debut in Singapore

January 22nd, 2013

The HTC Butterfly will be available in Singapore in Fervour Red and Glamour White starting 26 January at M1 and StarHub. Recommended retail price: S$928.

HTC Butterfly will hit the shelves in Singapore from this Saturday (26 Jaunuary) for S$928.

HTC Butterfly will hit the shelves in Singapore from this Saturday (26 Jaunuary) for S$928.

The HTC Butterfly will be the first smartphone to have a full HD 1080p display, with a 5-inch screen that boasts a high pixel density of 440 pixels per inch.

HTC Butterfly
OS Android (Jelly Bean) with HTC Sense 4+
Screen 5″ super LCD 3
Resolution 1980 x 1080 Full HD
Battery 2,020 mAh, built-in
Processor Qualcomm S4 Pro 1.5GHz, Quad-core, 2GB RAM
Camera Rear: 8 MP
Front: 2.1 MP
Video 1080p HD
Memory Int: 16 GB
Ext: 32 GB microSD
Size /mm 143 x 70.5 x 9.08
Weight 140 g
Price S$928

It is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, featuring a quad-core 1.5 GHz CPU, high-performance GPU and a full 2GB of RAM to enable the seamless use of multiple apps simultaneously.

The smartphone is run on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and HTC Sense 4+, including Google Now.

The HTC Butterfly has a 2,020 mAh battery and power saving software and an expandable SD card slot in addition to 25GB of free Dropbox cloud storage (two years free).

The 8-megapixel rear-camera has an f/2.0 28mm wide-angle lens, 5-level automatic flash, backside illuminated sensor (BSI), and superfast autofocus.

HTC VideoPic allows you to capture video and still images at the same time.
Read the rest of this entry »

New Windows tablet: Dell Latitude 10 Essentials Configuration

January 22nd, 2013

Dell has unveiled a full-featured, enterprise-ready Windows 8 tablet for S$700 (32GB version) – ideal for schools and small businesses.

Dell Latitude 10 Essentials Configuration 64 GB (S$805) is available today while the 32 GB (S$699) version will be available later.

Dell Latitude 10 Essentials Configuration 64 GB (S$805) is available today while the 32 GB (S$699) version will be available later.

The new tablet brings ease and affordability to deploying, securing and managing tablets to budget-conscious organisations.

Read the rest of this entry »

Adobe launches subscription-based Creative Cloud in Singapore

January 21st, 2013

The Adobe Creative Cloud is a membership-based service that provides unlimited access to download and install all Creative Suite desktop applications, and other selected Adobe programs.

Creative Cloud for teams (US$840 per user per year), the first of the Creative Cloud membership options available in Singapore, is tailored for small and medium businesses.

Creative Cloud for Teams is now available in Singapore.

Creative Cloud for Teams is now available in Singapore.

First released in the US in April 2012, Adobe Creative Cloud includes unlimited access to download and install all Creative Suite desktop applications, plus Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Muse, Adobe Edge tools and services; game developer tools and integration with Photoshop Touch apps.

Read the rest of this entry »

Samsung launches Asia’s first Mobile PIN store in Singapore

January 18th, 2013

The Samsung Mobile PIN in Singapore is the first such store in Asia after the concept’s launch at the London Olympics in 2012.

Samsung celebrity ambassadors – Olivia Ong and SKarf were at the launch event.

Samsung Mobile PIN at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza from 18 January to 12 March 2013.

Samsung Mobile PIN at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza from 18 January to 12 March 2013. Photo from Samsung.

The Samsung Mobile PIN is at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza and showcases Samsung’s latest mobile devices including the GALAXY Note II LTE, GALAXY Note 10.1 LTE, GALAXY S III LTE and GALAXY Camera.

K-Pop girl group SKarf are celebrity ambassadors for Samsung.

K-Pop girl group SKarf are celebrity ambassadors for Samsung. Photo from Samsung.

Visitors can get their hands on the devices while attendants introduce features to them in an interactive experience.

Olivia Ong was another celebrity ambassador for Samsung that was present at the launch of the Mobile PIN.

Olivia Ong was another celebrity ambassador for Samsung that was present at the launch of the Mobile PIN.

Read the rest of this entry »

New laptops: Dell Inspiron 14, 15, 14R and 15R

January 17th, 2013

The new laptops that Dell unveiled today are thinner and have been optimised for better performance and improved battery life.

The Inspiron 14 (starting from S$599), Inspiron 15 (S$649), Inspiron 14R (S$899), and Inspiron 15R (S$999) are available from today.

The new Dell Inspiron laptops are thinner, more powerful and have longer battery life.

The new Dell Inspiron laptops are thinner, more powerful and have longer battery life.

The new Inspiron family features increased battery capacities for the 6-cell versions of the laptops, utilising the ultra-low voltage versions of Intel’s Core i processors.

“Our customers told us they want better battery life without sacrificing on overall performance, and they want thin and portable laptops,” shared Deepak Wagh, general manager, Consumer Business, Dell Singapore.

Requiring only 17 watts to run, the new energy-efficient processors use less than half the power requirements of those installed in last year’s Inspiron laptops, resulting in longer battery life.

The redesigned Inspirons are 15% lighter than the previous generation, and 17% slimmer with the 4-cell batteries, making them under 1-inch thin.

The laptops are available with Intel’s Core i3, i5 and i7 processor options, and support higher-end features like 3×3 dual-band wireless support based on the latest Wi-Fi N standards, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI 1.4a.

Side view of the Dell Inspiron 14R.

Side view of the Dell Inspiron 14R.

They are built with stereo speakers with Waves MaxxAudio 4 processing that was introduced in the high-end XPS laptops.

“The new Inspiron portfolio delivers both power and performance, packed in lighter and smaller full-featured laptops that are perfect for everyday computing needs of families and students,” said Wagh.

They also come preloaded with Skype and H.264 enablement for HD video chats or calls.

With the Intel wireless card, all these systems support Intel’s wireless display standard.

Beyond these hardware and software enhancements, these laptops all have touchpads that are optimised to take advantage of multi-touch gestures in Windows 8.

Below are the details.

Read the rest of this entry »

New portable speakers: Philips SoundShooter series

January 16th, 2013

Philips attempts to redefine portable music with portable speakers that are small in size but explosive in sound. Check out the SBT30 (S$89), SBA3210 (S$69), SBA3110 (S$59), and SBA3011 (S$49).

The new Philips SoundShooter portable music speakers are small in size but explosive in sound.

The new Philips SoundShooter portable music speakers are small in size but explosive in sound.

The Philips SoundShooter range of speakers sport Neodymium speaker drivers, and are light and powerful.

These handy speakers come in a myriad of shocking, playful colors and stylish metallic tones to suit your mood and make a great conversation piece and addition to any party!

Check out these quirky portable speakers below.

Read the rest of this entry »