August 3rd, 2012
Sony Mobile Communications today announced the official launch of the three Android smartphones in Singapore. The Xperia ion (S$798), Xperia acro S (S$698) and Xperia go (S$488) are available from today.
The Sony Xperia ion, Xperia go, and Xperia acro S are available in Singapore from today at all Sony stores, Sony centres, Xperia concept stores and operator stores.
The Xperia ion is Sony Mobile’s new flagship smartphone and offers a brilliant HD experience on a large 4.6-inch screen.
The Xperia go and Xperia acro S are water and dust resistant.
| Sony Mobile |
RRP |
Colours |
| Xperia ion |
S$798 |
Black |
| Xperia acro S |
S$698 |
Black and White |
| Xperia go |
S$488 |
Black, White and Yellow |
* Prices do not include line contract.
These three smartphones were among six that Sony Mobile showcased in Singapore back in June.
Tags: Android, Android 4.0, available, Ice Cream Sandwich, ICS, Singapore, smartphones, Sony Mobile Communications, Xperia, Xperia acro S, Xperia go, Xperia ion
Posted in Android, Availability, Gadgets, Launch, Operating Systems, Phones, Prices, Sony, Xperia | No Comments »
August 2nd, 2012
RIM has unveiled the new 4G LTE PlayBook. Available in Canada on 9 August with 32GB and a more powerful 1.5GHz dual-core CPU. Prices TBA.
The new PlayBook comes with much needed cellular connectivity.
The 4G LTE version of the BlackBerry PlayBook will make its debut in Canada next Thursday, with availability in other countries in the following months.
| Cellular connectivity |
| LTE |
700, 1700 MHz |
| HSPA+ |
100, 1900, 1700, 800, 900 MHz |
Given the incompatibility of 4G networks in different countries, it could be some time before a version compatible with your country becomes available.
In the meantime, the new PlayBook will at least bring much needed cellular connectivity (on 3G) for users from countries which do not have a 4G network yet (or who have incompatible networks).
Available in Canada on 9 Aug.
Research In Motion (RIM) had announced earlier that the PlayBook will eventually run on BlackBerry 10 OS.
So the 4G LTE should be upgradeable from the current BlackBerry Tablet OS when BB10 becomes available next year.
Apart from the 4G LTE connectivity and CPU speed-up, the hardware for the new PlayBook remains the same – which is a testimony of how advanced it was to begin with when the original PlayBook was launched last year.
Tags: 4G, available, BlackBerry, Canada, cellular, LTE, Playbook, Research In Motion, RIM
Posted in Announce, Availability, BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Gadgets, PlayBook, RIM, Specifications, Tablets, Tech news, Tickers | 2 Comments »
August 2nd, 2012
Brother launched in Singapore 11 new products today – 3 MFCs, 4 printers, 1 laser fax, and 3 scanners. Prices within.
Brother launched its slew of products at Stellar, 1-Altitude in Singapore.
Founded in 1908 in Japan, the 104-year-old Japanese manufacturer introduced its slew of new office appliances in Singapore today.
The MFCs, printers and laser fax come with 3-years on-site warranty while the scanners come with 1-year carry-in warranty.
4 new mono-laser printers
The Brother HL-5440D & the HL-5450DN looks identical (left) while the HL-5470DW & HL-6180DW looks identical (right).
The four mono-laser printers are targeted towards SMBs and large corporations, offering double-sided printing as well as print speeds of up to 40ppm.
| Mono-laser printers |
Prices |
| HL-5440D |
S$288 |
| HL-5450DN |
S$588 |
| HL-5470DW |
S$688 |
| HL-6180DW |
S$788 |
With Mobile Print (available in all the new models except HL-5440D), users can print anytime, anywhere from their desktops or mobile internet devices such as their Apple or Android smartphones.
The driverless printing supports various platforms, such as the Google Cloud Print, Apple Air-Print and Wi-Fi Direct (applicable for wireless models only).
3 new MFCs and 1 laser fax
Brother MFC-8910DW and MFC-8510DN
The MFCs (Multi-Function Centres) can print, copy, scan and fax.
| Multi-Function Centres |
Prices |
| MFC-8510DN |
S$888 |
| MFC-8910DW |
S$1,088 |
| MFC-7290 |
S$378 |
| FAX-2840 |
S$268 |
Two new models with double-side printing and networking cater to SMBs and large corporations while one is a budget machine for the home or small office.
The FAX-2840 has a fast transmission speed of 33.6kbps and 500-page fax in memory. It can print up to 20ppm at resolutions of up to 2,400 x 600 dpi.
3 scanners
Brother scanners DS-700D, ADS-2100 and DS-600.
The ADS-2100 Desktop Document Scanner helps SMBs digitise hardcopy documents through single-pass high-speed duplex scanning.
| Scanners |
Prices |
| ADS-2100 Desktop |
S$588 |
| DS-600 Mobile |
S$218 |
| DS-700D Mobile |
S$328 |
The DS-600 (single-sided) and DS-700D (double-sided) Mobile Document Scanners allow mobile workers to scan documents on the move, powered by a USB cable.
All three scanners are able to scan name cards as well as A4 size pages.
You can fold an A3 size poster into two so that the scanner can scan both sides and then stitch both halves together with the included software.
Brother FAX=2840. The MFC-7290 looks almost identical in size and form factor.
The scanning software can do OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to scan to editable text files (with no formatting); or scan to PDFs as images (layout preserved).
Alternatively you can also scan your documents into searchable PDFs (OCRed text layer superimposed on scanned image).
As these scanners are sheet-fed, they can only scan loose-leaf pages. For bound books, you’ll need to use a flat-bed scanner instead.
Notes:
“日本悠久制造商Brother在新加坡推出了一系列新产品。包括四部镭射打印机，三部多用途打印机，一部镭射传真机，以及三部文件扫描机。”科技点心（微薄）
- All prices in this post include GST.
- All photos are from Brother but have not been shown to scale.
- Legend for Brother’s nomenclature:
- D – double-side printing
- N – network
- W – WiFi
Tags: 1-Altitude, Brother, fax, laser, launch, MFC, printers, scanners, Singapore, Stellar
Posted in Brother, Events, Fax, Gadgets, Laserjet, Launch, MFC, Prices, Printers, Scanners, Specifications | No Comments »
August 2nd, 2012
Milestone signals Windows 8 has completed product development and testing, and is being handed-off to hardware partners to get ready for October 26 general availability. Release schedule below.
Windows 8 has reached RTM (Release to Manufacturing).
Microsoft has just announced that Windows 8 has reached Release to Manufacturing (RTM), the latest milestone in the launch of the new Windows 8 operating system.
Users buying a new Windows 7 PC between 2 June 2012 to 31 January 2013 can purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for S$17.99 (including GST) on the day of Windows 8 launch.
Those currently on Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 (prior to 2 June) can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for US$39.99.
For those wanting to try a pre-release version of Windows 8 before general availability, the Windows 8 Release Preview is available for download here.
Developers can visit the Windows Dev Center to get access to all the tools and resources they need to design, build, and sell apps in the Windows Store.
Whereas all apps during the preview phases were free, developers can now begin charging for apps with the RTM.
Those with access to RTM bits will begin to see paid apps appear in the Windows Store.
The schedule for releasing the final RTM code to select audiences – including developers, IT professionals and partners – will begin in mid-August.
August 15th
- Developers building new apps for Windows 8 will be able to download the final version of Windows 8 via an MSDN subscription. You can visit the Windows Dev Center to get access to the final build of Visual Studio 2012.
- IT professionals testing Windows 8 in organizations will be able to access the final version of Windows 8 through a TechNet subscription.
August 16th
- Customers with existing Microsoft Software Assurance for Windows will be able to download Windows 8 Enterprise edition through the Volume License Service Center (VLSC), allowing you to test, pilot and begin adopting Windows 8 Enterprise within your organization.
- Microsoft Partner Network members will have access to Windows 8.
August 20th
- Microsoft Action Pack Providers (MAPS) receive access to Windows 8.
August 26th
- General availability of Windows 8 to customers.
September 1st
Tags: availability, Microsoft, operating systems, RTM, software, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP
Posted in Announce, App, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Software, Tech news, Tickers, Windows 7, Windows 8 | No Comments »
August 1st, 2012
Microsoft has released the preview of Outlook.com, a web-based “unified” email that allows the user to consolidate mails and messages from Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo mail.
It is also connected to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and soon – Skype.
Try out the Outlook.com preview here.
You can find more details for the Outlook.com preview on the Outlook blog.
To try out the preview, go to www.outlook.com.
You can use your existing email Microsoft email account or sign up for a new @outlook.com email account to try out the preview.
Below are the highlights of the Outlook.com preview:
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: email, Facebook, Gmail, LinkIn, Microsoft, Outlook, Outlook.com, preview, Skype, software, Twitter, webmail, Yahoo
Posted in Announce, Email, Microsoft, Software | No Comments »
July 31st, 2012
Dell announced today its new mobile workstations for engineering and design professionals working on the move. The 15-inch M4700 and 17-inch M6700 are available now with prices starting from S$2,854 and S$3,669 respectively.
The popular Covet Edition is back on the 17-inch version, featuring a brilliant Phoenix Red color finish for extra appeal and edge to edge Corning Gorilla Glass 2 for brighter images and increased resilience and protection.
The powerful mobile workstations are targeted towards those demanding high computing performance on the go.
Dell Precision M6700
Examples include film editors on movie sets, architects at construction sites, and geophysicists in the field.
The Dell Precision M4700 and M6700 incorporate the latest Intel Core i5, i7 and Extreme Edition processors with Turbo Boost Technology for optimal performance and an extensive choice of professional graphics including the NVIDIA Quadro K-series GPUS and AMD FirePro graphics.
The M6700 offers the AMD FirePro M6000 with PCIe x16 Gen 3 for fast data throughput.
Dell Precision mobile workstation.
Additionally, Dell provides DDR3 SDRAM with up to 32GB of system memory and 1600MHz of memory speed and up to 16GB of 1866MHz memory, the fastest memory available on a mobile workstation, for high performance and fast access to large data sets.
They also offer an optional SATA3 512GB solid state drive (SSD).
Both systems expandable in the form of RAID 0/1/5 and additional storage devices.
The M4700 can have up to three storage devices with up to 1.8TB of total storage, while the M6700 can have up to four storage devices with up to 2.8TB of total storage.
The M6700 will be the first mobile workstation to offer optional 10+ finger multi-touch in the coming months.The M4700 and M6700 can power up to three simultaneous displays when undocked and up to five displays when docked and are compatible with the Latitude E-family dock.
As desktop replacements, the M4700 and M6700 offer a wide array of ports to connect to a greater number of formats and devices.
The I/O ports include two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and one eSATA/USB combo ports and three integrated video ports – one VGA, one HDMI and one DisplayPort 1.2.
An optional slice battery, ExpressCharge battery is also available.
Refer to the press release for the full details.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: AMD, availability, DELL, eSATA, Intel, laptops, M4700, M6700, mobile workstations, notebooks, NVIDIA, Precision, RAID, SSD
Posted in Announce, Availability, Dell, Gadgets, Prices, Specifications | No Comments »
July 30th, 2012
One of the first and most frequently asked questions from my readers when Microsoft first unveiled its Customer Release for Office 2013 – was the difference between Office 365 and Office 2013.
Microsoft has now clarified on its nomenclature.
Microsoft’s logo for “the new Office”. The new logo is highly reminiscent of the new Windows mark and is part of Microsoft’s company-wide approach to deliver a more consistent branding experience across all of its products.
The paras below are how Microsoft differentiates between Office 365 and Office 2013.
- Office 365. This is our services brand. Office 365 services are subscriptions with multiple installs for different devices and are always the latest technology every day of the year. Last week, we announced an extension of our Office 365 services for consumers – Office 365 Home Premium – and a new option for business users – Office 365 ProPlus, which join our Office 365 services for small businesses, enterprises, education and government.
- Office Client – Release Year Editions. Just like a car, these editions are the latest technology up to that year. The new release is the “2013” edition. You’ll see this label in suites such as “Office Home and Student 2013.” These editions are also in the cloud and save to SkyDrive by default, but people buy and install once on a single machine.
- Note: Individual client applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote and PowerPoint carry a year-model moniker no matter how you get them. If you are a subscriber, the year model edition is updated as part of new updates.
Question from Seow HM (Microsoft unveils Customer Preview for Office 2013):So is it Office 2013 or Office 365? Totally confusing when I went to the Microsoft website.
My reply: It’s the next version of Office. Think everyone can relate to Office 2013. I believe Office 365 is more the packaging and subscription plan. The Office 365 was previously for business customers, but will now be extended to Office Home Premium version for home users as well. If you install the Customer Preview, you’ll find that they call it Office 15. Even more confused now?
In addition, the Office Web Apps are free browser-based companions to Office, which are available to everyone for quick viewing and light editing.
My interpretation? Office 2013, or Word 2013 and Excel 2013 marks the version number of each of the software components.
But Office 365 is more the subscription package, like the various previous Office bundles (eg. Office Professional, Office Home and Office) which included different combinations of the various component software.
By the way, Microsoft is now calling the new release – “the new office” (as in “the new iPad”).
This is something new in itself – at least to me, since I didn’t notice this term when the Customer Release was first unveiled. Does it refer to Office 365 or does it refer to Office 2013?
Tags: Excel, logo, Microsoft, nomenclature, Office, Office 2013, Office 365, Office Web Apps, OneNote, Outlook, Powerpoint, Word
Posted in Announce, App, Microsoft, Office, Software | 4 Comments »
July 29th, 2012
Luxury German brand Metz has introduced its new slim line Metz Caleo range of 3D LED televisions in 47-inch (S$8,500) and 42-inch (S$7,600) screens. Prices include GST.
Metz Caleo 3D LED TV
The Metz Caleo 3D LED televisions are styled in brushed aluminum with black anodised aluminum side panels
Premium LED, mecavisionHD+ and 200 Hz technologies make images come to life with large spatial depth, while the integrated 750 GB hard disk recorder allows 2D or 3D content to be viewed independently of the programme schedule.
The new Metz Caleo 3D LED is available only at the Schmidt Marketing Flagship Store in Ngee Ann City Tower A, #05-33.The prices include the TV, table base OR wall mounting, and 2 pairs of 3D glasses.
The retail price of each pair of 3D glasses is $100.
Dynamic motion compensation (DMC) displays rapid movements in perfect clarity, even from HD sources.
A 3D comb filter and cross-colour reduction provides brilliant images.
The mecaSoundpro sound system and a highly efficient 2-way bass reflex system combine to provide rich, immersive sound.
The integrated Metz Media System enables the display of photos and videos, playing of music, as well as access to online services.
An LED backlight makes the TVs eco-friendly by optimising energy efficiency.
Tags: 3D, Caleo, LED, Metz, Ngee Ann City, Schmidt, Singapore, TV
Posted in 3D, Availability, Gadgets, LED, Lifestyle, Prices, Shopping, Specifications, TV | No Comments »
July 27th, 2012
The two new apps joins more than 400 other apps available for the Samsung Smart TV, with more to come in the next few months.
Angry Birds is developed by Rovio Entertainment. Throughout game play, all actions – including level of difficulty selection and screen zoom in/out – are performed using motion control. Players can activate the unique skills of each bird and even control the game’s trademark slingshot action using arm movement enabled by the built-in camera.
The two new apps are part of a slew of high quality content that Samsung has lined up for consumers in the next few months.
New Smart TV apps in the pipeline
- Entertainment: Angry Birds, SingTel mio TV PLAY, StarHub Video Store, WOWtv and Viki Premiere
- Edutainment: Yummy Science, Calculus, Ferog in the Well, My First World and E-Assessment
- Information: Maybank
The new Angry Birds app for Samsung Smart TV utilises Samsung’s Motion Control technology, which works with just the wave of a hand in front of the screen.
The SingTel mio TV PLAY is an over-the-top (OTT) video streaming application providing access to web video content in SD, HD and 3D format through an online catalogue and an online video store with Hollywood and Asian movies.
Four interactive edutainment apps developed by the local developer community will be launched in September 2012.
The two Angry Birds and SingTel mio TV PLAY apps will be preloaded on the Samsung Smart TV.
Some of the new Smart TV apps in the pipeline are listed in the table below, together with a brief description and when they will become available.
These apps are a result of a joint call-for-proposal for the development of educational TV apps for the Samsung Smart TV platform and ecosystem announced in September 2011 with the Media Development Authority of Singapore’s (MDA) Interactive Digital Media Programme Office (IDMPO).
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Angry Birds, Apps, edutainment, local developers, Samsung, Singapore, SingTel, Smart TV
Posted in Announce, App, Gadgets, Samsung, SingTel, Software, TV | 1 Comment »
July 27th, 2012
The S$630,000 will help the underprivileged communities in Singapore, including children in need and the elderly.
“AWWA Community Home for Senior Citizens provides accommodation for elderly Singaporeans who are on public assistance or have no family or means of financial support. Seagate’s generous donation will go a long way in helping us support our residents through counseling services and regular activities to maintain their physical and mental health,” said Keith Lee, Director of Elderly Services, AWWA.
Seagate Technology raised the money as part of a charity drive organised to commemorate the company’s 30th anniversary in Singapore.
“The amount raised this year is the highest in Seagate Singapore’s history of community involvement, a result which has only been possible with the close collaboration and excellent teamwork across Seagate,” said Steve Luczo, Chairman, President and CEO of Seagate Technology.
As a mark to give back to the community that Seagate has been operating in, Seagate employees participated in a variety of activities organized by the company at the Asian Women’s Welfare Association (AWWA) Community Home for Senior Citizens and the Children’s Society Student Care Centre (Henderson).
They provided an afternoon of entertainment for the elderly residents through song and games and and conducted a balloon workshop for the children.
Seagate employees also organized a charity bazaar at Seagate’s Ang Mo Kio office cafeteria for an afternoon, where they ran game stalls to raise funds for the two charities.
“We are extremely thankful to Seagate for their generosity. Most of the children from Children’s Society Student Care Centre (Henderson) come from low income families and the funds raised will be a great help in providing a conducive environment to enhance the development of these needy children, who are the future of Singapore,” said Chia Boon Khiang, Director of Funding, Singapore Children’s Society.
Tags: AWWA, charity, Seagate, Singapore
Posted in Party, Seagate, storage drive | No Comments »
