What are the YouTube community videos that netizens in Singaporeans love most in 2011? Yes, other than that remix of Singaporean General Election sensation Yam Ah Mee. Ryan Higa’s “Nice Guys” tops the list.
In Singapore, the most-watched YouTube community videos of 2011 were:
1. Nice Guys
Here are the rest of the Top Ten videos:
The GALAXY Note (S$998, 16GB) will be available in Singapore in November 2011, and the GALAXY Nexus (S$948) in January 2012.
Samsung and Google has jointly launched the GALAXY Nexus, the world’s first smartphone running Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest release of the Android platform.
GALAXY Nexus features a 4.65” HD Super AMOLED touch screen display with 1280×720 pixels and a 1.2 GHz dual core processor with 1GB RAM.
It also sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel front camera; and comes with 16GB or 32GB of onboard memory.
Samsung has also announced the launch of the GALAXY Note, a device that tries to combine the larger screen size of tablets with the portability of smart phones.
The 9.65mm thick GALAXY Note features the world’s first and largest 5.3” HD Super AMOLED touch screen display at WXGA (1280×800, 285ppi) resolution. It works with pen-input technology using a stylus called the S Pen.
Powered by a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor, the gadget runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and comes with 16GB onboard storage, with a microSD slot that supports up to 32GB.
GALAXY Note comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera.
Having just launched the new e-mail app earlier in the day, Google has withdrawn it new Gmail app from iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices after users started getting error messages.
“Unfortunately, it contained a bug which broke notifications and caused users to see an error message when first opening the app,” the company said in a blog. “We’ve removed the app while we correct the problem.”The newly-launched app is the first Gmail app for Apple’s iOS devices.
Google is now fixing the software bug and will release a new version. In the meantime, users who have already installed the app can continue using it, despite the bug.
Read the breaking story on Bloomberg.
Google has launched, today, a new set of 360-degree panoramic views of Singapore’s most iconic sites, including the Singapore Flyer, Hwa Par Villa, and Fort Canning Park.
At some locations, like in public parks and the Singapore Flyer here, Google Street View brings you right into the place.
These sites were chosen by Singaporeans in a poll jointly organised with the Singapore Tourism Board, of which spots they wanted to see on Street View.
Street View provides 360-degree street-level images in Google Maps to allow users to view and navigate through historic buildings, parks and gardens.
In areas where Street View is available, you can see the images on Google Maps (on a PC or an Internet-enabled mobile) by zooming into the lowest level, or by dragging the orange “Pegman” icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street.
Google first launched Street View in Singapore in 2008, and since then new places have been added while images have been regularly updated.
Google says it has gone to lengths to safeguard privacy.
Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads. And in the case of the partner program collections, it has permission from the landmark to drive and collect imagery.
Street View also uses technology that blurs both faces and licence plates. In addition, any user can easily flag images for removal that he or she considers inappropriate by clicking on “Report a problem.”
The new images, collected by a Street View trike, allow a viewer to intimately explore the nooks and crannies of popular Singaporean spots. The trike is a mechanical masterpiece comprising three bicycle wheels, a mounted Street View camera, and a specially decorated box containing image-collecting gadgetry.
It has the same capability as the Street View cars for collecting street-level imagery but is specially designed to help Google go to places less accessible by cars, such as historic landmarks and coastal paths.
Street View first launched in 2007 and is currently available in more than 30 countries and 100 metropolitan areas worldwide, including large areas of the U.S., Australia, Japan, France, Italy and Spain.
The new images feature the following Singaporean favorites:
It’s been a busy few days of earnings results from IT bigwigs. Here’s a quick sum-up of the state of the IT industry:
Yahoo! did well with profits beating estimates – could it be because expectations were low?
Conversely, Apple didn’t do so good, missing analysts’ predictions for the first time in at least six years – but that’s probably because expectations were so high!
Google’s doing real well with sales and profit beating estimates – from search advertising growth as usual.
Microsoft is patting itself on its back – for not having bought Yahoo! back in 2008. And taking a swipe at Google’s Android – Steve Balmer says you need to be a computer scientist to use an Android smart phone, unlike Windows Phone 7.
RIM’s still trying to find its way forward by taking a step backward – trying to bridge new QNX with “old” BlackBerry OS 7 – hope that works out.
Amazon is being sued for screwing up the career of an actress by revealing her real age against her will in IMDb.
On the corporate IT front, industry bell weather IBM missed analysts’ estimates on slowing revenue growth at its software, hardware and services businesses.
Studies by Experian’s global analysis shows Singapore loving both Facebook and Google+.
| Websites | Visits share in August 2011 | Visits share in August 2010 | % Annual Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38.22% | 37.83% | 1.03% | |
| YouTube | 23.37% | 20.13% | 16.10% |
| 5.74% | 4.38% | 31.05% | |
| Hardware Zone | 3.27% | 3.88% | -15.72% |
| Tumblr | 1.42% | 0.63% | 125.40% |
| Google+ | 1.20% | NA | NA |
| Meebo | 1.07% | NA | NA |
| Yahoo! Answers | 0.92% | 0.92% | 0% |
| Tagged | 0.50% | 0.56% | -10.71% |
| VR-Zone | 0.50% | 0.77% | -35.06% |
At the beginning of September 2011, Experian Hitwise had found that, In the Asia Pacific region, Google+ was the most popular in Singapore, followed by India, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Singapore was also the only country in which Google+ had enjoyed a continued rate of adoption – other countries had seen its popularity decline after a peak in mid-July, following its initial beta-launch in end June.
A further study released last week by Experian revealed that Singapore users spent the longest average amount of time per session on Facebook in the world, in the month of August 2011. The average of 38 min 46 sec per session was longer than what users spent on Facebook per session in other parts of the world.
In the meantime, other social networking and sharing sites such as YouTube and Twitter have also grown their market shares amongst users in Singapore.
An international analysis on the use of social networks by Experian shows that Singapore users spend the longest time on Facebook in August 2011, with an average of 38 minutes and 46 seconds spent per session.
| Country | Average time spent per session on Facebook in Aug 2011 |
|---|---|
| Singapore | 38 min 46 sec |
| New Zealand | 30 min 31 sec |
| Australia | 26 min 27 sec |
| UK | 25 min 33 sec |
| France | 21 min 53 sec |
| US | 20 min 46 sec |
| India | 20 min 21 sec |
| Brazil | 18 min 19 sec |
This is longer than the average time spent per session in countries such as UK, US and Australia.
Experian further reveals that Facebook has managed to sustain its popularity with Singapore Internet users despite the emergence of Google+ this year. The social networking site managed to increase share of visits by 0.39% between August 2010 and August 2011.
Singapore Internet users also showed more interest in YouTube, evidenced by a 3.24% increase in share of visits between August 2010 and August 2011.
GoFlex Home is a consumer network attached storage (NAS) hard drive for the home. Easy to set up and use, it allows the access, sharing, streaming, and backup of files and media for computers, network TVs, media players and game consoles connected to the home wireless network.
The Seagate GoFlex Home comprises a drive dock and a hard drive.
Secure access can also be opened to computers and iOS/Android tablets and smartphones over the Internet.
Over the weekend, I helped my friend set up an NAS drive for his desktop, netbook, two laptops, iPhone and Android tablet. He had bought the Seagate GoFlex Home 3 TB storage drive during the recent COMEX 2011 but hadn’t had the time to set it up yet.
I helped by using eye-power because he decided to give it a go himself and actually got the thing working in less than 15 minutes. That was the reason why I recommended the drive in the first place, it works with most consumer home Wi-Fi routers with little set-up or configuration needed.
The GoFlex Home comes with two cables and an software installation CD. The following steps were all that was needed to get the personal storage cloud going:
1. Connect the GoFlex Home drive dock to the Wi-Fi router by using the provided Ethernet cable.
2. Pop the GoFlex hard drive into the GoFlex drive dock and plug the power supply into the drive dock and the wall outlet. Switch on the GoFlex Home by pressing the Power button on the drive dock.
3. Pop the CD (or download from Seagate’s website) into the computer (can be a Mac or Windows PC) to install the software needed to access the hard drive. Simply select a language, key in the product information found on the drive, give the drive a name and register it. The name has to be unique globally since it will be used to identify the drive should you access it from the Internet.
4. Install the software on other computers that require access to the shared drive. Up to 5 people/computers on the home network can access the GoFlex Home. By paying to subscribe to the Seagate Share Pro, you get access for an unlimited number of people/computers to the GoFlex Home.
There are three ways to access the drive. One is to use the installed Seagate Dashboard software (on Windows PCs), which allows all features of the drive to be configured and managed. You can add computers and user accounts, backup, access and share files as well.
Use Seagate Dashboard software to configure and manage GoFelx Home
The other way is to use a browser-based Seagate Share either for a computer in the home network or out in the Internet.
Free iOS/Android app
Both are easy to use with a simple interface, using drag-and-drop or standard dialog boxes we’re familar with.
The third method is via the appropriate free app on a iOS/Android smartphone or tablet, also over the Internet.
The GoFlex Home comes with a USB port which is very useful. You can connect an additional external hard drive to expand the capacity of the original GoFlex hard drive. You can also connect a USB hub for connecting more than one USB device.
In my friend’s case, he connected his printer to the USB port and all his computers on the Wi-Fi network got to share that printer. 
No more plugging/unplugging the old printer from one computer to another.
The included backup software allows up to three connected computers to be automatically backed up to the GoFlex Home. Upgrade to Premium Backup ($49.95) to back up an unlimited 
number of computers on the GoFlex Home network. You can upgrade at the Application Store that can be accessed through the Seagate Dashboard software.
For each user account set up on the GoFlex Home, three folders are created – a Public, Personal, and Backup folder. The Public folder holds files that can be stored and accessed by everyone on your home network. The Personal and Backup folders can only be accessed by the the user.
What I like about the sharing is the granular control available for the files shared. You can specify who you want to share files with, choose to share just certain files or entire folders, set passwords, and set expiry dates for the shares. Administration is intuitive and easy to pick up. You can send a URL of a shared file via email.
Stream media to other computers and media players on the home wireless network.
The GoFlex Home is available in 1TB (S$179), 2TB (S$239) and 3TB (S$339) capacities.
An overseas friend uses the Viber app on her iPhone for free VOIP international voice calls and text messages on her smartphone. I installed the free app on my Android phone and tested it. Setup was swift and quality was superb.
I was at the petrol station and the attendant was filling up an almost empty tank with petrol. While waiting, I whipped out my Android phone, searched the Android Market for Viber and installed it. Before the attendant had finished filling up the tank, I was already chatting with my friend in Kuala Lumpur on her iPhone – for free.
Set up was really simple on the Android phone. Once it was downloaded and installed, it gets your permission to access your contacts and sends you a 4-digit access code to activate your account. After that, you’re set to go!
Viber is free and works on the iPhone and Android phones.
The interface looks similar to the usual numeric dialpad with tabs to access recent calls, contacts, messages and more activities such as inviting friends, sharing on Facebook, tweeting etc.
Basically, Viber emulates the usual phone calling and sms usage – everything is based on your regualr phone number.
Viber dialpad on Android phone
Your account id is your phone number. If the party you’re calling has Viber installed on her Android or iPhone, you just dial her usual number, complete with international dialing code, to get connected. Viber is currently only available on the iPhone and Android phones. A BlackBerry version is in the pipeline.
Quality was good. Voice quality was loud and clear, although there was just a split-second lag, which didn’t affect the flow of the conversation in the slightest bit.
If the other party does not have Viber installed yet, the app gives you the option to place a regular call through your carrier.
In the Asia Pacific region, Google+ is most popular in Singapore, followed by India, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, according to data from Experian Hitwise.
Singapore is also the only country in which Google+ has enjoyed a continued rate of adoption – other countries have seen its popularity decline after a peak in mid-July, following its initial beta-launch in end June.
Google+ popularity in APAC: Singapore, India, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Experian Hitwise is an online competitive intelligence service that operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Globally, Singapore’s usage of Google+ was ranked sixth in the Social Networking and Forums category.
Google+’s popularity in Singapore was attributed to the dominance of the Google’s search engine in Singapore, with over 34.48 per cent of upsteam traffic to Google+ originating from the Google Singapore search engine.
Among the countries, Hong Kong secured the lowest rate of Google+ adoption despite being the heaviest users of social networks – almost 60 per cent of visits are to platforms like Facebook and YouTube, while 40 per cent of the visits are to local Chinese forums and social media including Discuss, Uwants and Sina Weibo etc. Globally, it was ranked 90th.
Google+ also performed strongly in India achieving 14th place at its peak. This could be attributed to the rapid growth of India’s mobile and Internet community, its growing economy, as well as the increasing popularity of social media.
Despite minimal impact seen on Facebook visits so far after the launch in all markets except Hong Kong, Google+ sees key reliance on other Google properties such as Google Search, YouTube and Gmail to direct and refer visitors to the new Social platform.
