Preorders will begin the day before on Tuesday, 29th May 2012. For M1, the launch event is at M1 Shop Paragon on the 29th May 2012 from 9pm till 12am. StarHub will also start from 9pm on the 29th at their shops but only for customers who have indicated their interest with them previously.

At launch time only the Marble White will be available. The Pebble Blue will be available at a later date.

Samsung Galaxy SIII – Marble White

The game itself cost USD$99.90 (SGD$126.60) and shipping (normal) cost USD$19.98 (SGD$25.30). Paid a total of USD$119.97 (SGD$152) for it.

The Collector’s Edition contains the following items:

• Diablo III PC/Mac Game
• Diablo Skull and 4GB USB Soulstone
• Exclusive In-Game Content
  • Diablo III – Aesthetic Artifacts
  • World of Warcraft – Fetish Shaman Pet
  • StarCraft II – Battle.net Portraits
• Behind the Scenes Blu-Ray/DVD Set
• The Art of Diablo III
• Diablo III Soundtrack

Diablo III: Collector’s Edition – Box

Diablo III: Collector’s Edition – Box Open

Diablo III: Collector’s Edition – Box Content

Diablo III: Collector’s Edition – What’s In The Box

Diablo III: Collector’s Edition – The Art Of Diablo III

Diablo III: Collector’s Edition – Diablo Skull and 4GB USB Soulstone

Diablo III: Collector’s Edition – Diablo III Soundtrack

Diablo III: Collector’s Edition – Behind The Scenes Blu-Ray/DVD

Diablo III: Collector’s Edition – Diablo III PC/Mac Game

Related: Starcraft 2 – Wings Of Liberty – Collector’s Edition

Coda 2 will be available from 24th May 2012 onwards from the Mac App Store as well as their own online store. The pricing scheme is a little tricky. For the first 24 hours, Coda 2 will be on sale at 50% which is USD$49, after that it will be back to USD$75 and after certain time frame it will be back to the original price which is USD$99.

If you have bought Coda 1 on or before 10th April 2012 via their online store (not applicable on Mac App Store), you are entitled to a free Coda 2 license.

There are just too many new features in Coda 2 to list in this blog post, check out Coda 2 for more information. My favorite new feature? It got to be Git integration and a a full GUI for MySQL management!

Panic also announced a Diet Coda which is essentially a strip down version of Coda for your iPad! Now you can edit your codes on the go. It comes with Prompt (SSH Terminal) build in. Similar to Coda 2, Diet Coda will be available from 24th May 2012 onwards on the App Store. For the first 24 hours, Diet Coda will be on sale at 50% off which is USD$9.99 and after that it will be back to the original price of USD$19.99.

Official Site: Coda 2
Official Site: Diet Coda
Official Blog Post: Announcing Coda 2. And introducing Diet Coda

Sony Xperia P

Sony Xperia P will be retailing for SGD$688 in silver and black.

• 4″ Reality Display powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine
• WhiteMagic display technology for an ultra-bright and power efficient viewing experience
• 1 GHz dual-core processor for super fast performance with 16GB flash storage
• 8MP camera with unique fast capture, HD recording and Sony technology to capture 2D and 3D panoramic images
• Easy HDMI and DLNA connectivity to share content on any screen
• Crisp and loud listening with xLoud, Clear Bass and 3D surround sound audio technology
• NFC (Near Field Communications) enabled to access a growing range of NFC applications and services as well as Xperia SmartTags
• Available in a choice of silver and black, all with an aluminium unibody
• Comes with embedded battery, fast charger, USB cable, standard headset, 2 units Xperia SmartTags and HDMI cable

Sony Xperia U

Sony Xperia U will be retailing for SGD$488 in black and white.

• 3.5″ Reality Display powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine
• 1 GHz dual-core processor for super fast performance
• 5MP camera with unique fast capture, HD recording and Sony technology to capture 2D and 3D panoramic images
• Crisp and loud listening with xLoud and 3D surround sound audio technology
• Available in a choice of white or black, with additional yellow and white exchangeable caps respectively in the box
• Comes with handset, standard battery, standard charger, USB cable, screen protector and SmartHeadset

Sony Xperia sola

Sony Xperia sola will be retailing for SGD$588 in black and white.

• NFC enabled and Xperia SmartTags in the box to enable quick app loading and easy content sharing
• Floating touch navigation for an easy web browsing experience
• 3.7″ Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine gives razor sharp clarity
• Powered by a 1GHz Dual Core Processor for super fast browsing
• xLOUD and 3D surround sound audio technology for crisp and loud listening
• Available in a choice of white or black
• Comes with embedded battery, standard charger, USB Cable, standard headset and 4 units of Xperia SmartTags

All prices started are without contract and includes 7% GST.

The unit available in Singapore will be the non-LTE version and instead it will be running on HSDPA+ which gives you up to 42Mbps download speed. I will not put high hopes on that in Singapore *.

3 colors will be available on launch date, white, black and cyan.

Nokia Lumia 900

Check out my Nokia Lumia 900 post when I was in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress 2012!

Official Site: Nokia Lumia 900

* In Singapore be glad that you can even get 10Mbps download speed. Mobile data speed in Singapore has been horrendous for the past few years and it just gets getting worse.

For a music player, the Sony Walkman Z1050 packed some solid specifications:

• Nvidia Tegra 2 1GHz (Dual Core)
• 512MB RAM
• 4.3″, TFT color display with white LED-backlight, WQVGA(800 x 480 Pixels)
• Built-in FM Tuner
• 16GB Storage Capacity
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, WiFi IEEE 802.11b/g/n
• GPS/Accelerometer/Magnetometer
• HDMI Micro/3.5mm Audio Jack/Proprietary Connector (WM-Port)
• Android Version 2.3 (Gingerbread) Operating System
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 70.9 x 134.4 x 11.1 (mm)
• Weight: 156g
• Battery Life (Music): 20 Hours
• Battery Life (Video): 5 Hours

It can be considered an Android Phone without the phone and camera functionality. Yeap, you read it right, there is no camera in the Sony Walkman Z1050 which is perfect for National Service (NS) people as well as military related organisations.

Despite it comes with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), it will be upgradable to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) later this year.

The main selling point of the Sony Walkman Z1050 is of course the audio quality. First up is the new S-Master MX digital amplifier which is a unique technology by Sony that reduces noise levels and distortion to enhance your music. There are another 3 audio technologies (Clear Bass, Clear Stereo and Digital Sound Enchantment Engine (DSEE)) that improves the audio quality. With the Sony Walkman Z1050, you also get a pair of EX headphones (Engadget’s comment mentioned it might be the EX300).

The xLOUD speaker system within the device produces pretty clear and loud sound when playing audio files, but when it comes to video, the audio from the video playback was very soft.

The Sony Walkman Z1050 supports Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), you can simply stream your music, videos and photos to any DLNA-compatible TVs, PCs or home audio system.

There are 2 downsides of the Sony Walkman Z1050. The first is the price, it will be retailing for SGD$429 which is incredibly steep. Apple iPod Touch (32GB) (current generation) is only retailing for SGD$428.

I seriously have no idea how Sony is going to market this. The only selling point to justify the steep price is the sound quality. I am not an audiophile person, but my fellow tech bloggers told me that the audio quality is pretty good, definitely better than Apple iPod Touch.

The second downside is the use of proprietary connector for syncing and charging? Seriously? The proprietary port is also known as the Walkman Port (WM-Port). It is a USB 2.0 compliant 22-pin connector which is used for syncing and charging the device. The package does include a USB to WM-Port cable (duh), but I just don’t understand why can’t they use Micro USB.

Sony Walkman Z1050

Sony Walkman Z1050 – Micro HDMI, Dedicated Music Button, Volume Buttons

Sony Walkman Z1050 – 3.5mm Audio Jack, Proprietary Connector (WM-Port)

Sony Walkman Z1050 – xLOUD

Sony Walkman Z1050 – Cover Art

Sony Walkman Z1050 – Visualizer

Sony Walkman Z1050 – Equalizer

My pledge was USD$28 and an additional USD$10 for shipping (total USD$38) for a choice of any two units (Nibbles, Goldie, or Gulp). I chose Goldie and Gulp.

After almost 8 months in the making, I finally got my CableKeeps yesterday, 14th May 2011!

So what is CableKeeps? As you all might know, all the MacBook chargers do come with a built-in cable winder but the same feature is missing from iPod/iPad/iPhone chargers. So basically CableKeeps add this missing feature to your existing iPod/iPad/iPhone chargers.

The Gulp will fit the any iPad chargers and any iPhone chargers with international adaptor plug. The Goldie will only fit US’s iphone chargers. I have no idea why at that time I chose the Goldie instead of Nibbles since I do not have a US’s iphone charger with me (should have gotten one when I am in the US).

Do ignore the damaged boxes in the pictures below, this got to be my worst shipment I had from the USA via USPS.

CableKeeps – Gulp (Box Front)

CableKeeps – Gulp

CableKeeps – Gulp (With Cable)

CableKeeps – Goldie (Box Front)

CableKeeps – Goldie

Here are the key features from the press release:

• Responsive Touch Surface: The touch surface responds directly to your fingers – whether you’re surfing the Web or reading your emails and it doesn’t matter which hand you use to mouse. Left-handers can easily reassign the right- and left-click buttons with Logitech SetPoint software.
• Scroll and Swipe Where You Like: The touch surface makes scrolling direct, continuous and free-flowing. And you can scroll and swipe immediately – wherever your fingertips rest on the mouse. Logitech Flow Scroll software gives you scrolling that is fluid -vmuch like scrolling on your favorite touchscreen smartphone.
• Comfortable, Stylish Design: With a modern design, smooth edges and an attractive profile, your mouse feels good in your hand and looks good too.

Logitech Touch Mouse M600

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Box Front

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Back View

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Box Contents

When I first got hold of the M600, I was impressed by the packaging, it looks nice and prestige, at least something you would expect from a SGD$89 mouse.

The packaging comes with:

• Touch Mouse M600
• Logitech Unifying Receiver
• 2x AA Batteries
• Carrying Pouch
• User Documentation

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Glossy Surface

The surface of the mouse is extremely glossy but it is not a fingerprint magnet, I am guessing it has some sort of oleophobic coating over it. With it’s curvy pebble shape and lack of sharp edges, the M600 as what Samsung would call it, is designed for humans (DUH).

Since the whole mouse is a button by itself, there are no much gaps around the mouse for dirt to slip it which makes cleaning easy!

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Top View

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Bottom View

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Side View

Similar to Apple Magic Mouse, it has a short coming, you can’t use it for long hours because the mouse is flat and I tried using it for 12 hours straight in a row and I did feel some strain on my wrist.

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Battery Compartment View

When I opened the packaging, I was searching high and low for the slot to keep the receiver. Normally it is outside the mouse, but for the M600, it is inside the battery compartment. If you look closely on the above picture, you will notice that the receiver compartment is on the right side of the battery. I kinda like this design as you can almost be certain that the receiver will not drop out while in transit when placed in your bag.

Despite the battery compartment is for 2 AA batteries, the mouse is capable of running on a single AA battery which will last you for 3 months. Which of course makes the mouse lighter. Two AA batteries will give you 6 months of battery time according to the website. If you like, you can use your own rechargeable batteries. Check out Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries if you need recommendations =)

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Laser Tracking

The M600 tracking is powered by Logitech Advanced Optical Technology which essentially is a laser-grade precision tracking that works on most surfaces. I tested it on my white table and it works, however it doesn’t work on my Ikea’s glass table.

Logitech Touch Mouse M600 – Logitech Unifying Receiver

I didn’t know anything about the Logitech Unifying Receiver till I got the M600. The Logitech Unifying Receiver allows you to connect up to six compatible mice or keyboards to it and hence you just need to sacrifice one USB port for it. If you notice the orange symbol, it has 6 blank lines pointing out.

The wireless range of the mouse is up to 10m (33 feet).

I have no complains on the touch sensitivity of the mouse, it works very well (Left/Right Click, Scrolling Up/Down/left/Right) with my MacBook Air despite the mouse “being designed” for Windows. I think the only difference is that on Windows there is a Logitech Flow Scroll software which basically makes scrolling smoother.

The Logitech Flow Scroll is a software plugin that provides a smooth scrolling experience using Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 6 and up, and Chrome 13 and up while browsing through web pages via the internet. It is Windows 7 only

The “clicking feeling” feels a bit weird for me and I have no idea how to describe it in words properly. The click sound is a little muffled and when you click, it seems that the mouse has an opposing pressure that soften the click which doesn’t give you a sense of satisfaction when you click. Maybe it is just me, but I like mouse that gives you a very good clicking feedback like what Razer does to its’ mice.

Summary
Pros:

• Nice packaging
• Touch Sensitivity is good
• Smooth edges & well designed curves

Cons:

• Not suitable for long hours usage (> 12 hours a day) as the mouse is a little flat. May cause strain on your wrist.

If you need a good touch mouse, I would totally recommend the Logitech Touch Mouse M600.

Samsung provided a live stream to the event but apparently the NDA for the Samsung Galaxy SIII of those major tech sites was lifted right before the event. So it is weird to see so much details of the phone even before the person went up on stage to officially announced it.

I am pretty disappointed with the design of the phone, is just doesn’t look nice (I think even my Samsung Galaxy Nexus looks better), but of couse the HTC One X is still the better looking one. Two colors will be available and they are Pebble Blue and Marble White.

The screen is huge at 4.8″ with HD Super AMOLE providing a resolution of 1280×720 which gives you about 306ppi (iPhone 4/4S is about 326ppi, iPad 3 is about 264ppi). Some other notable features include the use of microSIM as well as microSD expansion slot for up to 64GB of external space.

Similar to the HTC One Series, Samsung has partnered with Dropbox to provide extra 50GB worth of Dropbox storage for 2 years (worth USD$198) for the owners of the Samsung Galaxy SIII.

Samsung have a clone of Apple’s Siri but they called it the S Voice, and it even allows you to use your voice to pick up an incoming call. Samsung Galaxy SIII also includes a facial recognition feature to zoom and track a person’s face using the camera.

According to the press release, the Samsung Galaxy SIII will be available in Singapore from Q2 2012. I am guessing it will be available around End May 2012.

Highlights

• Features a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display for a vivid viewing experience and an 8MP camera and 1.9MP front camera which offer a variety of intelligent camera features and face recognition related options that ensure all moments are captured easily and instantly
• Powered by Android™ 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich to greatly enhance usability and practicality to make life easier
• Features ‘Smart stay’ which recognizes how the phone is being used i.e. the front camera identifies the eyes by maintaining a bright display for continued viewing pleasure
• Features ‘S Voice’, the advanced natural language user interface, to listen and respond to words, allowing information search and basic device-user communication through voice commands
• The ‘Buddy photo share’ function and the new ‘S Beam’ allow for instant and easy sharing of photos and videos among friends and family
• Features the ‘Pop up play’, which boost performance and the overall user experience by allowing users to play a video anywhere on the screen while simultaneously running other tasks, eliminating the need to close and restart videos when checking new emails or surfing the Web.

Specifications

• Network: 2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE): 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz3G (HSPA+ 21Mbps): 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
• Processor: Samsung Exynos 4 Quad (1.4GHz quad-core processor)
• RAM: 1GB
• Display: 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED (1280×720) display
• OS: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Camera (Rear): 8 Mega pixel Auto Focus camera with Flash & Zero Shutter Lag, BSI
• Camera (Front): 1.9 Mega pixel camera, HD recording @30fps with Zero Shutter Lag, BSI
• Video Codec: MPEG4, H.264, H.263, DivX, DivX3.11, VC-1, VP8, WMV7/8, Sorenson Spark Recording & Playback: Full HD (1080p)
• Audio Codec: MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, WMA, OGG, FLAC, AC-3, apt-X
• Additional Features:
  • S Beam, Buddy photo share, Share shot
  • AllShare Play, AllShare Cast
  • Smart stay, Social tag, Group tag, Face zoom, Face slide show
  • Direct call, Smart alert, Tap to top, Camera quick access
  • Pop up play
  • S Voice
  • Burst shot & Best photo, Recording snapshot, HDR
• Connectivity: WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi HT40, GPS/GLONASS, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0(LE)
• Sensor: Accelerometer, RGB light, Digital compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer
• Memory: 16/32/64GB internal storage options + microSD slot (up to 64GB)
• Dimension: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm
• Weight: 133g
• Battery: 2,100 mAh

Official Site (Singapore): Samsung Galaxy SIII

Samsung Galaxy SIII – Marble White

Samsung Galaxy SIII – Marble White (Back)

Samsung Galaxy S3 – Pebble Blue

Samsung Galaxy S3 – Pebble Blue (Back)

3 colors will be available on launch date, white, black and magenta. For the cyan, it will be available from Saturday, 12th May 2012 onwards.

Nokia Lumia 610

Check out my Nokia Lumia 610 post when I was in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress 2012!

Official Site: Nokia Lumia 610

There are 2 products being launched yesterday, one is the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 (which is the main highlight) retailing for SGD$2,699 and the other is the Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 retailing for SGD$1,499.

Lenovo describes the IdeaCentre A720 as the industry’s slimmest 27-inch AIO with a frameless display from just 24.5mm, thinner than a typical club sandwich while the IdeaPad Y480 is a high-performance laptop capable of handling intensive multimedia applications. Personally, I would describe the IdeaPad Y480 as the laptop version of IdeaCentre A720 because the specifications are very similar (same processor, RAM, HDD and graphics card).

Lenovo IdeaCentre A720

Lenovo IdeaPad Y480

IdeaCentre A720
The Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 will be available from the first week of June 2012 and will be retailing for SGD$2,699.

Specifications

• 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM processor (2.3GHz up to 3.3GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0)
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
• 27″ Full HD (1920×1080) frameless multi-touch display, 16:9 widescreen
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M 2GB graphics
• 8GB DDR3 memory – 1600MHz [SODIMM slots (2x4GB)]
• 2.5″ (SATA III) 750GB HDD storage
• Integrated Blu-ray ROM with Super Multiburner Drive (DVD-RW)
• Integrated Bluetooth & 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• 2x USB2.0, 2x USB3.0, 6in1 (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC, MS, MS-Pro)
• Integrated 720p HD webcam
• HDMI in/out for connecting to other high-definition devices
• Integrated stereo speakers supporting Dolby Home Theatre V4 audio enhancement
• Integrated TV tuner
• Weight: 11.6kg (25.52lb)
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 650 x 480 x 220 mm (25.5 x 18.8 x 8.6 inch)
• Responsive
  • 10-point multi-touch technology for greater accuracy
  • Lenovo Enhanced Experience 3 for Windows 7 with RapidBoot lets you start 40% faster than a typical Windows 7 computer (available on certified models with Intel CoreTM i3, i5 or i7 processors)
  • Lenovo Camera Fun Zone – see yourself on screen and move your applications such as a synthesiser and games like Angry Birds
  • Lenovo IdeaTouch – a range of touch-optimised multimedia
• Comfortable
  • Widely adjustable screen angle (from -5 to 90o) so you can use the touch-screen function in perfect comfort
  • Lenovo Dynamic Brightness System – protects your eyes by automatically adjusting screen brightness based on ambient light conditions
  • Lenovo Eye Distance System – alerts if you are too close to the screen hands to interact with these fun games

One of my favourite feature of the IdeaCentre A720 is able to make it lie flat like the photo I took below, this allows you to make it into a cheaper Microsoft Surface (BTW, MS Surface 2.0 is selling for SGD$30,000+ in Singapore). The IdeaCentre A720 is capable of 10-point multi-touch which is great for games like Fruit Ninja. Unfortunately Windows 7 still suck with touch UI, so the multi-touch is pretty useless outside of the applications.

I did ask whether users who bought the IdeaCentre A720 will get to upgrade to Windows 8 for free, but the answer given was no plans have been made yet, so I am guessing most likely not.

IdeaCentre A720 – Lie Flat

IdeaCentre A720 – Back View

IdeaCentre A720 – Back View Ports

Note that the Blue USB Port supports USB3 while the Black USB Port is USB2.

IdeaCentre A720 – Left View Ports

An interesting feature of the IdeaCentre A720 is that it supports HDMI In, this means that it can be used as a display for other media players. Other features include a TV Tuner and a Blu-ray ROM.

IdeaCentre A720 – Right View Ports

IdeaCentre A720 – Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard

IdeaCentre A710 – Hinge

The material used are all plastic (including the keyboard) except for the hinge which is made of aluminum. Does anyone notice that the design of the bundled keyboard is similar to Apple Wireless keyboard?

Both the IdeaCentre A720 and the IdeaPad Y480 comes with Lenovo Enhanced Experience 3 (EE3) for Windows 7.

EE3 certified products feature supreme Windows start-up performance and other optimization features. These products, with their traditional spinning disk hard drive (HDD), can start on average 40 percent faster than typical Windows 7 PC users, thanks to Lenovo’s RapidBoot technology. RapidBoot uses optimized processes and hardware settings to allow Lenovo PCs to boot up faster.

EE3 certified Lenovo PCs boot up in 24 seconds on average, while the typical Windows 7 PC trails with an average time of 41 seconds.

IdeaCentre A720 – 1 Minute To Boot

Personally I am a bit skeptical when it comes to boot time, no way can a Windows with pre-installed software boot faster than a native Windows. Whenever I get a computer from manufacturers for review, the first thing I do is to uninstall all those crap that came with it.

I did a test on the IdeaCentre A720 (Prototype) and it took 1 minute to boot right after we press the power on button. I want to see how the final product will be able to boot in 24 seconds. Even on my MacBook Air with SSD, it took 30 seconds to boot.

IdeaPad Y480
The Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 will be available from the first week of May 2012 and it will be retailing for SGD$1,499. I did not played much with the IdeaPad Y480 and hence I can’t comment anything on it but I took some pictures of it.

Specifications

• 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM processor (2.3GHz up to 3.3GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0)
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
• 14″ HD display (1366×768), 16:9 widescreen
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M 2GB graphics
• 8GB DDR3 memory – 1600MHz [SODIMM slots (2x4GB)]
• 2.5″ (SATA III) 750GB HDD storage
• Integrated DVD reader/writer
• Integrated Bluetooth & 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• 2x USB2.0, 2x USB3.0, 6in1 (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC, MS, MS-Pro)
• 1MP (720p HD) webcam with night view
• JBL speakers (2x 1.5W) with Dolby Home Theater V4
• Batter Life: Up to 5 hours
• Weight: 2.3kg (5.07lb)
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 345 x 239 x 32.8 mm (13.5 x 9.4 x 1.3 inch)
• Simplified
  • Energy Management protects the long-term durability of the battery and uses advanced energy-saving technology to increase time spent between charges
  • Intelligent Touchpad – large touchpad with easy scroll, zoom and rotate functions
  • OneKey Rescue System makes data backup and recovery simple
  • Enjoy your notebook content on a big screen wirelessly with Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) Technology
  • Long battery life (up to 5hrs) for extended use on the move
• Comfortable
  • Metal cool-touch cover and palmrest
  • Backlit AccuType keyboard with individual rounded keys for more comfortable and accurate typing

IdeaPad Y480 – Front View

IdeaPad Y480 – Left View

IdeaPad Y480 – Right View

IdeaPad Y480 – Keyboard

IdeaPad Y480 – This Is A Prototype

Official Site: Lenovo IdeaCentre A720
Official Site: Lenovo IdeaPad Y480

Right now SingTel’s Store & Share only supports PC, iOS and Android platform. No support for Mac yet.

SingTel Store & Share

Price Plans

• For SingNet fibre broadband customers, you get 10GB of storage for free
• For SingTel 3G Flexi and iFlexi mobile plan customers you get 500MB for free
• For SingNet ADSL broadband customers, you will have to pay. 2GB at SGD$1/month, 10GB at SGD$4/month or 30GB at SGD$8/month
• For Mio Home customers, you will have to pay, 10GB at SGD$3/month
• Additional storage is available at SGD$0.50/month per 500MB

Personally, I find the price plan so confusing, they should standardize it and give every customer a certain storage space rather than breaking down what type of customers gets how much space.

Apart from speed and perhaps if you are a SingNet fibre broadband customers, I don’t see how is it attractive to the rest of the customers.

Speed is the only competitive advantage that SingTel has against the big players since the data will be store in SingTel’s datacenter (which is the best datacenter in Singapore). You will be on SingTel 3G data network, accessing stuff stored within Singapore is much faster.

For me, my only concern is how long this service will last, what if one or two years down the road, SingTel decided to kill this service? What will happen to your data? I have the very same concern with Microsoft SkyDrive as well, that is why I would rather stick to Dropbox or Google Drive.

Press Release

SingTel’s Store and Share is the first Singapore-based cloud storage service which offers consumers up to 10GB of free online storage for their documents, photos, music, videos and other multimedia content. Available for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, as well as PCs, Store and Share ensures that users will always have their digital content on hand wherever they go. It was launched in December 2011.

Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel’s CEO Consumer Singapore, said: “Cloud storage services have become increasingly popular for data backup and sharing. However, most users of cloud storage services today do not know where their data is stored or how secure it is. With Store and Share, users enjoy peace of mind knowing that their data is securely stored in SingTel’s servers in our own award-winning data centres, right here in Singapore.”

The service allows users to upload photos and videos instantly to their online folders from their smartphones and back up their mobile contacts. It automatically synchronises their digital content across their mobile devices and PCs.

Store and Share enables fast and reliable sharing of files and folders via SMS, social networks, instant messaging and email. In addition, it is equipped with powerful tools to allow users to edit photos and documents on the move and save them immediately to their online folders.

With the Smart Backup feature, users can schedule a regular automatic back up of their PCs. They can choose to back up all the contents of their computer or only specific drives or files. For example, they can choose to back up only photos. The service is intelligent enough to save only files that have been created or modified since the last back up.

Store and Share with 10GB of storage is offered to all SingNet fibre broadband customers at no charge. SingTel 3G Flexi and iFlexi mobile plan customers enjoy 500MB of free storage. SingNet ADSL broadband customers can enjoy 2GB at $1 per month, 10GB at $4 per month or 30GB at $8 per month. Mio Home subscribers can enjoy 10GB at $3 per month. Additional storage is available at $0.50 per month per additional 500MB.

Web: Store and Share
Apple App Store: Store and Share
Google Play: Store and Share

ESET NOD32 Antivirus & ESET Smart Security will still be there and are targetted at consumers. For the business/enterprise version, it will now be known as ESET Endpoint Antivirus and ESET Endpoint Security respectively.

Of course being deployed in an enterprise environment, deployment of software solutions to many computers are the norm and this is where ESET Remote Administrator comes into play.

ESET Endpoint Solutions

ESET Endpoint Solutions will be launched globally in late May 2012. Right now it is in release candidate and you can give it a try for free.

Features of ESET Endpoint Antivirus

Features of ESET Antivirus

• Antivirus (Antimalware)
• Antispyware
• Antirootkit
• Cloud-based Whitelisting
• Device Control
• Host-based Intrusion Prevention System
• Low System Demands
• ESET SysRescue
• ESET SysInspector
• Centralized Management
• Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP) Support

ESET Endpoint Security

Features of ESET Endpoint Security

• All Features of ESET Endpoint Antivirus
• Bi-directional Firewall
• Client Antispam
• Web Control
• URL Blacklisting
• Trusted Network Detection
• Component-based Installation

Features of ESET Remote Administrator

• Real-time Web Dashboard
• Role-based Management
• Randomized Task Execution
• Improved Reporting
• Optimized Database Performance
• IPv6 Support
• Improved Configuration of Clients
• Rollback of Updates on Clients
• Support for new ESET business products

Price Plans (In SGD$, Inclusive of 7% GST, Per user)

Dropbox now faces some serious competition. I am a paying Dropbox user (Dropbox Pro 50 (50GB plan) – USD$99/year) for almost 2 years now and I have used up about 95% of my storage space and I didn’t want to go to the Pro 100 (100GB plan) because at USD$199/year it is pretty expensive. I hope this competition will drive down the prices for Dropbox, if not I would have to switch to Google Drive or Microsoft SkyDrive.

Google Drive Features

• Create and collaborate. Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items.
• Store everything safely and access it anywhere (especially while on the go). All your stuff is just… there. You can access your stuff from anywhere—on the web, in your home, at the office, while running errands and from all of your devices. You can install Drive on your Mac or PC and can download the Drive app to your Android phone or tablet. We’re also working hard on a Drive app for your iOS devices. And regardless of platform, blind users can access Drive with a screen reader.
• Search everything. Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. We also use image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and we expect it to get better over time.

Google Drive Price Plans

• 5GB – Free
• 25GB – USD$2.49/month – USD$29.88/year
• 100GB – USD$4.99/month – USD$59.88/year
• 1TB – USD$49.99/month – USD$599.88/year
• When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.

Microsoft SkyDrive Price Plans

• 7GB – Free
• +20GB – USD$0.84/month – USD$10/year
• +50GB – USD$2.04/month – USD$25/year
• +100GB – USD$4.17/month – USD$50/year

Dropbox Price Plans

• 2GB – Free
• 50GB – USD$9.99/month – USD$99.99/year
• 100GB – USD$19.99/month – USD$199.99/year

If you are not too sure whether is Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive or even Dropbox is suitable for you, check out the following articles:

• The Verge: Google Drive vs. Dropbox, SkyDrive, SugarSync, and others: a cloud sync storage face-off
• Engadget: Google Drive vs. the competition: pricing plans and perks, compared
• Gizmodo: Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox and More Compared: What’s the Best Cloud Option?

Official Blog Post: Introducing Google Drive… yes, really

Theme For CS 6 Is: Create Now

What’s New In CS6?

If I have to pick my favourite thing in CS6, it got to be the Mercury Engine. It speeds everything up so much faster. Whenever you press “Save”, it does a background save, allowing you to continuing working on your PSD file.

For Mac, Adobe has dropped 32bit support for lots of product. Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Adobe Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade are now available only on 64bit for Mac. For Windows, because most government agencies has a 5-8 years timeframe before they change their computers, Adobe still has support for 32bit version of their products on the Windows platform.

4 Suites, 14 Products

2 new products to the CS6 suite and they are SpeedGrade and Prelude. Technically SpeedGrade is not a new product, it was used to be sold separately for USD$30,000, but now it is being bundled as part of CS6.

Adobe SpeedGrade CS6 color grading software brings the Lumetri Deep Color Engine to your production workflow. Open the full dynamic range of your footage through a sleek new interface. A new component of Adobe Creative Suite software, SpeedGrade gives you the power to push your stories further.

Adobe Prelude CS6 software streamlines your production tasks. Ingest nearly any file-based format and begin logging immediately, creating searchable markers and other temporal metadata that flow through post-production, so you can work faster and stay organized.

4 Main Pillars Of CS6

Prices (Excluding Taxes)

• CS6 Master Collection: SGD$3,924
  • Photoshop CS6 Extended
  • Illustrator CS6
  • InDesign CS6
  • Acrobat X Pro
  • Flash Professional CS6
  • Flash Builder 4.6 Premium Edition
  • Dreamweaver CS6
  • Fireworks CS6
  • Adobe Premiere Pro CS6
  • After Effects CS6
  • Adobe Audition CS6
  • SpeedGrade CS6
  • Prelude CS6
  • Encore CS6
  • Bridge CS6
  • Story CS6
  • Media Encoder CS6
• CS6 Design & Web Premium: SGD$2,868
  • Photoshop CS6 Extended
  • Illustrator CS6
  • InDesign CS6
  • Dreamweaver CS6
  • Flash Professional CS6
  • Fireworks CS6
  • Acrobat X Pro
  • Bridge CS6
  • Media Encoder CS6
• CS6 Design Standard: SGD$1,962
  • Photoshop CS6
  • Illustrator CS6
  • InDesign CS6
  • Acrobat X Pro
  • Bridge CS6
  • Media Encoder CS6
• CS6 Production Premium: SGD$2,868
  • Adobe Premiere Pro CS6
  • After Effects CS6
  • Photoshop CS6 Extended
  • Adobe Audition CS6
  • SpeedGrade CS6
  • Prelude CS6
  • Illustrator CS6
  • Encore CS6
  • Flash Professional CS6
  • Media Encoder CS6
  • Story CS6
  • Bridge CS6

If you are confused with all the text and products in each suite, check out the more visually pleasant, Buying guide – Product comparison from Adobe.

As you might heard in the US and some other parts of the world, CS6 was launched with Adobe Creative Cloud, but unfortunately, Adobe Creative Cloud will not be available in Singapore yet as Adobe is still trying to figure out the business model.

Adobe Creative Cloud is the digital hub that lets you download and install every Adobe Creative Suite 6 application; access online services for file sharing, collaboration, and publishing; and benefit from new apps and features as soon as they’re released – giving you the freedom to create anything you can imagine.

Press Release

Major CS Upgrades and All-New Muse Anchor Landmark Launch for Designers
The performance and workflow enhancements in Adobe Photoshop CS6, InDesign CS6 and Illustrator CS6 will result in significant time savings for print, web and mobile projects.

• In Photoshop CS6, designers will experience incredible performance, powered by the Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine, enabling near instant results from essential editing tools, including Liquify, Puppet Warp, Transform and Lighting Effects.
• Adobe has built on Photoshop’s breakthrough Content-Aware capabilities with advanced new Content-Aware Patch and Content-Aware Move features.
• Illustrator CS6 debuts a revamped modern interface and features include a new Image Tracing Engine, Pattern Creation and Gradient Strokes. The Mercury performance system delivers speed and stability, including 64-bit support for Mac OS and Windows.
• InDesign CS6 continues to blaze a trail in publishing, streamlining the creation of multiple layouts from a single set of content with new Adaptive Design Tools – Alternate Layout, Liquid Layout, Content Collector Tools and Linked Content.
• A brand new application, Adobe Muse, a radical new tool that enables designers to create and publish HTML5 web sites without writing code, was also announced today.

Adobe Doubles-Down on HTML5 Tooling for Web Professionals
Innovative new workflows and capabilities across Adobe tools simplify the creative process for today’s web designers, developers and interactive professionals.

• Web pros can conveniently integrate HTML5 animations, created with Adobe Edge Preview, into their Dreamweaver projects, driving home Adobe’s leadership in tooling for the HTML5 web standard.
• Dreamweaver CS6 addresses the challenge of responsive web designs with the ability to build fluid grid layouts replacing the tedious manual process of creating and configuring separate CSS-based interfaces for phone, tablet and desktop.
• Through direct integration with Adobe’s recently announced PhoneGap Build service, Dreamweaver CS6 helps round out a Web professional’s skillset and enables them to produce native mobile applications for multiple platforms.
• Flash Professional CS6 users can easily translate and transition their skills to HTML5 using the Flash Professional Toolkit for CreateJS. Flash Professional CS6 also helps designers to create exciting and impactful gaming experiences and advancements include the ability to generate sprite sheets that improve workflows and performance.
• Pre-built native extensions and new packaging options, leveraging the latest Adobe Flash Player and AIR runtimes, help expand and ease app delivery to Android and iOS devices.

Production Premium CS6 Pushes Boundaries of Video Creativity
Redesigned by and for video editors, with major performance enhancements, the tools included in Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium set a new standard in professional video.

• With dozens of new features, Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 is the hub of any professional video workflow, featuring a sleek new editing environment. The powerful Adobe Mercury Playback Engine now supports OpenCL on MacBook Pros.
• The most significant After Effects release in a decade, After Effects CS6 is faster and more responsive than ever. With Global Performance Cache, previews are saved and ready to go— cutting the time spent bouncing between projects.
• New to Production Premium are Adobe Prelude CS6, which streamlines logging and ingest workflows in post-production, and Adobe SpeedGrade, which contains powerful finishing tools for film finishing and colour grading.
• Adobe Audition CS6 accelerates audio post-production: real-time clip stretching makes it simple to stretch clips to fit an edit; and Automatic Speech Alignment introduces a powerful new engine for automated dialogue analysis.
• A new 3rd party API for hardware integration – Adobe Mercury Transmit – allows broadcast video monitoring to connect directly into the Mercury Playback Engine via third-party cards from AJA, Blackmagic Design, and Matrox.

Official Site: Adobe Creative Suite 6
Adobe Online Shop: South East Asia

Specifications

• 7.0″ WVGA Clear Photo LCD (800 x 480) (16:10)
• 2GB Internal Memory Stores Up to 4,000 Pictures
• Full HD Video and Music Playback
• Compatible with SD & Memory Stick (SD) memory cards
• Auto-Orientation Sensor
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 191 x 132.4 x 97.4mm
• Weight: 370g

Setting up the Sony S-Frame DPF-HD700 is pretty straight forward. I just copied the photos to my SD card and place it inside the DPF-HD700 and I imported the photos to the internal 2GB memory so as not to waste 1 SD card on it.

You can also transfer the photos via USB or Mini USB as the DPF-HD700 supports them. When you plugged it to a Windows machine, it will be shown as a removal drive and you can transfer your photos and videos to it like a normal USB flash drive.

I placed the photo frame near my bed side (duh!) and it is pretty far away from my computer and hence having to remove the AC adapter whenever I want to transfer photos to the DPF-HD700 from my computer is cumbersome.

Hence my only complain is that the DPF-HD700 has to be plugged into an AC outlet in order for file transfer to take place. I wish it will make use of the USB power to at least allow file transfer.

For some reasons, it can’t be detected as a removal drive on my MacBook Air when I first tried it, I think I will try again tonight and update this blog post of the result.

Sony S-Frame DPF-HD700 – Box Front

Sony S-Frame DPF-HD700 – Box Opened

Sony S-Frame DPF-HD700 – Box Contents

Sony S-Frame DPF-HD700 – Landscape

Sony S-Frame DPF-HD700 – Portrait

Sony S-Frame DPF-HD700 – Landscape Photo (The Fat Me)

Backed the project on 22nd September 2011, it became officially funded on 21st October 2011 after raising USD$65,823 (the goal was only USD$7,500). The Sensu Artist Brush & Stylus was about 5 months in the making and I received the product on the 11th April 2012.

The price is pretty reasonable, paid USD$25 for it and an extra USD$5 for the shipping to Singapore which adds up to USD$30 (SGD$37.70) in total. The final retail price will be USD$34.95 (excluding shipping).

The build of the brush is pretty good, it is made of metal with classic chrome finish. The brush tip is pretty sensitive but I was kinda disappointed with the rubber tip because it is less sensitive than the Power Support Smart Pen that I bought. I have to press the rubber tip hard against my iPad screen for it to detect the input. Just to clarify, I have a screen protector pasted on my iPad but I don’t think that is the issue because I have no problem with the Power Support Smart Pen.

I got it from Kickstarter and hence it comes with the Kickstarter exclusive felt travel sleeve to hold the brush!

Here are some of the iPad apps (App Store link) that you can use the brush with as recommended by Sensu Brush:

• Procreate – Sketch, paint, create. (USD$4.99)
• SketchTime – Quick Sketch & Simple Note (USD$1.99)
• ArtRage (USD$4.99)
• Auryn Ink (USD$3.99)
• SketchBook Pro for iPad (USD$4.99)
• Brushes – iPad Edition (USD$7.99)
• Paper by FiftyThree (Free)

I totally recommend Paper by FiftyThree, it is free but it comes with only 1 type of brush, you can get the remaining 4 brushes in the Essentials Pack for USD$7.99 (via in-app purchase). It is worth it!

Sensu Artist Brush & Stylus – Kickstarter Exclusive Felt Travel Sleeve

Sensu Artist Brush & Stylus

Sensu Artist Brush & Stylus – Cover Removed

Sensu Artist Brush & Stylus – Cover Attached

Sensu Artist Brush & Stylus – Brush Tip

Sensu Artist Brush & Stylus – Rubber Tip

The Wife Drawing Banana On Paper by FiftyThree

For the unaware, Infinite Loop Tablet and Smartphone Stand as the name suggest is a coil-like stand which you can twist and turn to your liking and it will hold up your mobile devices using a suction cup (Infinite Loop Smartphone Stand). The Infinite Loop Tablet Stand on the other hand allows you to rest your tablet on it’s pre-molded u-shaped base (instead of suction cup).

I backed the project on 24th June 2011, the project got funded on 22nd July 2011. It received a total of USD$82,658 in funding though the initial goal was only SGD$27,500. I paid USD$75 (SGD$93.86) for it (including shipping) and I got the product about 10 months later on the 10th April 2012.

Basically, I paid USD$75 for 2 stands, one for my tablet (iPad) and the other for my smartphone (iPhone/Galaxy Nexus/Lumia 800). The smartphone stand quality is terrible, the rubber texture of the stand seems to have melted because when you touch it, it feels sticky and oily. The suction cup that suppose to hold the smartphone up is just not good enough to hold my Galaxy Nexus, it drops so many times that I am afraid to use it anymore. If you read the comments left behind by other users, it is a common problem. Lastly, the stand is flimsy and no matter how I coil it, it still stays flimsy. It is not that easy to coil as the stand is thick and stiff.

At least the tablet stand is much better and do not display any problems like the smartphone stand. The rubber texture of the tablet stand seems to be ok and not much coiling is needed for it to work out of the box and hence the stand it is so much more stable.

One last thing, when you backed the project, it says:

For $75 you will receive the full InfiniteLoop and MiniLoop packages in limited edition sleek black. Each one will come with a special printed message especially for Kickstarter showing that YOU backed this product. Shipping included.

But unfortunately, there is no special printed message at all.

Overall, I totally regretted backing this project.

Infinite Loop Tablet and Smartphone Stand – Boxes

Infinite Loop Smartphone Stand – Box Open

Infinite Loop Smartphone Stand – Galaxy Nexus (Front)

Infinite Loop Smartphone Stand – Galaxy Nexus (Back)

Infinite Loop Tablet Stand – Box Open

Infinite Loop Tablet Stand – iPad 2 (Front)

Infinite Loop Tablet Stand – iPad 2 (Back)

This time round, I got the Cocoon Grid-It – 7.25 x 9.25 from Takashimaya for SGD$19.95. I compared the price in Singapore and it is about the same as Amazon when you factor in the shipping cost. For the Cocoon Grid-It – 7.25 x 9.25, Amazon is selling it for USD$14.29 and the shipping to Singapore alone cost more than the item (USD$14.86).

Cocoon Grid-It – 7.25 x 9.25 – Front View

Cocoon Grid-It – 7.25 x 9.25 – Back View

Cocoon Grid-It – 7.25 x 9.25 – With Things

I Have 3 Cocoon Grid-It

As you are aware by now the MacBook Air does not come with an ethernet port because of its slim design, so if you need to use a LAN cable for MacBook Air, this adapter is your best and only bet. Call me old fashion but I still prefer to transfer files over LAN as it is the speed is much faster and more stable.

This adapter is only capable of 10/100Mbps speed since theoretically USB2 speed max out at 480Mbps which is much less than the speed of a gigabit network so if this were to be made for 10/100/1000Mbps, it wouldn’t be accurate and that is the reason why Apple supports 10/100Mbps only. Perhaps when USB3 comes out, this will be refreshed to support 10/100/1000Mbps as USB3 is capable of supporting up to 5,000Mbps.

I love how Apple design the cover for this, it holds the RJ45 port and the USB port side by side.

Apple USB Ethernet Adapter – Packaging Front View

Apple USB Ethernet Adapter – Packaging Back View

Apple USB Ethernet Adapter

Apple USB Ethernet Adapter – Cover

Apple USB Ethernet Adapter – Connected To MacBook Air