Singapore To Have Nation Wide WiFi

From the sound of things it would seem that Singapore (yes that's us) will soon be the latest country to get the 802.11 treatment, having all of its near 700 square kilometers blanketed in WiFi. That would make Singapore the third nation that we know of to completely covered, joining Mauritius and Macedonia, with Estonia not far behind. Our government report, "Information Nation 2015", notes that we currently averages one WiFi hotspot for every square kilometer, so combined with upcoming WiMax technology, we are aiming to be one ginormous hotspot by the end of the year.

Of course, the report also states, that we'll have 4G cell phones, "Fibre to the Home," the "Semantic World Wide Web," and "Embedded and Wearable Computers" by 2015, which might make us one of the most advanced civilzations around (Yea, that's really ambitious).

Source from CNET.

Messy Earphone Cables? Try Cordgo

"Cordgo is a one hand operated cord adjustment and storage accessory. Cordgo's durable, lightweight design fits in the palm of your hand to deliver cord control. Adjust your cord to the perfect length every time. It's fast, easy storage saves you from ever having to deal with tangled cords again. Cordgo was designed to perform as an integral component between cord and digital device. Cordgo is ideal for anyone who enjoys listening to music while jogging, biking, lifting weights... or just walking about town. Cordgo not only eliminates the tangling and physical interference of a cord, it also provides the luxury of quick and easy storage. Clip it to your belt, arm band, key chain, car visor, bag strap.... or just slip it in your pocket."

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones. I've seen variations of this product before (One of which was designed by a fellow schoolmate back in my school days), but this one seems particularly well thought out and optimized for certain scenarios. Reviews have been good, one lady was immediately excited after seeing this device because her headphone cable often get tangled when she works out at the gym.

If anyone wants to get one, send me a email or leave me a comment, I can try to get a bulk order in.

Gorenje Iced Out Fridge For £10,000. A Stunner!

For those of you who like 'bling bling' stuff, here's something for you, IF you can come up with enough reasons to order it!



Clearly there's one niche market that the ultra-rich must have been clamoring for to the appliance manufacturers of the world: how to combine a fridge with obscene amounts of shinyness? Fear not, Gorenje UK, the British division of a company from Slovenia, has developed an extremely limited line of refrigerators, known appropriately as "The Eye-Catchers", lined with rows and rows and rows of Swarovski crystals (7,000 to be precise). Act now kids, because Gorenje is only making 10 of these, and they retail for £10,000. For that price, the combined 331 litres capacity fridge-freezer also comes with a radio receiver, a "cookery book" (should be a recipe book?), voice messages and a voice alarm. You can catch a glimpse of one of these on the company's website, and at Harrods in London. This fridge too rich for you? Don't worry, there's a budget model priced at only £1400 -- but it only comes with 3500 crystals....

More Pictures here! (For those who complained that I don't put enough pictures...)

Self-Parking Cars

The British Toyota Prius' dashboard screen
Image courtesy Toyota Motor Europe S.A./N.V.
The British Toyota Prius with Intelligent Parking Assist has a dashboard screen to tell the driver what to do.

Self-parking cars currently on the market are not completely autonomous, but they do make parallel parking much easier. The driver still regulates the speed of the vehicle by pressing and releasing the brake pedal (the car's idle speed is enough to move it into the parking space without pressing the gas pedal). Once the process begins, the on-board computer system take over the steering wheel.

The car moves forward into position beside the front car, and a signal lets the driver know when he should stop. Then the driver shifts the car into reverse and releases the brake slightly to begin moving backward. Using the power steering system, the computer turns the wheel and perfectly maneuvers the car into the parking space. When the car has backed far enough into the space, another signal lets the driver know that he should stop and shift the car into drive. The car pulls forward as the wheels adjust to maneuver it into the space. A final signal (on the British Toyota Prius, it's a female voice that intones, "The assist is finished.") tells the driver when parking is complete.

On the British Toyota Prius, a large computer screen mounted on the dashboard gives the driver notifications such as when to stop, when to shift into reverse, and when to slowly ease off the brake to move the car into the parking spot.

Different self-parking systems have different ways of sensing the objects around the car. Some have sensors distributed around the front and rear bumpers of the car, which act as both transmitters and receivers. These sensors transmit signals, which bounce off objects around the car and reflect back to them. The car's computer then uses the amount of time that it takes those signals to return to calculate the location of the objects. Others systems have cameras mounted onto the bumpers or use radar to detect objects. The end result is the same: the car detects the other parked cars, the size of the parking space and the distance to the curb, then steers it into the space.

World's First Specialty Robot Store Opening In Japan

Mark the month of October 2006 in your calendar of the apocalypse folks. Some bright-spark in Japan thought it'd be just swell to bring 1,000 of the world's robots together under the guise of the world's first robot store and museum. Let's hope they do not manage to generate new control codes on their own and wake up one night to terrorise the neighbourhood!

Opening in Nagoya, 4th largest city in Japan, the futuristic retail complex features the Nuvo, a 35 cm tall, USD$5,000 robot which is controlled by remote or cell phone. If you are going there, send me some pictures so I can put them up!

Logitech's VX and MX Revolution mice

Yep. Futuristic, stylish and extremely innovative. You know, I know, these things looks good and works really well... if you are a gadgeteer like I am LOL.

Logitech went back to the drawing board on the MX Revolution and VX Revolution mice, and they came up with the MicroGear Precision Scroll Wheel, which enables force feedback application support. Basically the heavy-feeling alloy wheels (of which there are two on the MX, and one on the VX) can spin freely and smoothly for up to seven seconds with a flick of your finger, or lock into the regular ratcheted scrolling motion like most of us are used to, depending on usage (the VX requires a flipped switch to toggle between the modes), the application, and your system's settings.

It's really one of those things you have to try for yourself to really appreciate but if you're already sold and don't have any problems with your mice cluttered with lots of moving parts, the Revolution series will set you back USD$99 for the MX or USD$79 for the VX.

And yes. The MX is my next target.

Digital Photo Frames From Smartparts and Siren

Heard of digital photo frames? Courtesy of Smartparts and Siren, these are a beauty to place on in your living room or your work desk.

Smartparts looks to be trying to de-emphasize the digital aspects of its frame (pictured above), slotting an 8.4-inch LCD into a genuine wood frame with a walnut finish. (Love that look!) Really easy to use, just insert a memory card filled with pictures and MP3s and it will automatically produce slideshows and plays the music, no computer is necessary. It'll accept most types memory card and you will need to keep one in there as it does not have any internal storage. No worries, memory cards are cheap these days. It does come with a handy remote and will set you back about USD$200.



Siren's frame has a smaller 5-inch display available in black or brown frames, comes with an almost useless 32MB of built-in memory but luckily has most types of memory card support. There is no remote on this one though, and you can get it from Japan in September for ¥17,800 (around USD$150).

Windows Mobile 5 PDA Phone With 3.5G, Anyone?

Believed to be the latest innovation, Dopod 838 Pro is a PDA phone running Windows Mobile 5, sporting a support for Tri-band UMTS with high-speed HSDPA (High-Speed Data Packet Access), a 3.5G wireless network that supports up to 10 times the bandwidth of current 3G networks and at the same time featuring a sliding QWERTY keyboard.

All the usual bells and whistles are there too. Bluetooth with A2DP and AVRCP(Stereo quality music lovers will love it), 802-11b/g Wi-Fi, Quadband GSM radio with GPRS and EDGE, Dual cameras (2.0-megapixel primary, 0.1-megapixel secondary for video calls), micro-SD card slot (hot-swappable), 65K color, 2.8-inch QVGA LCD (240 x 320 pixels) and with the support for 3.5G, this handset is definitely a long-term investment at the price of SGD$1,398 or SGD$1,248 (with 2-year contract).


Dopod 595

Smaller in size and weight, the Dopod 595 is quite different its big brother, featuring Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Edition, 3G WCDMA (UMTS), Tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) with GPRS and EDGE+. Other specifications include 1.3-megapixel primary camera and 0.1-megapixel secondary (but Dopod 595 strangely does not support video calls), 65K color, 2.2-inch QVGA LCD (240 x 320 pixels), Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP and AVRCP, micro-SD slot (hot swappable). Missing the 802-11b/g Wi-Fi, the Dopod 595 is priced at SGD$998 or SGD$848 (with 2-year contract).

As you can see, the brothers are quite different from each other. They are even running at different processor speeds (click here for more specs). Your decision to shell out the dough for the Dopod 838 Pro will mark you as 'The One' to hold the latest and arguably the best gadget available now for your hands.

Wireless DJ Music System from Logitech

The new Logitech Wireless DJ Music System allows anyone to stream any digital music from their PC to any stereo system or powered speakers anywhere in their home and control it all using a very neat remote.

The Wireless DJ Music System connects the PC to a home theatre or speaker system using Logitech´s Music Anywhere™ wireless technology. The system plays any PC audio format, including MP3, iTunes (AAC), WMA, Internet radio, and podcasts. The long-range Wireless DJ remote (seen in the picture) should make it quite easy to navigate an entire music collection in your PC.

Of course there are several similar systems on the market, but they are not easy to set up, support only a limited number of music formats, or are simply too expensive for average buyers.

Logitech´s Music Anywhere wireless technology is plug-and-play and does not need an existing wireless network at home. The transmitter plugs into a USB port on the PC and the Music Receiver/Dock is easily connected to a stereo system using standard RCA connectors, or to powered speakers using the 3.5 mm headphone jack output. Once the setup is complete, the Wireless DJ Music System sends music streams directly to the receiver, at a range of up to 50 meters (150 feet). The multi-room remote automatically connects to the PC and offers the same wireless range.

The uniqueness about the Wireless DJ Music System are the Wireless DJ remote and the sophisticated Logitech StreamPoint software. The remote has a blue backlighted liquid-crystal display (LCD) and mechanical scroll wheel which makes it effortless to scroll through your huge collection of music titles. The Wireless DJ remote also includes an active playlist feature, called the DJ List, which allows people to add songs or albums to the queue without stopping the music. With a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the remote is quickly recharged in the Music Receiver/Dock and lasts up to a week.

The Logitech StreamPoint software runs on the PC and grabs your lists of audio files, playlists, and Internet radio stations from popular softwares like iTunes, Windows Media Player and Musicmatch Jukebox, creating a centralised music library for the Wireless DJ remote.

The Logitech Wireless DJ Music System will be available first in the U.S. and Europe in late September. Price is US$249.99. A Wireless Music System Add-On Receiver will set you back US$79.99 (U.S.), and it allows people to enjoy their PC music in additional rooms (up to a total of 4).

Free antivirus software

Have you ever had an virus infection on your computer and lost precious data? Well, it pays to have an antivirus software installed in your computer, especially when they are free! Here, I'm going to introduce you to a free antivirus solution that is already very popular, the AVG free antivirus.

Upon clicking the link, scroll down to the bottom of the page and download the latest version. Proceed to double click on the installation file and have it installed into your computer. When you are prompted to create rescue disks, it is recommended to create them if you have diskettes as it may be useful to have it in case of a virus attack. If not, we can skip it for now and create it later.

Next, you will be prompted to check for updates to the antivirus software, which you should after ensuring you are connected to the internet. It will then check and install any updates it finds and may request that you restart the computer. Do so and after the computer restarts, you will see the new AVG antivirus icon appearing in the bottom right taskbar.

This means that the antivirus software is installed. If the icon is grey instead of coloured, it means there are more new updates. Right click on the icon and select 'Check for Updates' to perform another update.

I recommend that you change the schedules to check for updates and perform a daily virus scan. In this free version, you will not be able to remove the schedules, but only change the time and not the date. You should change the time to do a daily virus scan so that it will only start when you are not using the computer.

Next, I also recommend that you install a firewall. You can get one free from ZoneAlarm.

Review - Nikon Latest D80 Digital SLR

The Nikon D80 Digital SLR is the latest offering from Nikon featuring a specification that is quite close the professional D200 but at a much affordable price of US$999 (body only) or US$1299 (with 18-135mm lens). A very fine competitor to Sony's A100, it will be available in September.

It has a new 10.2 megapixel DX format CCD, Nikon F lens mount, 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 11 area autofocus, 0.18 second bootup, 80ms shot response, sporting SD card slots that support the new SDHC cards and is a very easy to use SLR with well-placed dials for your aperture and shutter adjustments, amongst more good stuff!

Nikon is releasing a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (yea, that's a good name to brag about to someone) for the D80, with a 4.3x zoom and Vibration Reduction II OIS. The lens is going to be available worldwide in October. Price? Let's just say it's really, really expensive. If you have to have it, you do not need to ask me for the price.

Check out the world exclusive review by hardwarezone, receiving a very exciting 4.5/5 stars.

Link to the full technical specifications

More Reviews here:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D80/D80A.HTM
http://reviews.cnet.com/Nikon_D80/4505-6501_7-32004258-2.html?tag=nav
http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/tests/testdetail.cfm?test_id=471
http://www.nikonians.org/nikon/d80/

Safer Online Shopping

Do you shop online? Why not? It's easier and faster to purchase some items or pay your bills online and it certainly beats queuing up for movie tickets. Most of you will agree that it pays to be safe, so I'm going to give you some tips on how to make your online shopping a little more secured.

First of all, never attempt to perform an online transaction on a computer that is not your own, especially on a public computer. You do not know if there are any software hiding in those computers to log your credit card details or any login information.

You should always check if the website transaction is secured by checking for the encryption lock. Further improve the security by clearing the browser cache after you are done. Only make your purchases from reputable merchants.

To protect your credit card information, try to use a debit card or a virtual credit card to perform a transaction. As long as you keep a limited sum in your bank, a debit card will not allow any transaction above that limit. A virtual credit card is even safer as it can be set to expire after a specified date or after one transaction.

Finally, you should trust your instincts. There are phishing sites out there that looks exactly like the real merchant site and they will trick you to give them your credit card and login information. Always visit the merchant site by typing its web address in the address bar and not by clicking a link in an email or on another website. If you sense that it may be a hoax, it's better to play safe and send an email to the site to verify or not visit the site at all.

With all these tips, you will have the confidence to attack the cheap bargains on the net! Happy shopping!

Review - Jabra BT620s bluetooth stereo headphones

Having used it for more than a month since I bought it in June, I thought I'll write a review about my typical usage pattern, the sound quality and battery lifespan as well as what my likes and dislikes.

This is a stereo bluetooth headphones for you to use with your mobile phone, PC, or PDA. With an optional 3.5mm dongle, you can even use it on any equipment which accepts 3.5mm jack and listen to them wirelessly in high quality stereo.

Some advantages:
1. Flexible (Compare it to other headphones)
2. Excellent A2DP sound quality (I'm fussy about these things)
3. Long battery lifespan (Rated 14 hrs on music, 16 on phone, tested 12+ hrs on music)
4. No wires (which is the whole point of getting Bluetooth, unlike some models from itech)
5. AVRCP profile (controls the play/pause/skip on the PC and PDA)
6. Auto-switch from PC/PDA to phone when there is incoming call


Some disadvantages:
1. Pricey
2. Big (but it's quite light and really comfortable, try wearing it for 12 hrs)

I use this headphone daily, when I am driving to and from work, connected to my Sony Ericsson T630. It works really well with it, providing good voice command recognition when I want to make a call by pressing a button on the bluetooth headphone. The sound also comes through both speakers, although I will typically use only one side of it, which brings me to another plus for this headphone - it is really flexible. Do not strain it too much despite that I'm really surprised it can twist from my neck to my ears.

Besides working well with my cell phone, it also streams stereo music beautifully from my Dell Axim x51v PDA as well as my home built PC using the Jabra A320s USB dongle. It also controls Windows Media Player on the PC and Conduits Pocket Player on my PDA. I'm an audiophile (you can guess what kind of sound systems I'm into) but I'm really satisfied with the quality of the headphone. Granted, it may not be as good as the itech R35 with a $100 headphone, but you do not have the wires to mess with you, and the battery will last you twice as long. 12 hours streaming music continuously from my PC on a full charge. My typical 3-hour daily usage only requires me to charge it every 3-4 days.

Now, even though I'm almost in love with this bluetooth headphone, there are some quirks that I do not like about it. For one, the blue LEDs that lights up both speakers when you are connected via A2DP is quite irritating, and even though you can turn it off, it'll turn on automatically after a charge. Then, there are comments that I look like Princess Leia when I'm wearing it.

After all, I am really satisfied with it. If you are looking for a good sound quality, lengthy usage and completely wireless headphones for your music addiction, you should consider it. Shoot me an email if you have any queries!

Watched Click? Makes me want a Universal Remote

I really love this show. Click makes me feel that spending time with my family is the right choice. I am now craving my way to blend my work into my family life. It is not easy. Living standards are so much higher now with price inflation everywhere but my pay is getting nowhere.

Anyway, back to the topic. Have you owned a universal remote before? I have one, old and programmable to use with old TVs and VCRs. I have since chucked it away, replacing it with my Panasonic Home Theatre remote which is able to control my ancient analog TV just as well as the universal remote, and more. However, I saw one remote this afternoon at my friendly neighborhood electronics megastore and it got me all excited.

The Logitech® Harmony 885 Advanced Universal Remote.

I've been looking to buy a HDTV for some time now (still saving up LOL), and I've always hated having to use multiple remotes to control the volume and surround effect on the Home Theatre, switch the channels on my cable set-top box, or adjust the TV's picture settings. Harmony 885 seems to be able to do it all. Yea, that's what I'm talking about, a 'real' universal remote.

It has this Patented Smart State Technology® which allows the Harmony remote to completely control an entertainment system by knowing how to control each separate component while tracking the current state of up to 15 devices simultaneously. With a color LCD display and a low-profile recharging station, the Harmony® 880 Remote will match your most advanced audio-video components perfectly.

See it and try it yourself. You might like it too! Oh, btw, I do not work for Logitech or earn money by advertising for them, I just really like this one!

Update:
For those who are too rich, you can go for RTI's T2-C touchscreen controller

Either the industry players are way overestimating the market for USD$800 touchscreen home theater remotes, or it's a good time to sell these, but RTI's latest, the T2-C, is not just any little old remote. Popping in with a 200MHz XScale processor, 16MB flash memory, cradle, and backlit keys and an interface that makes it look more cellphone than remote, is it really any wonder they want you to invest the price of a PC in this thing? Ok, so it's a big wonder, but something tells us someone out there will be that crazy err... happy and satisfied customer.