Blog Today is Friday, 24th May 2013

Asus launched the world smallest router last week measuring 6.5cm long and weighing 17.5g, the Asus WL-330NUL. It is available since 20th May 2013 for SGD$59.

The Asus WL-330NUL is a 4-in-1 router, it acts like a router, USB Ethernet adapter, Wireless adapter and supports hot spot sharing!

Too bad there is no built-in battery for it and it does not support gigabit connection due to the speed limitations of USB2. It only supports the older 2.4GHz and not the newer 5.GHz.

Router
Just connect an Ethernet cable and instantly create a secure wireless network environment for all your devices. In addition, the WL-330NUL can also manage several network users at once, with different access privileges.

Hot Spot Sharing
The WL-330NUL features an easy to use and versatile hot spot mode. Wherever power and wireless connectivity are available, it allows sharing a single account on multiple devices.

USB Ethernet Adapter
As ultrabooks usually lack an RJ-45 wired LAN port and only support Wi-Fi, the WL-330NUL has been especially designed for business travelers and users of ultrabooks. Simply connect a network cable to your ultrabook via USB port, and the WL-330NUL provides stable and reliable online access anywhere.

Wireless Adapter
The WL-330NUL is also the perfect backup should your integrated wireless hardware experience any issues. To get Wi-Fi access, simply plug it to your notebook via USB. This also makes the WL-330NUL perfect for desktops, which traditionally lack Wi-Fi capabilities and limit you to wired connections.
Technical Specifications

• Interface: 1x RJ45 for 10/100 BaseT with auto cross-over function (MDI/MDI-X)
• Antenna: 1x Internal 2 dBi antenna
• Operating Frequency: 2.4GHz
• Management: Guest SSID, Site Survey, DHCP server, DHCP client, Static IP, Upgrades via web browser
• Firewall: NAT, Virtual DMZ
• Encryption: 64/128-bit WEP, WPA TKIP/AES, WPA2 TKIP/AES
• Authentication: MAC address
• Utilities: WL-330NUL Ultra-Link Utility, One-click guest management, Web-base administration
• Power Adapter: AC Input: 110V~240V(50~60Hz), DC Output: 5 V with max. 1A current
• OS Support: Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS X 10.5 to 10.8, Linux
• Dimensions (WxDxH): 65 x 20.7 x 15.4 mm
• Weight: 17.5g

Asus WL-330NUL

Dell has 2 direct stores in Singapore, 1 located in Suntec City and the other is located in Funan.

Locations

• Dell Direct Store SUNTEC: 3 Temasek Boulevard #02-010C/D, Suntec City Mall (Near Suntec Tower 5), Singapore 038923
• Dell Direct Store FUNAN: 109, North Bridge Road #03-26, Funan Digitalife Mall, Singapore 179097

Press Release

SINGAPORE, May 16, 2013 – Dell today reopened the Dell Exclusive Store at Funan DigitaLife Mall, following an intensive make-over to deliver a new, refreshed concept store that sports simpler, contemporary yet bolder interior designs.

 

Aimed at creating a more consistent global brand and shopping experience for its customers, the new look takes on a distinctive customer-centric approach, complete with experience suites that allow customers to experience technology as they would in real life. The Funan store is the first Dell Exclusive Store in the world to adopt the company’s new global retail brand guidelines.

 

“Along with our purpose to deliver innovative products and give customers both performance and value in a single package, Dell also places high priority in providing a fulfilling product purchase experience for our customers,” said Chue Chee Wei, managing director for Dell’s Commercial Business, Singapore and Malaysia. “Dell’s new store design brings a great shopping experience to our customers, whether you have a specific product in mind, or just casually browsing.”

Dell Direct Store at Funan has been there since December 2007 and they recently renovated their store (two weeks of intensive renovation) and renamed it to Dell Exclusive Store. The store’s new interior design is the first in the world to match Dell’s global retail brand identity guidelines, developed in 2012 as a standard for all flagship stores around the world.

Dell Direct Store at Suntec on the other hand has been there since 2003 and still being known as Dell Direct Store and they have no plans for renovation yet.

The Dell Exclusive Store at Funan is open from 11am to 9pm daily, and measures 1356 square feet in floor space.

Dell’s Exclusive Store at Funan Singapore

Dell’s Exclusive Store at Funan Singapore

Dell’s Exclusive Store at Funan Singapore

During Mother’s Day week last week, Barnes & Noble dropped their price for their Nook HD+ Tablet from USD$269 (SGD$335) to USD$179 (SGD$222.80) for their 16GB model. Of course I bought it since it is a OK price for that specification and I always wanted to play with an Android tablet.

Nook HD+ doesn’t come with camera, GPS or 3G capability. It uses microSD card as a storage expansion. It uses its own proprietary 30-pin charging cable and since Nook is not available in Singapore,it is advisable to get a spare charging cable in case you misplaced yours.

There are 2 options available if you want to get the charging cable, the first one is the Nook HD+ Tablet Power Kit (USD$15/GD$18.70) which comes with the cable and an AC adapter and the other is just the Nook HD+ Charging Cable (USD$14.95/SGD$18.64). You should get the Nook HD+ Tablet Power Kit because it is just USD$0.05 more expensive and you get an additional AC adapter.

In total, I paid USD$179.00 (SGD$222.80) + USD$15 (SGD$18.67) = USD$194 (SGD$242) for the Nook HD+ Tablet and the Nook HD+ Tablet Power Kit.

I am using HopShopGo which is powered by comGateway and PayPal as my freight forwarder. Paid USD$21.39 (SGD$26.67) for express shipping back to Singapore.

I placed my order on the 8th May 2013, HopShopGo received it on the 10th May 2013, shipped out to me on 11th May 2013 and I got my item on 14th May 2013.

The stock Barnes & Noble ROM on the Nook HD+ is pretty laggy. The current version now is 2.1.0 and it includes Google Play as well as some other Google apps. Before 2.1.0, you do not even have access to Google Play and Google apps and the only way is to get those is to flash the ROM with CyanogenMod (CM).

CM10 is based on Android 4.1 and CM10.1 is based on Android 4.2. There are 3 ways to flash it, overwriting the stock B&N ROM with CM (emmc), booting CM from SD card (SD Card), and placing some operating system files on internal memory and some on SD card (Hybrid).

Personally, I am using the SD Card method as I don’t want to mess with the stock ROM in case anything goes wrong. After giving it a spin for 1 week, the SD Card method is just too laggy to be useable for the long term, I decided to re-flash it using the emmc method and it is WAY more responsive. I totally recommend the emmc method for everyone!

Here is what I did:

• Download leapinlar’s NookHDplus-bootable-CWM-6028-for-stock-4GB-rev4-(05.15.13).zip
• Extract the zip above and burn the img to a 4GB or larger microSD card
• After burning, copy cwm-recovery-ovation-2.zip, cm-10.1-20130512-UNOFFICIAL-ovation-emmc.zip and gapps-20130301-jb-signed.zip back to the microSD card
• Place the microSD card back to the Nook HD+ and boot it
• Do a backup for the stock ROM
• After backup is done, do data wipe/factory reset
• Flash cwm-recovery-ovation-2.zip first, followed by cm-10.1-20130512-UNOFFICIAL-ovation-emmc.zip and lastly gapps-20130301-jb-signed.zip

Technical Specifications

• OS: Android 4.0.3 with customized UI
• CPU: Dual Core Texas-Instruments OMAP 4470 @ 1.5GHz
• Storage: 16/32 GB with microSD slot
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Display: 9″ LED Backlit screen (1920×1280 @ 256ppi), multi-touch, fully laminated screen with no air gaps reduces glare and provides extra-wide viewing angles
• Graphics: POWERVR SGX544
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth
• Connectors: Universal 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, 30 Pin Port for charging and connecting to a computer
• Battery Life: Up to 10 hours of reading/9 hours of video
• Weight: 515g
• Dimensions (HxWxD): 240.3mm x 162.8mm x 11.4mm

Nook HD+ – Box Front

Nook HD+ – Box Back

Nook HD+ – Box Open

Nook HD+ – Charger In The Box

Nook HD+ – Proprietary 30-pin Charging Cable

Nook HD+ – Front

Nook HD+ – Back

Read More (42 More Words, 7 More Images, 1 More Video)

I was one of the early backers for OCDock (Kickstarter). I backed the project last year on the 4th December 2012 and the project got funded on 22nd December 2012 after raising USD$107,979 despite the initial goal was only USD$49,000.

The project was delayed by a few months, it was suppose to be shipping in January 2013 but I only got my last week on the 10th May 2013.

Since I was the early backer, I paid USD$59 (SGD$73) for the OCDock and USD$20 (SGD$24.77) for international shipping and thus bringing the total amount to USD$79 (SGD$97.84).

The OCDock stands out from the rest of the docks because its wire is as thin as paper (0.18mm), allowing it to run underneath the display stand of an iMac or a Thunderbolt Display.

The base of the OCDock is not flat, there is a small cutout, it is meant to be placed on the stand of your iMac/Thunderbolt Display. Because I am using the Twelve South HiRise for iMac, the OCDock could not sit on the stand of my iMac and thus the OCDock is leaning a little backwards. It didn’t really bother me.

The materials used to make the dock also matches that of your iMac/Thunderbolt Display. It is made from a solid piece of high-grade aluminum, glass bead blasted and anodized to match the finish.

It comes with three rubber backings to allow you to adjust the gap between the dock and your iPhone 5 in case you are using a back cover for your phone (like me).

OCDock – Box

OCDock – Box Contents

OCDock – Different Thickness Rubber Backing And Extra Sticky Tape

OCDock – Instructions

OCDock

OCDock – Underneath

OCDock – Side View

OCDock – Back View

OCDock – 0.18mm Thin Wire

OCDock – Sits In Front Of Your iMac

Saw the WordPress 10th Anniversary T-Shirt post on WordPress.org and I told myself I have to get it!

It’s sale price is only USD$10 (including free US Shipping) till 27th May 2013. For shipping to Singapore, I paid USD$14.65. So in total I Paid USD$10 (SGD$12.43) + USD$14.65 (SGD$18.21) = USD$24.65 (SGD$30.65)

I placed my order on 24th April 2013, it got shipped on 3rd May 2013 and I received it yesterday on 14th May 2013.

WordPress 10th Anniversary T-Shirt

WordPress 10th Anniversary T-Shirt