Valentine’s Day is around the corner or to be exact next Tuesday. If you are looking to give your girlfriend/fiance/wife flowers, I would totally recommend Far East Flora (FEF.com).

I have ordered many flowers from FEF.com and each time I am never disappointed with the quality of the flowers. I tried some other companies for flowers during Valentine’s Day and the quality is horrible, there is once they even staple the stalk of the rose to the wrapper!

Far East Flora has a mobile app called SG Florist on the App Store (universal app) that allows you to sent flowers to your love ones using your iPhone or iPad. Far East Flora has partnered with PayPal for payment on both their website and their iPhone/iPad app and hence making payment is a breeze!

Let’s walk through the whole process.

Read More (800 More Words, 15 More Images)

Announcing the winners of the Nokia ‘Amazing Everyday’ Contest which I held back on 1st December 2011.

They are:

• Julian Chow with the picture Sunset at Bedok Reservoir
• Sajnikanth with the picture Bright Side of the Moon

Congratulations guys!

I will be handing over your details to Nokia Singapore for them to courier you the Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset worth €200 (SGD$346) directly. It should take approximately one to two weeks to reach you.

For those who did not win, thanks a lot of your participation and please do try again in my next contests/giveaway. =D

Julian Chow – Sunset at Bedok Reservoir

Sajnikanth – Bright Side of the Moon

UOB launched their mobile iPhone app (AppStore: UOB Mobile Banking) yesterday.

Its differentiating factors from local banks’s iPhone app such as OCBC or DBS/POSB is the access to financial information (deposit/exchange rates, unit trust prices, gold/silver prices) and calculators for personal loans/home equity/financial services.

There is also an augmented reality view that allows you to see latest card promotions/privileges and nearest UOB branches/ATMs. I don’t particulary find that feature useful though.

My favourite feature of this app is the mobile cash feature. What it simply does it allows you to use your mobile phone to withdraw cash from ATM without the need of an ATM card. When I first heard about it, I was like WTF.

A neater feature built on top of it, is that it even allows you to send money to your friend and even if he is not a UOB customer, he still can withdraw the money from any UOB ATMs.

Mobile Cash

Step 1

So how does it work? Upon launching the UOB Mobile Banking app, go to Mobile Cash and select the recipient you want to send the cash to. By default, your name should already be in the list (for you to send money to yourself). Since you are not transferring the money to any bank account, no account number is needed, just the recipient name and his mobile number.

Add Recipient In iBanking

The only down side is that you can’t add the recipient using the app itself. So you have to login to the normal Internet Banking via your computer browser to add them or call the UOB Call Centre to get them to add that for you if you are outside.

Select Recipient / Withdrawal Password

On top of selecting the recipient name and specifying the amount to send, you would also need to specify a 6 digit pin that you would need to tell your recipient.

Step 2

Success / SMS

Once that is done, your recipient will receive a text message and it will contain the transaction code. Using this transaction code and the 6 digit pin that you provided, he can then proceed on to any UOB ATM.

One final verification is the OTP that will be send to your recipient mobile number after he keyed in the 6 digit pin and the transaction code at the ATM. So once he keyed in the OTP, the money you sent to him will be dispensed by the ATM.

Of course there are some security checks in place for such a useful feature and here they are:

• The sender must register a list of recipients, their relationship with the sender, and the recipients’ personal information (NRIC and mobile numbers, name) before any transfer can take place
• An instant SMS-notification and next-day follow up letter will be sent to the sender upon registration, confirming recipient details
• An SMS of the mobile cash transaction with the specific reference number is sent to the recipient. This SMS instruction is valid for 24-hours and the sender can cancel a transaction at any time prior to expiry or cash withdrawal by the recipient
• A separate withdrawal password which the sender should communicate to the recipient. This is to guard against the loss of the recipient’s mobile device
• The recipient is prompted for the One-Time Password (OTP) upon withdrawal at the UOB ATM
• The transaction is automatically voided should the ATM detect a pre-determined number of invalid password attempts
• A maximum cumulative transfer amount of S$500 per day per sender
• A recipient can receive only one transaction a day

I find it pretty neat! I hope all the banks will adopt this!

An Android app is on the way followed by Blackberry and mobile web version next year. A native iPad App is also in the works.

Download AppStore: UOB Mobile Banking

Together with Nokia Singapore, I am giving away a pair of Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset worth €200 (SGD$346) to 2 lucky winners.

All you have to do is the following:

• Capture a photo or video of an ‘Amazing Everyday’ moment and share it with me via Twitter (@gamerz), Instagram (@gamerz), Facebook (facebook.com/lesterchan.net) or even email (lesterchan AT gmail)
• Submit your entries to Nokia Singapore’s Facebook Page – Win A Lumia 800 Page

‘Amazing Everyday’ is the millions of little adventures that await you out there and it comes to life in the Nokia Lumia series. The new Nokia Lumia 800 is the perfect device to find these moments, get into them, capture them and make them yours, to live adventure everywhere.

If you need some ideas of an ‘Amazing Everyday’ moment, head down to Orchard Road (outside Knightsbridge and The Heeren Shop) this weekend on the 3rd and 4th December 2011 between 12pm and 7pm for the Nokia Lumia Amazing Weekend! DJ KoFlow and Xiaxue will be there, for entertaining music and fashion activities!

Also if you are available on the 7th December 2011, join us at the Nokia Lumia Launch Party happening at Clarke Quay to find opportunities for more amazing everyday moments that you can capture!

This contest will end on 11:59pm on Wednesday, 7th December 2011.

About Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset

Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset

• Key features
  • Feel the music with high performance speakers
  • Premium materials, designed for your style
  • Ultra comfort for long listening sessions
  • Sleek, lightweight and superior design
• Technical profile
  • Weight: 180 grams
  • Dimensions (LxWxT): 290mm x 40mm x 200mm
  • Cable length: 1300mm
  • Operating keys: Answer/end key, volume control
• Compatibility
  • Fully compatible with Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710
  • Compatible with other Nokia handsets with 3.5mm Nokia AV connector
  • Compatible with other audio devices with standard 3.5mm audio jack

Fine Print

• This Giveaway is open to all readers of lesterchan.net who are based in Singapore.
• Li Xiang and I will be the judges for this contest, entries will be judged based on creativity and originality.
• Winners will be announced 1 week after the contest closes.
• Winners will be contacted via the respective channel (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Email) in which they submitted their entry.
• The prizes will be sent out 1 week after the announcement of the results has been made.
• Nokia Singapore will be sending the prizes to the winner directly.
• There will not be a choice of colors for the prizes, Nokia Singapore will decide on the colors for this giveaway.
• Details of winners such as name and the captured photo/video will be posted on lesterchan.net.
• My decision on all matters related to this giveaway is final and no correspondence will be entertained.
• I reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions at anytime without prior notice.
• This giveaway ends on 11:59pm (23:59), Wednesday, 7th December 2011 (GMT+8 Singapore Time).

DBS Bank has just launched the first regional Facebook Places and Check-in Deals campaign in Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Jakarta, Taipei).

• The campaign is open to anyone who owns a supported mobile device (Facebook App On iPhone/Android/Blackberry or Facebook Mobile through your mobile phone browsers).
• Users just have to visit the DBS Facebook Fan Page to get started.
• Users checking in to “DBS Places” Facebook App will be able to earn points and redeem merchant deals throughout the campaign.
• At the end of the campaign (5th September 2011), the highest point earner of each country will earn a 3 days 2 nights vacation of their destination (Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia or Taiwan) of choice.

It may sounds complicated at first (which is how I felt when I first read it) and hence I have put up a tutorial on how to participate in this campaign using Facebook App on iPhone.

Registration Stage

• Step 1: Go to DBS Facebook Fan Page and “Like” the page.
• Step 2: Go to “DBS Places” Facebook App and allow the app to access your Facebook details like all other Facebook Apps.
• Step 3: Register your details like last 4 digits of your NRIC number and mobile numbers with DBS.

Check-in Stage

• Step 1: Launch Facebook App on iPhone
• Step 2: Tap On “Places”
• Step 3: Tap On “Check In”

• Step 4: Search For “DBS Places”
• Step 5: Select The “DBS Place” you want to check-in
• Step 6: Tap “Check In”

To see how much points you have accumulated and how many check-ins you made, you can go to https://apps.facebook.com/dbsplaces/ using your desktop’s browser. The statistics should be updated in real time.

Every check-in to a DBS Place may allow you to redeem some rewards, like for example, checking-in to “DBS Places – Spinelli Coffee” will allow you to purchase a fresh brew of coffee at SGD$1.50. Of course terms and conditions applies!

Terms: Valid until 4 Sept 2011, from Mon to Fri 3pm – 5pm only. Check-in to “DBS Places – Spinelli” to redeem deal. Valid at Orchard Central, Heeren, Forum, Suntec City, Great World City & Velocity @ Novena Square. Not valid with other promotions, vouchers & Friend’s Card. Payment with cash only

At the end of the campaign on 5th September 2011, the highest point earner of each country will win! As mentioned earlier, the winner will win a 3 days 2 nights vacation of their destination (Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, Indonesia or Taiwan) of choice.

Below is the breakdown on the points system.

• Check-In Points – Earn 5 points when you check-in to a new DBS Places location in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Singapore or Taiwan.
• Refer A Friend Points – Recommend DBS Places to your friends on Facebook and earn 3 points for every successful referral.
• Network Points – For every Facebook friend in your network participating in DBS Places, you get 1 extra point just for being so connected!

Facebook Page: DBS Places
Facebook App: DBS Places

Thanks to DBS, I will be giving away SGD$10 Spinelli Vouchers to 10 lucky readers/twitterers.

All you have to do is retweet this post using the Twitter button located under the “Social” box below this post!

Fine Print

• This Giveaway is open to all readers of lesterchan.net who are based in Singapore.
• I will search Twitter.com for tweets and retweets to tabulate the data and randomly pick the winners using MySQL RAND() function.
• Winners will be contacted via Twitter’s Direct Message (DM). Make sure you are following @gamerz on Twitter.
• Winners will receive the Spinelli vouchers via snail mail.
• Details of winners such as name and blog URL may be posted on lesterchan.net.
• My decision on all matters related to this giveaway is final and no correspondence will be entertained.
• I reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions at anytime without prior notice.
• This giveaway ends on 11:59pm (23:59), Wednesday, 31st August 2011 (GMT+8 Singapore Time).