The Sapido MB-1132 was recommended by Justin Lee and I was impressed by what it can do. In a nutshell, it can:

• Charge your USB devices
• Act as a router by plugging in a LAN cable with Internet connectivity to create a Wi-Fi hotspot
• Connect your iPhone/Android phone to it or even a 3G USB Dongle and it can create a Wi-Fi hotspot
• Re-broadcast Wi-Fi (eg: if you paid for Wi-Fi, login to the paid service using MB-1132 and re-broadcast your own Wi-Fi it so others can use it for free)
• Compact & lightweight, good for travelling

There is also a similar model called Sapido MB-1112 (N+ Mobile 3.75G Modem Router). It is identical to the Sapido MB-1132 except that the Sapido MB-1112 does not allow Internet sharing via iPhone/Android/3G Dongle. You have to put in a 3G SIM card in order to create a Wi-Fi hotspot.

I have not seen these devices at any computer stores yet (have not check Sim Lim Square), but checking their website, they do have an office in Singapore:

SAPIDO Singapore (Vasss Pte Ltd)
www.sapido.com.sg
9010, Tampines Street 93, #02-79, Singapore 528844
Tel: + 6789 8310 / 3131 9038
Fax: + 6788 3213

Box Front

Box Back

MB-1132 Front

MB-1132 Bottom

We are introduce to the latest Intel technology, SSD, Wireless Display, Project “Tangent Bay”, Light Peak, Super Thin Laptops and Intel’s AppStore!

SSD

Memory vs CPU Upgrades

The bottle neck of our computer is no longer our ram or graphics card and even processer, but our hard disk drive. A computer with SSD with just 3GB or ram will outperform a computer with 7200rpm HDD with 6GB of ram. Not many applications make use of the extra free ram, not in the eyes of normal consumer, they don’t run virtualization or even Adobe Premium Pro. Anything more than 4GB of ram will not bring significant improvement speed, the money will be put to better use in SSD.

I always wanted a SSD, regretted not getting it in Taiwan as it is cheaper by about SGD$70 over there at Taiwan’s Guanghua Computer Center. 300GB to 600GB SSD is expected to be release before the end of the year and that will push down the prices for 40GB/60GB/80GB SSD.

I have the misconception of SSD that once the limited 5 years lifespan is up, I can no longer use the drive and my data is gone. That is not true, you can no longer write to the drive, but you still can read from it.

Official Site: Intel SSD

Wireless Display

Netgear Setup Box

I was blown away by the Wireless Display. You just need a small setup box connected to your TV via HDMI and you can stream your laptop screen OTA to the TV! It also streams audio to your TV as well.

It is using 802.11g technology capable of delivering 54Mbps of bandwidth. The secret lies in the Intel Wireless Display built into your laptop where it compresses and encodes the signal and when the signal is sent OTA to the setup box, it gets decoded and decompressed and outputted to your TV!

Netgear is the only maker of the setup box at the moment but more will come soon!

Official Site: Intel Wireless Display

Tangent Bay

Tangent Bay

Tangent Bay is a project by Intel that brings 3 touch screens placed below the screen and above the keyboard. You can drag windows down to these screen even playing a movie there as well. The reason of putting 3 touch screens instead of a single piece is because of cost and availability. It is easier and cheaper to get 3 touch screens the size of a normal smart phone then to make one specially for laptops.

This is coming in Q1 2011.

Gizmodo: Intel’s “Tangent Bay” Laptop Concept Has 3 OLED Multi-Touch Screens Above the Keyboard

Light Peak

Light Peak

We have maxed out the bandwith of copper cables and that is where light comes in. The longest cable length you can go without slowing down the transfer speed with a single USB3 cable is 3m and for USB2 is 2m. For light peak, the limit on the length is limited by transmit power.

I wonder what comes after light?

Intel Research: Light Peak Technology

Super Thin Laptops

Dell Adamo

I call this MacBook Air for the masses! The chips are soldered directly on the motherboard and thus reducing heat output and hence reducing the need for fan or a cooling system. It is a reduction of 32% in size.

App Store
Intel also jumped onto the App Store bandwagon with its own App Store called AppUp Center. It features apps for netbook for platforms like Windows, Moblin, Meego. It also allows OEM manufacturers to have a co-branded store front. Intel’s own Moblin will eventually be replace with Meego

Visit: AppUp Center

More Photos

Intel Adverts
We are shown some funny Intel adverts and the people acted in the video are all Intel’s staff! Here is my favourite advert:

YouTube: Intel’s Channel

Thanks to Elvin from Intel for the invite!

As I have been using Mac a lot during office hours, I wanted the same setup I have in my office at home which is 1 external monitor and dual screen it with my MacBook Pro. In order not to clutter my desk with too many items, I bought the Apple Wireless Keyboard for SGD$98 and together with my Apple Magic Mouse paired using bluetooth to my MacBook Pro, I am able to have both Mac and Windows environment with just a single monitor but having 2 separate sets of keyboard and mouse.

Box

Box Open

Box Content

Apple Wireless Keyboard Front

Apple Wireless Keyboard Back

Apple Wireless Keyboard Power Button

Apple Wireless Keyboard Battery Compartment

The reason why I decided to get a remote control is because I have been bringing out my tripod lately to take group shots and it is kinda a hassle to keep repeatedly setting the timer. Did some research on Club Snap Forums and found out that the Phottix is one of the best wireless remote around.

Box Front

Box Back

Box Contents

On The Camera

*UPDATE 2* There is a bug in iOS4 which cause .mobileconfig files not recognized by Safari. For more details, read here. To overcome this issue:

1. Using your computer, go to http://lesterchan.net/nus/iphone/
2. Key in your NUSNET UserID and click Generate
3. Your browser should prompt you to download the NUS.mobileconfig file
4. Once you have downloaded the file, email the file to yourself
5. Using Mail.app in your iOS, open up the the email which contains the NUS.mobileconfig attachement
6. You should now be able to install the NUS.mobileconfig profile

*UPDATE* It is now working with iOS 3.0.

Instructions

1. Launch Safari in your iPhone/iPod Touch
2. Go to http://lesterchan.net/nus/iphone/
   
3. Under Your NUSNET ID, key in your NUSNET UserID (EXCLUDING the domain (NUSSTU, NUSSTF or GUEST) portion)
4. Click Generate
5. A Install Profile screen will appear
   
6. Click Install
7. A Install Profile Warning Popup will appear
   
8. Ignore the warning and click Install Now
9. A Enter Password screen will appear
   
10. Key in your NUSNET Password
11. Click Next
12. A Profile Installed screen will appear
    
13. Click Done
14. Go back to your Home Screen
15. Go to Settings -> Wi-Fi
16. Under Wi-Fi, select ON
17. Under Choose a Network…, select NUS
    
18. Wait a while, while it trys to connects
19. A Certificate screen will appear
    
20. Click Accept
21. You are now connected to NUS WLAN SSID
    

Notes

• At Step 18, you may need to re-try Step 14 to 17 if it takes more than 1 minute to connect.
• At Step 20, you may need to re-try Step 14 to 20 if nothing happens when you click Accept.
• If you are going to reference this tutorial anywhere, please credit it to me. I spent a lot of time on figuring out how to configure my iPhone 3G to connect to NUS Wireless network and I have put together this tutorial to make life easier for all NUS students.

Privacy

• The generator DOES NOT save your NUSNET UserID on this server.
• At Step 10, when asked to key in your password, it is iPhone authenticating with NUS and NOT with this server.
• In short, you can rest assured that NONE of your information is saved on this server.