Crumpler release a new pouch called “The Tuft” 2 days ago and this time, the pouch came with a Crumpler’s carbine hook. According to Crumpler at Raffles City Facebook Page, it is available in 3 sizes and in 3 colors (Red, Black & Beige).

However, when I went there on the day they announce it, there are only 2 sizes left, the medium and large. The medium size (SGD$35) is left with beige, and the large size (SGD$40) is left with black and red. If you are using DBS Live Fresh Credit Card or EpiCenter Member Card, there is an additional 10% discount.

I got the large one for SGD$40 and after a 10% discount, it is SGD$36.

Packaging Front View

Packaging Back View

Front View

Back View

Alternative Back View

Inside View

Yes, FINALLY Nokia is dumping Symbian for something better! Windows Phone!

Here is the full Microsoft’s press release:

LONDON – Feb. 11, 2011 – Nokia and Microsoft today announced plans to form a broad strategic partnership that would use their complementary strengths and expertise to create a new global mobile ecosystem.

Nokia and Microsoft intend to jointly create market-leading mobile products and services designed to offer consumers, operators and developers unrivalled choice and opportunity. As each company would focus on its core competencies, the partnership would create the opportunity for rapid time to market execution. Additionally, Nokia and Microsoft plan to work together to integrate key assets and create completely new service offerings, while extending established products and services to new markets.

Under the proposed partnership:

• Nokia would adopt Windows Phone as its principal smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader.
• Nokia would help drive the future of Windows Phone. Nokia would contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies.
• Nokia and Microsoft would closely collaborate on joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.
• Bing would power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services, giving customers access to Bing’s next generation search capabilities. Microsoft adCenter would provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services.
• Nokia Maps would be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services. For example, Maps would be integrated with Microsoft’s Bing search engine and adCenter advertising platform to form a unique local search and advertising experience
• Nokia’s extensive operator billing agreements would make it easier for consumers to purchase Nokia Windows Phone services in countries where credit-card use is low.
• Microsoft development tools would be used to create applications to run on Nokia Windows Phones, allowing developers to easily leverage the ecosystem’s global reach.
• Nokia’s content and application store would be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience.

“Today, developers, operators and consumers want compelling mobile products, which include not only the device, but the software, services, applications and customer support that make a great experience,” Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO, said at a joint news conference in London. “Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale. It’s now a three-horse race.”

“I am excited about this partnership with Nokia,” said Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft CEO. “Ecosystems thrive when fueled by speed, innovation and scale.The partnership announced today provides incredible scale, vast expertise in hardware and software innovation and a proven ability to execute.”

Here is a snippet of Nokia’s press release:

Nokia plans to form a strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a global mobile ecosystem based on highly complementary assets. The Nokia-Microsoft ecosystem targets to deliver differentiated and innovative products and have unrivalled scale, product breadth, geographical reach, and brand identity. With Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform, Nokia would help drive the future of the platform by leveraging its expertise on hardware optimization, software customization, language support and scale. Nokia and Microsoft would also combine services assets to drive innovation. Nokia Maps, for example, would be at the heart of key Microsoft assets like Bing and AdCenter, and Nokia’s application and content store would be integrated into Microsoft Marketplace. Under the proposed partnership, Microsoft would provide developer tools, making it easier for application developers to leverage Nokia’s global scale.

…

As of April 1, Nokia will have a new company structure, which features two distinct business units: Smart Devices and Mobile Phones. They will focus on Nokia’s key business areas: high-end smartphones and mass-market mobile phones. Each unit will have profit-and-loss responsibility and end-to-end accountability for the full consumer experience, including product development, product management and product marketing.

Smart Devices will be responsible for building Nokia’s leadership in smartphones and will be led by Jo Harlow. The following sub-units now in Mobile Solutions will move under Smart Devices:
- Symbian Smartphones
- MeeGo Computers
- Strategic Business Operations

To support the planned new partnership with Microsoft, Smart Devices will be responsible for creating a winning Windows Phone portfolio.

…

Press Release (Nokia): Nokia outlines new strategy, introduces new leadership, operational structure
Press Release (Microsoft): Nokia and Microsoft Announce Plans for a Broad Strategic Partnership to Build a New Global Mobile Ecosystem

TikTok + LunaTik is a multi-touch watch kits meant for Apple iPod Touch Nano (6th Generation). It is the most successful KickStarter project, raising a total of USD$941,718. At first I was skeptical about it, but eventually as the deadline for the project grew closer, Li Xiang decided to just get it for me (thanks dear)!

She was the backer for LunaTik (USD$50) alongside with the other 5,012 backers.

For a $50 pledge you are pre-ordering and will receive the LunaTik Multitouch Watch Conversion Kit. The Lunatik is hot-stamped and CNC’d out of aerospace grade aluminum at one of Apple’s suppliers. The LunaTik will sell for $69.95 online and at retail. Includes shipping within the USA. (Shipping to Canada add $10, International add $15 to pledge amount)

She backed the project on 27th November 2010, project ended on 16th December 2010, item was shipped on 31st January 2011 and she received it yesterday, 10th February 2011.

She paid a total of USD$65 for it, USD$50 for the backing and USD$15 for the shipping cost.

Box Front

Box back

Watch Front View

Watch Back View

Dismantling The Watch Kit

Watch Face

Watch Left Side

Watch Right Side

Watch Back

Watch On My Wrist

For more images, check out the embedded flickr gallery below or visit the album page on flickr.

Palm is pretty much going to die when HP bought over it April 2010 and now, it is officially dead as HP drops the “Palm” name and launches 3 new devices, HP Veer, HP Pre 3 & HP TouchPad.

HP Veer

HP Veer

Features & Specifications:

• HP webOS 2.2
• High-speed connectivity⁽¹⁾
• Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7230 800-MHz processor
• 2.57-inch multitouch screen with a vibrant, 18-bit color, 320 x 400 resolution display
• Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
• Full slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• 8 GB of internal storage⁽⁹⁾
• High-performance browser with full access to the web, including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content⁽¹⁾
• Wireless connectivity:
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication⁽¹⁾
  • Integrated GPS⁽³⁾
  • Bluetooth wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
  • Wi-Fi router functionality for up to five devices using HP mobile hotspot⁽⁸⁾
• Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, a 5-megapixel camera with geotagging and 3.5 mm stereo headphone adapter
• Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Gmail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)⁽⁵⁾
• Robust messaging support (combining IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)⁽⁴⁾
• Proximity sensor, light sensor and accelerometer
• Rechargeable 910 mAh battery
• USB mass storage mode to transfer your media and other files quickly between desktop and device
• Ringer switch, which easily silences the ringer with one touch
• Compatible with HP Touchstone (sold separately)
• Tri-band UMTS, quad-band GSM/EDGE world phone⁽¹⁰⁾
• Dimensions: 54.5 mm x 84.0 mm x 15.1 mm
• Weight: 103 grams

Links:

• Official Site: HP Veer
• Press Release: HP TouchPad Brings webOS to the Big Screen
• Engadget: HP Veer: smallest smartphone in the webOS stable, 2.6-inch display, coming this spring
• Engadget: HP Veer, first hands-on

HP Pre 3

HP Pre 3

Features & Specifications:

• HP webOS 2.2
• High-speed connectivity⁽¹⁾
• Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8x55 1.4-GHz processor
• 3.58-inch multitouch screen with a vibrant, 24-bit color, 480 x 800 resolution display
• Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
• Redesigned vertical slide-out QWERTY keyboard with backlight
• 8 or 16 gigabytes (GB) of internal storage⁽¹¹⁾
• High-performance browser with full access to the web, including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content⁽¹⁾
• Wireless connectivity:
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication⁽¹⁾
  • Integrated GPS (and A-GPS)⁽⁷⁾
  • Bluetooth wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
  • Wi-Fi router functionality for up to five devices using HP mobile hotspot⁽⁹⁾
• Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack
  • Rear-facing autofocus camera with flash, HD camcorder (capable up to 720p video recording)
  • Front-facing VGA fixed-focus camera for live video calling⁽⁴⁾
• Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Gmail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)⁽³⁾
• Robust messaging support (combining IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)⁽¹²⁾
• Proximity sensor, light sensor, accelerometer and compass
• Removable, rechargeable 1,230 mAh battery
• USB mass storage mode to transfer media and other files quickly between desktop and device
• Ringer switch, which easily silences the ringer with one touch
• Compatible with HP Touchstone (sold separately)
• Dimensions: 111 mm x 64 mm x 16 mm
• Weight: 156 grams

Links:

• Official Site: HP Pre 3
• Press Release: HP TouchPad Brings webOS to the Big Screen
• Engadget: HP Pre 3: 1.4GHz Qualcomm CPU, 3.6-inch WVGA, coming this summer (video)
• Engadget: HP Pre 3 first hands-on

HP TouchPad

HP TouchPad

Features & Specifications:

• HP webOS 3.0
• High-speed connectivity⁽¹⁾
• Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 1.2-GHz processor
• 9.7-inch diagonal XGA capacitive, multitouch screen with a vibrant, 18-bit color, 1,024 x 768 resolution display
• The option of either 16
  GB or 32 GB of internal storage⁽¹⁴⁾
• High-performance browser with full access to the web, including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content⁽¹⁾
• Wireless connectivity:
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication⁽¹⁾
  • A-GPS (3G only)⁽¹⁰⁾
  • Bluetooth wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
• Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, and a 3.5 mm headset/headphone/microphone jack
  • Internal stereo speakers and Beats Audio
  • Front-facing 1.3-megapixel webcam for live video calling⁽¹¹⁾
• Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Gmail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)⁽⁶⁾
• Robust messaging support⁽⁴⁾
• Light sensor, accelerometer, compass (magnetometer) and gyroscope
• Rechargeable 6,300 mAh (typical) battery
• Micro-USB (Charging and PC Connect) with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
• Built-in HP Touchstone technology for easy charging (HP Touchstone for TouchPad sold separately) and HP touch-to-share to share web addresses between TouchPad and compatible webOS phones⁽⁵⁾
• Dimensions: 190 mm x 242 mm x 13.7 mm
• Weight: approximately 740 g

Links:

• Official Site: HP TouchPad
• Press Release: HP TouchPad Brings webOS to the Big Screen
• Engadget: HP’s 9.7-inch TouchPad: webOS 3.0 tablet with 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon, coming this summer
• Engadget: HP TouchPad first hands-on

By the way, HP press images suck, no consistency in all the 3 products.

Today is the eve of Lunar New Year, I hereby wishes all Chinese a Happy Lunar New Year! May you all HUAT GAO GAO !

Lunar New Year on 2012 will happen on Monday, 23rd January 2012!