I am proud that Singapore made it into the tech news last week with the announcement of the world’s thinnest 2.5″ hybrid hard drive! It is only 5mm thick and is capable of storing 1TB of normal HDD and 32GB of SSD.
One of the main challenges in reducing the thickness of current 7mm hard disk drives by almost 30% without compromising on its performance and stability is its spindle motor design. To achieve a reduction in size, DSI researchers developed a proprietary axial field motor which runs smoother, quieter, more efficiently, lowering power consumption by up to 70% yet at a fraction of the cost of SSDs. The motor’s design has been patented, along with 30 other unique designs for the “A-Drive”. In addition, DSI has collaborated with multinational corporations and local companies, such as Seiko Instruments, Miyoshi, and Unisteel, to develop key components for the “A-Drive”.
On the 30th October 2012, Lenovo announced a new range of convertible devices that is designed for Windows 8. They called it convertible devices instead of laptops/notebooks because those devices are more than just a simple laptop/notebook.
IdeaPad Yoga
The IdeaPad Yoga 13 and IdeaPad Yoga 11 allows the screen to be rotated though a 360° angle and switch between laptop and tablet mode. The hinge has been stressed test though a 25,000 times rotation.
This is the 4th Google Nexus handset known as Nexus 4 and it is made by LG. The screen is huge now at 4.7″ with resolution of 1280Ã768 (320ppi), back camera is now 8MP, processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.5GHz (quad-core) and RAM has been bumped to 2GB. It also includes wireless charging using any Qi-compatible charger. Do note that LTE is not supported in the Nexus 4.
Also Apple seems to be dropping the “the new iPad” name from iPad and it is now called “iPad with Retina Display” which is similar to the MacBook Pro’s “MacBook Pro with Retina Display”.
Elevation Dock was the 8th Kickstarter project that I backed. I backed it this year on the 7th February 2012 and the project got funded on the 12th February 2012. They raised a total of US$1,464,706 out of the initial goal of just US$75,000. It was supposed to be shipped in April 2012 before iPhone 5 was announced but unfortunately, there was a delay and I only received it 6 months later on the 18th October 2012.
I pledged US$79 for the Elevation Dock+ in glass bead blasted finish. The Dock+ adds shielded Line Level audio out plus USB power adapter and for international shipping it is an additional US$20. Paid a total of US$99 (S$121).
The Samsung Galaxy Note II was announced about 2 months ago at IFA 2012. Now it is finally available in Singapore.
The Samsung Galaxy Note II LTE is now available in Singapore (as of Saturday, 20th October 2012) for a recommended retail price (RRP) of S$998 without contract. The price stated is inclusive of 7% GST.
