Life and tech in Singapore, from local launches and pricing to events and everyday finds.
Part of the #LEGORebuildSG campaign, the Rebuild Your Memories Competition invited fans to construct their fondest Singapore memories in LEGO. It closed on 26th June 2015, and the ten winning entries are on display at Raffles City until 30th July.
The Sony Cyber-shot RX100 IV arrives in Singapore from 16th July 2015 at S$1,399, succeeding the RX100 III from June 2014. Despite the upgrade, megapixels and zoom stay at 20.1MP and 2.9x, but it debuts the world's first 1.0-inch sensor.
Apple officially launches the Apple Watch in Singapore, alongside Italy, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and Taiwan, on 26th June 2015. It'll be sold via the Apple Online Store, authorised resellers, and Malmaison, with prices starting from S$518.
Back in April 2015, Tiger Beer released its Limited Edition 1965 Vintage Can and Bottle for Singapore's SG50 celebration. Now, again for SG50, Tiger sheds its blue-and-silver look for the national red and white across its cans, pints, and bottles.
Singapore turns 50 this year, and businesses everywhere back the SG50 tagline, including a favourite of mine, LEGO. Its #LEGORebuildSG campaign encourages fans to rebuild memories, and these SG50 Limited Edition Singapore Icons Mini Builds are part of it.
Microsoft //Build/ Singapore 2015 took place on 28th May 2015 at Resorts World Sentosa. Build is Microsoft's developer conference, much like Google's I/O or Apple's WWDC, and this marked the first time it travelled beyond San Francisco.
Windows 10 launches in Singapore on 29th July 2015, alongside 189 markets, as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8.1 or on new devices. If you don't qualify, the Microsoft Store sells Home for S$229 and Pro for S$399.
After today's update, I noticed the Apple Store iOS app is finally available to all Singapore App Store users. With WWDC 2015 running from 8th to 12th June, Tim Cook will likely announce the Apple Watch's second wave of countries.
The LG G4 arrives in Singapore from 30th May 2015, with a recommended price of S$998 for the leather back cover and S$928 for the metallic finish. Registration of interest ran from 15th to 24th May at M1 and StarHub.
Until now, Mophie has sold in Singapore only through the Apple Online Store, with no retail presence. Distributed by Hwee Seng Electronics, its products are now available at Takashimaya, EpiCentre, EpiLife, Infinite, Challenger, and Digivue, marking Mophie's first product launch.
Pioneer says it's the first aftermarket car entertainment brand to bring Apple CarPlay to Singapore, with two in-dash multimedia receivers, the AVH-X8650BT and AVH-X8750BT. The AVH-X8650BT retails for S$1,049, a 2-DIN DVD receiver with a 7-inch WVGA touchscreen display.
Following my earlier post on watching Netflix in Singapore via UnoTelly SmartDNS, today I feature an alternative, Unblock-Us. Founded in Toronto in 2010, Unblock-Us was the first company to offer a DNS-based SmartDNS solution for accessing content unavailable locally.
The HTC One M9 arrives in Singapore from Saturday, 2nd May 2015, at a recommended price of S$1,008. It comes only in 32GB, in dual-tone silver/rose gold or single-tone gunmetal grey, running Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense 7.
Tiger Beer's new campaign, the 'Unofficial Official History of Singapore', is inspired by Tiger's first can in 1965, the year Singapore gained independence. It encourages Singaporeans to pause and look afresh at themselves.
Nearly two years after its launch, Chromecast is now officially available in Singapore as of 19th March 2015. The thumb-sized streaming device plugs into your TV's HDMI port, letting you cast entertainment from an Android phone, iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
I'm very impressed with the Dell Venue 8 7000 Series, the most well-built Android tablet I've come across. Its machined aluminium body feels premium at just 6mm thin and 305g, with an 8.4-inch 2560x1600 OLED screen and edge-to-edge infinity bezel.
Xiaomi's Redmi 2 goes on sale in Singapore for the first time on 17th March 2015 at noon for S$169, the same launch price as the Redmi 1 last February. Only the white model is offered for now.
Apple Watch launches in nine countries on 24th April 2015, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK, and the US. Singapore isn't among this first tier, so I estimate the prices we can expect when it arrives.
The Motorola Moto 360, announced in the US in March 2014, became officially available in Singapore on 23rd February 2015 at a recommended S$380, in black only. Reportedly it's exclusive to Rakuten and MSTATION, though I doubt that.
Four months after its launch, the Nexus 6 is now officially available in Singapore at a recommended S$998. Only the 32GB variant is sold, in both Midnight Blue and Cloud White, exclusively through open retail channels rather than telcos.
Xiaomi's Mi Pad goes on sale in Singapore on 10th February 2015 at noon for S$299. Xiaomi didn't state quantities this time, suggesting modest demand. Only the 16GB white is offered here, whereas China gets 16GB or 64GB.
The Starbucks Singapore alice + olivia Design Collection launched on 31st January 2015 at Starbucks ION Orchard. Limited to 88 sets, each contains a Starbucks card preloaded with S$20, a tote bag, and a ceramic mug, sold only for S$128.