Life and tech in Singapore, from local launches and pricing to events and everyday finds.
HP has announced that the Wi-Fi HP TouchPad will be available in Singapore from 12th August 2011, through authorised retailers Best Denki, Courts, and Harvey Norman, and direct from HP. For National Day, the 16GB model comes with a case.
I'd missed this news from March 2011: Knightsbridge, the four-storey retail podium on Singapore's premier shopping belt, is now fully leased, with Abercrombie & Fitch taking the prime corner unit. It marks A&F's first step into Southeast Asia.
The Samsung Galaxy S2 (16GB) is available in Singapore from 24th June 2011 for S$998 without contract. It runs a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 with a Mali-400MP GPU on the Orion chipset, paired with 1GB of RAM and HSPA+ connectivity.
Singapore Food Expo 2011 takes place at Singapore Expo Hall 5 from 27th to 31st May, open 11am to 10pm daily. One of the largest food events in Singapore, this year's edition features more than 100 exhibitors.
After nearly a year of delay, the white iPhone 4 arrives tomorrow via Apple's Online Store. Pricing stays unchanged at S$888 for 16GB and S$1,048 for 32GB, finally giving Singapore buyers the lighter colour option.
Apple's iPad 2 lands in Singapore on Friday, 29th April 2011, priced slightly below the original. WiFi models start at S$668, rising to S$928 for 64GB, with 3G versions topping out at S$1,108 for the 64GB.
Motorola's XOOM Wi-Fi reaches Challenger, Courts, Newstead, Best Denki, Harvey Norman and Mustafa this Friday at S$888. Running Android 3.0 Honeycomb, it packs a larger, higher-resolution display in a smaller form factor with dual cameras.
Todai Singapore opened on 18th February 2011 at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, near the Marina Bay Financial Centre. The huge 1,300-square-metre space seats over 400, with four private rooms and more than a hundred employees.
Sharing a good cause: M1, SingTel and StarHub, with Ericsson's IPX, are letting post-paid customers donate $5, $10 or $20 by SMS to aid Japan's disaster victims. All three telcos are waiving their administration fees.
In today's press release announcing iPad 2 availability across 25 more countries this Friday, Apple confirmed Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore will get the second-generation tablet sometime in April 2011, a little after the initial wave of launches.
Samsung's Nexus S is now available from all leading mobile retailers at a recommended S$828, contract-free and inclusive of GST. The world's first handset with a contour display, it launches in Singapore on 18 March 2011.
About time! By end July 2011, consumers will enjoy significantly faster smartphone surfing inside MRT tunnels. The Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts told Parliament that Singapore's three telcos must complete the network installation by then.
Didn't realise Edelman handles PR for Facebook Singapore. Facebook today launched Places here, already live in some countries, letting you check in and share where you are and who you're with. Personally I prefer Facebook check-in to Foursquare.
Not tech-related, but H&M is finally opening in Singapore! So far I've only visited Hong Kong's H&M, where I picked up some shorts. Hennes & Mauritz takes its first step with a store at a prime Orchard Road location.
Android Market is finally coming to Singapore, alongside 19 other countries. Developers in 29 countries can now sell apps, up from nine, and users in 32 countries can buy paid ones, up from 14, as Android's userbase keeps expanding.
Wow, far cheaper than I expected; I thought the 16GB would exceed S$1,000. Without contract, the iPhone 4 is S$888 for 16GB and S$1,048 for 32GB. Apple says it arrives in 17 more countries this Friday, 30th July, featuring FaceTime.
Microsoft has announced Singapore Kinect and new Xbox 360 prices. Kinect with Kinect Adventures is S$229, the 4GB Xbox 360 alone S$339, or bundled with Kinect S$469, and individual Kinect games S$59.90. Everything arrives at the end of August 2010.
The iPad arrives in Singapore on 23rd July 2010, alongside eight other countries. Official local prices are S$728 to S$1,028 for WiFi 16GB through 64GB, and S$928 to S$1,228 for the WiFi + 3G models.
It looks like the iPhone 4 reaches Singapore on Friday, 30th July 2010, alongside 16 other countries including Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and much of Europe. Both black and white versions should be available at launch.
On Saturday, 29th May, StarHub and M1 began selling MicroSIM cards, with SingTel following tomorrow, 1st June. It's unclear whether the telcos allow MicroSIM in MultiSIM or restrict it to data plans. Either way, scissors will do.
The iPad arrives in Singapore in July 2010, alongside Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Apple separately confirmed an earlier wave for Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
Thanks to 24seven, Li Xiang, I and a few other bloggers got to experience 4D Magix and CineBlast at Sentosa today. First up was Desperados, Singapore's first interactive shoot-out game, where about 25 of us blasted away together.